Birbal Stories: Birbal Is Brief

One day Akbar asked his courtiers if they could tell him the difference between truth and falsehood in three words or less.

 

The courtiers looked at one another in bewilderment¹.

 

"What about you, Birbal?" asked the emperor. "I'm surprised that you too are silent."

 

"I'm silent because I want to give others a chance to speak," said Birbal.

 

"Nobody else has the answer," said the emperor. "So go ahead and tell me what the difference between truth and falsehood is — in three words or less."

 

"Four fingers" said Birbal

 

"Four fingers?" asked the emperor, perplexed². 

 

"That's the difference between truth and falsehood, your Majesty," said Birbal. "That which you see with your own eyes is the truth. That which you have only heard about might not be true. More often than not, it's likely to be false."

 

"That is right," said Akbar. "But what did you mean by saying the difference is four fingers?'

 

"The distance between one's eyes and one's ears is the width of four fingers, Your Majesty," said Birbal, grinning. 

1 bewilderment   

n.迷惑

参考例句：

• He was in great [complete] bewilderment at the sight. 他看到这种情景，被完全弄糊涂了。
• Irena shook her head, but in bewilderment, not negation. 伊连娜摇了摇头，是困惑，而非拒绝。

2 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。