A MOTHER'S BEATIFUL CHILD 1

Then Birbal stopped and said, "This is where the child lives. We will wait here for some time."

In a short while, a child crawled out from a hut. The courtiers looked at Birbal with surprise because the child was not beautiful at all. Rather the child was the ugliest of all the children the courtiers had brought, and this made Akbar angry.

Akbar shouted, "Birbal! What kind of a joke is this? The child is ugly."

Birbal replied patiently, "Just wait a while, please."

They kept standing for some time watching the child playing. Suddenly, the child fell and started crying.

A woman came running out of the hut and said, "Oh my dear child, my poor darling, are you hurt?"

The child continued crying and the woman spoke to the child, "Hush, my beautiful child. Don't cry. You are the apple of my eye. No one is as lovely as you are. I love you more than anything else."

A courtiers exclaimed, "Oh Lord! How can she call this ugly child beautiful?"

The mother of the child heard this and she shouted, "Are you speaking about my child?"

The courtiers replied, "We are speaking the truth. You child is ugly."

The mother screamed loudly, "How dare you talk about my child like this?"

"Go and search the whole world and you will not find a child more beautiful than mine. Go away from here and dare not speak like that about my child."

Akbar indicated his courtiers to leave. He turned to Birbal and said, "You have proved your point, Birbal. You have proved that everyone thinks that their child is the most beautiful."

Birbal smiled and said, "Not only child, Your Majesty, even grandchild!"

Akbar started laughing and said, "Birbal you are right. I find Khurram to be the most beautiful for he is my own. Every parent finds his child to be the most beautiful."