One evening the padishah and Birbal went out on horseback for a walk. Suddenly, by chance, the padishah’s gaze fell on a lonely old woman - she was standing by the road and holding a sword in an ancient sheath. The padishah, becoming interested, turned his horse and rode up to her.
- Tell me, what kind of sword is this?
- Patron of the poor! - the old woman answered meekly. - I want to sell it. A long time ago it was lying around my house, but now the need came, there was nothing left to eat, so I brought it up for sale.
The padishah took the weapon out of its sheath and began to examine it. Alas, the sword was no good: it was corroded by rust, the blade was jagged... The padishah returned it to the old woman, and she stared at the sword as if she had seen it for the first time.
- What's happened? — the padishah was surprised. - Has your sword changed, or what?
- O ruler of the world! That's the point, it hasn't changed! I heard that as soon as you touch iron with a miracle stone, it will turn into gold. But then with a miracle stone - your hand - you touched my iron sword, and for some reason it remained the same as before. This is what surprised me.
The padishah took the hint and ordered the resourceful old woman to be given from the treasury the same amount of gold as her sword weighed.
Birbal stood calmly nearby, and both the wise words of the old woman and the generosity of the padishah responded with joy in his heart.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru