Akbar and Birbal — The Farmer's Well
A poor farmer bought a well from a rich man, but the rich man later refused to let him draw water, claiming he had sold only the well, not the water. The farmer brought his case to Emperor Akbar's court, who handed it to his wise advisor Birbal. Birbal told the rich man: 'Since you sold the well and not the water, you must either remove all your water from the well or pay rent to the farmer for keeping your water in his well.' The rich man realized his scheme had backfired and allowed the farmer to use the well freely, teaching that clever deceit can be defeated with even cleverer logic.