Back to: Karnataka Board Class 6th English Guide and Notes
Table of Contents
Characters
- Akbar: A Mughal Emperor.
- Birbal: A Saraswat Hindu Bhatt Brahmin advisor and main commander of the army in the court of the Mughal emperor, Akbar.
- Pandit: A learned scholar who visits Akbar’s court.
Introduction
The given lesson The Scholar’s Mother Tongue is extracted from Akbar and Biral Stories’. The chapter is about a learned scholar who knew all the languages. One day he visited Akbar’s court. He challenged all the courtiers in the court of Akbar to tell his mother tongue. None in the court could tell his mother tongue as he was very fluent in speaking all languages.
Then Birbal accepted the challenge. At night Birbal secretly entered the room where the scholar was sleeping. Then Birbal whispered something in his ear. The scholar who was in deep sleep shouted out some words in his mother tongue which was in Telugu. The next day Birbal declares that the scholar’s mother tongue was Telugu and the scholar agreed to it.
Summary
Akbar challenges the courtiers
One day Akbar drew a line on the floor of the open court and challenged his courtiers to make it shorter without erasing it. Everyone was puzzled but Birbal at once drew a longer line beside the’ first one, without touching the first one. All the courtiers and Akbar agreed that now the first line is shorter.
Once a learned scholar (Pandit) visits the court of Akbar and introduces himself as a master of many languages, and can speak many languages fluently. He challenges all present there to find out what his mother tongue is.
Everyone in the court fails to discover Pandit’s mother tongue
All the courtiers fail to find out the pandit’s mother tongue. Then Birbal tells the Pandit that he shall find out the Pandit’s mother tongue in a day or two. The Pandit agrees. That night Birbal sneaks into the Pandit’s bedroom and finds him fast asleep. He whispers into the Pandit’s ear, then he tickles his ear with a feather.
The pandit who was in deep sleep shouted out some words in his mother tongue. He shouts ‘Tevaradi’ in Telugu which means ‘who is that?’ The next day Birbal declares that the Pandit’s mother tongue is Telugu in front of the whole court. The pandit agrees to it.
Birbal once again wins the challenge
Akbar is astonished and congratulates Birbal and asks him how he found out the truth. Birbal explains that in times of difficulty a person speaks his mother tongue. Then he narrates the entire incident that took place in the pandit’s bedroom, the previous night. The Pandit accepts defeat and leaves the king’s court in dismay.
Conclusion
Here is another story that shows Birbal’s wisdom. Akbar Birbal’s stories are definitely the most popular stories among people of all age groups. These stories are full of wit, humor, and intelligence. Stories of Akbar and Birbal also convey messages of virtues and moral values. Birbal was a clever man.
He entered Pandit’s room when he was sleeping. Then he whispered into the Pundit’s ear and tickled it with a feather. Pandit got scared and awakened to shout in his mother tongue. That is how Birbal came to know his mother tongue, with the example of Birbal one must learn to be wise and efficient in life.
