One day Birbal and his friend were coming back from somewhere.
There was a small stream in the way. The bridge on that stream was very old, narrow and slippery. Birbal somehow managed to cross that bridge, but his friend could not do it. He lost his balance and fell into the water.
Birbal immediately leaned down to help his friend. He stretched out his hand towards his friend in order to help him come out. His friend quickly grasped his hand and started to pull himself towards the shore.
His friend felt so obligated that he hastily promised Birbal that he would give him twenty dinars for saving his life.
Birbal stoically said, “Thank you!” and let him go into the water again. The man got a shock of his life and went back into the water with a splash.
The man struggled to wade his way of the water and when he finally reached the shore, he asked Birbal, “Why did you do that?”
Birbal said, “To take my reward.”
The man said, “Couldn’t you have waited for me to come out of the water safely?”.
Birbal retorted, “Couldn’t you have waited till you came out of the water and stood on the ground?”
The man realised that he had been hasty in offering the reward and friends do not help each other for material gains. He apologised to Birbal and thanked him for saving him and driving good sense into him.
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