Page 53 - English Class 02

Once, Emperor Akbar was travelling to a distant place along with

some of his courtiers . It was a hot day. The emperor was tired of the

journey.

He was upset to know that he had to travel a lot yet. He wanted

to shorten his journey in any way.

“Can’t anybody shorten this road for me?” he asked.

distant : far away
courtiers : attendant at the court

shorten : make shorter

All the courtiers were shocked to listen to this. They kept quiet.

“How could someone shorten the path?” they thought to themselves.

“I can,” said Birbal.

The other courtiers looked at one another. All of them knew

there was no other path through the hilly way.

The road that they were travelling upon was the only one that

could take them to their destination.

“Can you shorten the road?” said the emperor. “Well, do it.”

English-2 53