The Tailor

Once the Empress got a rare
silk cloth piece as a gift from
her Chinese counterparts.
She called the Birbal and
expressed her desire to get
a beautiful dress stitched
from the cloth. The Empress
said, “Birbal, I’ve heard that
tailors always steal some
cloth from the cloth piece
given to them for stitching.
I’m not worried that a part of
my cloth piece would be
stolen. However, I don’t want
that anyone other than me
should wear the dress made
from this cloth. I want you to
make some arrangements so
that the tailor can not steal
from the cloth.”
Hearing this, Birbal said,
“Begum Sahiba, my
experience says that
irrespective of whatever you
do, the tailor will mange to
steal a part of the cloth
piece.” The Empress replied,
“No, no! I don’t believe it.
You call the royal tailor here
and ask him to stitch my
dress in the palace itself.
Depute guards around his
work place and then see how
he manages to steal a sloth
piece. I bet, he’ll not be able
to do it.”
Birbal smiled and
said,”Begum Sahiba, the
tailors are very smart.
Whatever you do, they are
bound to steal a part of your
cloth piece.” The Empress
did not agree with him and
took it as a challenge. The
royal tailor was called and
was ordered to work in the
palace. He was told not to
leave the palace until the
work was finished.
The tailor came with all his
essentials to stay in the
palace premises. His work
place was tightly observed
by the royal guards. The
tailor was not allowed to go
out, not even to his house.
Like this, ten days passed.
The whole day, the tailor
works on the extraordinary
dress of the Empress.
One day, the tailor’s
daughter came to see him.
She said, “Father, please
visit home today. Mother is
remembering you a lot.” As
the girl was not allowed
inside, she remained
standing out of the guarded
room.
The tailor expressed his
inability to visit home. But the
daughter remained adamant.
She kept insisting her father.
Irritated be her repeated
insistence, the angry tailor
lifted his shoe and flung it
towards her. He said, “Silly
Girl! So many times, I have
told you that I can’t come.
Why don’t you listen?”
Seeing her father so much
irritated, the little girl giggled
out of amusement. She picked
up the shoe, which was flung
at her and ran away from
there. Finally, the dress was
ready after fifteen days. The
empress was very happy to
see it. She gave good
reward to the tailor. Before
leaving the palace, the tailor
was thoroughly checked by
the guards.
The empress was elated that
her dress would be rare in
the whole kingdom. One day,
the empress was passing
through the market with her
royal cavalcade. Suddenly
she noticed a woman wearing
a blouse, which was made of
the cloth similar to her rare
dress.
Astonished to see this, the
Empress immediately asked
her guards to call the woman
to her palace. When the
woman came, the Empress
asked her who she was.
After enquiry it was found
out that she was the wife of
the royal tailor.
The Empress was angry as
well as surprised. She called
the tailor. The tailor was
very much frightened. He
went to Birbal and requested
him to come along with him.
Birbal felt pity and agreed to
accompany him.
The empress was very
angry, but Birbal cooled her
down. He said, “Begum
Sahiba, it’s not the fault of
the tailor. The tailors are like
this only. Please forgive
him.” The Empress thought
for a while and then said to
the tailor. “I’ll forgive you if
you reveal how did you
manage to take the piece of
the cloth out from the palace.
The tailor said, “Huzoor,
when my daughter came to
call me, I pretended to be
very angry and threw my
shoe towards her. I had
suffered a small piece of
cloth in the shoe. Before
coming here, I had already
briefed my daughter about it.
So, when I flung the shoe
towards her, she picked it
and ran away from there.
This way, the piece of cloth
was brought out the palace.”
The tailor’s head bent down.
As per her promise, the
Empress forgave him and
sent him back. She then
turned towards Birbal and
said, “Birbal, you were
absolutely right. It’s
impossible to prevent this lot
from stealing the cloth.”