The Poisoned Sweet

A courtier who had spent years humiliated by Birbal's sharper wit finally decided that words alone would never settle the score, and secretly prepared a plate of sweets laced with poison, planning to offer it to Birbal at the next court gathering as a friendly gift.

Birbal, however, had long ago learned to be wary of this particular courtier's sudden generosity, and accepted the sweets graciously — but instead of eating them himself, remarked loudly that such a fine gift deserved to be shared with the whole court as a gesture of goodwill, and offered the very first piece back to the courtier himself, in front of everyone, as the guest of honor for having brought them.

Trapped by his own scheme and unwilling to reveal his plot by refusing his own gift in front of the emperor, the courtier had no choice but to eat the poisoned sweet himself, falling gravely ill within the hour. Akbar, once he understood what had truly happened, banished the man from court permanently — while Birbal, having never eaten a single bite, simply remarked that a gift offered with a hidden motive rarely stays hidden for long.