Friends, in this story of Akbar Birbal ( The Linguist Akbar Birbal Kahani), it is described how Birbal was able to recognize the mother tongue of a polyglot (linguist) who came to Akbar's court by accepting the challenge of identifying his mother tongue . Read the full story in detail below:
The Linguist Akbar Birbal Story
Emperor Akbar used to feel the need of a polyglot in his court in view of the linguistic diversity in his various provinces. He wanted that there should be a polyglot in his court, with the help of which he could talk to his subjects.
He ordered his ministers to find such a polyglot , who has a good hold on different languages. The ministers, with the help of soldiers, got Akbar's order broadcasted in every corner of the state.
After a few days a person appeared in Akbar's court. Saluting Akbar, he said, “Jahanpanah! I am well versed in many languages. You appoint me to the post of multilingual.
To test him, Akbar asked his courtiers to speak to him in their respective languages . One by one the courtiers started questioning that multilingual person in their own language. The polyglot answered everyone in their own language. Akbar was very impressed by his hold on the language.
He decided to appoint him multilingual in his court and said to him, “We are very impressed by your language knowledge. You are so fluent in every language that it seems you are speaking your own language. We appoint you the multilingual of our court. But we are also curious to know what is your mother tongue?"
On this the multilingual said, “Jahanpanah! I have heard that there are very intelligent ministers in your court. Can any of them tell what is my mother tongue?
The courtiers tried to tell the language of the multilingual on the basis of their guess, but no one's guess turned out to be correct.
Seeing this, the multilingual laughed and said, “Jahanpanah! Looks like I heard wrong. No one seems intelligent here.
Akbar felt very embarrassed on this matter. He looked at Birbal, who had not yet tried to tell the language of the multilingual.
Seeing Akbar looking at him, Birbal got up from his seat and said, “Jahanpanah! Tomorrow I will tell what is the language of this polyglot.
That night the polyglot was lodged in the royal guest house. The next day he again appeared in Akbar's court.
Akbar asked Birbal, “Yes tell Birbal! What is their mother tongue?
On this Birbal said , “Huzoor, his mother tongue is Bengali. You ask them.
When Akbar asked the multilingual, he agreed. Akbar was surprised that how did Birbal recognize his mother tongue.
When asked, Birbal said, “Maharaj! Last night I sent one of my servants outside the royal guest house. That servant started shouting loudly there. At that time this gentleman was sleeping. He woke up after hearing the sound of screaming and came out and started shouting angrily. The language he was speaking at that time was Bangla. I was listening to everything hiding in the nearby room. I understood that their language is Bangla because no matter how many languages a person knows. When angry or in trouble, he shouts in his own language.
The polyglot accepted Birbal's intelligence as iron. Akbar escaped embarrassment.
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