Make the Line Sorter

Birbal was jester, counsellor, and fool to the great Moghul emperor, Akbar.
The villagers loved to talk of Birbal's wisdom and cleverness,
and the emperor loved to try to outsmart him.
One day Akbar (emperor) drew a line across the floor.
"Birbal," he ordered, "you must make this line shorter, but you cannot erase any bit of it."
Everyone present thought the emperor had finally outsmarted Birbal.
It was clearly an impossible task.
Yet within moments the emperor and everyone else present had to agree that Birbal had made the line shorter without erasing any of it.
How could this be?




Similar Riddles

Look at me. I can bring a smile to your face, A tear to your eye, Or even a thought to your mind. But, I can't be seen. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 17 Apr 2026


Find the next number in the series.
1 10 24 43 67 ?

Asked by Neha on 26 Jun 2024

I know there are two methods by using three time the same number with a plus(+) operator , you can make sum as 60.

One of them is 20+20+20.

whats the other way ?

Asked by Neha on 28 May 2024


At a Society election for president, precisely 963 votes were cast.
There is a total of 4 candidates that participate in the election.

The winning candidate exceeds the opponents by 53, 79 and 105 votes.

How many votes do each candidate gets?

Asked by Neha on 04 Aug 2024

There are 20 people in an empty, square room. Each person has full sight of the entire room and everyone in it without turning his head or body, or moving in any way (other than the eyes). Where can you place an apple so that all but one person can see it?

Asked by Neha on 08 Apr 2022

How can you spell "White of an egg" in one word?
Hint: I know you can spell coke, poke, and joke.

Asked by Neha on 14 Apr 2025


How old is your son? asked a man to his neighbour. My son is five times as old as my daughter and my wife is five times as old as my son. I am twice as old as my wife whereas my grandmother, who is celebrating her eighty-first birthday is as old as all of us put together.

How old is the man's son ?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

A mile-long train is moving at sixty miles an hour when it reaches a mile-long tunnel. How long does it take the entire train to pass through the tunnel?

Asked by Neha on 27 Apr 2022

A high school has a strange principal. On the first day, he has his students perform an odd opening day ceremony:

There are one thousand lockers and one thousand students in the school. The principal asks the first student to go to every locker and open it. Then he has the second student go to every second locker and close it. The third goes to every third locker and, if it is closed, he opens it, and if it is open, he closes it. The fourth student does this to every fourth locker, and so on. After the process is completed with the thousandth student, how many lockers are open?

Principal in the School

Asked by Neha on 05 Mar 2021


John is pretty weird. He likes toffees but hates chocolates. He loves books but never reads. He likes to build his troops in an online game but does not proceed with the war. He likes to go swimming but is afraid of water.

Seeking this behaviour, can you tell whether he likes balloons and parties?

Asked by Neha on 05 May 2024

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Rubik’s Cube

The inventor of the Rubik’s Cube didn’t realize he’d built a puzzle until he scrambled it the first time and tried to restore it.