Real Thief

Once upon a time lived a wealthy gold merchant, in Emperor Akbar's kingdom. The merchant had workers who assist him in the shop. One day, one of his workers ran away stealing money and jewellery from the shop. The merchant searched for him but in vain. A few years later, the merchant saw the worker in a market. The worker was wearing rich costumes and gold ornaments. The merchant could recognize him in spite of his rich attire as he worked in his shop for a good time. The worker also recognized the merchant, and realized that there is no way to escape. So, the worker immediately started to allegedly shouted, "You wicked person, at last I found you. Do you think, you can escape here as well.  Where did you hide the money and gold". The merchant was stunned with the worker's sudden drama. The merchant replied, "what are you talking. Why will I steal. You are the thief, and if you don't return the money and gold, I will report to security guards. Both of them started making allegations on each other. Finally they went to emperor's court for justice. After hearing both their allegations, the emperor asked Birbal to resolve the issue.

Birbal closely observed both of them. One of them was talking bravely while other was trying to cover up the disconcert. Birbal recognized the real thief, based on his observations. In order to expose real thief to public, he played a trick. Birbal asked both of them to place their heads outside of the window. After they followed his instructions, Birbal asked one of the soldiers to bring a sword. Birbal now ordered the soldier to draw the sword and  "cut the head of the worker who is lieing". On hearing the order, the worker who was pretending as rich man got worried and immediately took his head back from the window. In this manner, Birbal made the worker to expose by himself. Akbar praised Birbal, for his smartness, who made the thief to expose all by himself.