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

John was driving a bus and got stuck when passing through an underpass. Then came Jacob with a needle and got the bus out of the underpass.

What did the boy do?

Asked by Neha on 30 Mar 2025


What do you see in the given picture?

Are you Intelligent ?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

Can you solve below mathematical equation?

2^1234 - 2^1233

Asked by Neha on 26 Jan 2024


Two fathers and two sons went fishing one day. They were there the whole day and only caught 3 fish. One father said, that is enough for all of us, we will have one each. How can this be possible?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

You are trapped into a death trap by the famous jigsaw killer. As usual, a screen flashes in front of you and explains you the trap game. There are 100 pearls kept in a bowl in front of you and an empty bowl. Among the 100 pearls, 50 are white and 50 are black. You can divide them as you like into the two bowls. Once you are done, you will pull a lever, which will turn the room pitch black. The bowls will move and shuffle around. In the dark, you have to pick up one pearl from any bowl. Once you do that, the room will flood with lights again. If the peral you have in your hand is white, you will be allowed to live, but if the pearl you picked is black, the room will be filled with poisonous gas and you will die. How will divide the pearls to increase your chances of survival?

Asked by Neha on 03 Sep 2024

The great emperor Akbar once ruled India. He was well known for his intelligence. But along with that, he was known for the Nine Gems in his court. One of the nine gems was Birbal, a quick witted and extremely intelligent man. The stories of his wit were widely popular.

Once a king ruling in a distant land heard of Birbal. To check his wit, he sent an invitation and called him to visit his land. Akbar allowed Birbal to go and he took off on the journey.

Upon reaching that kings kingdom, he was welcomed with flowers. He was then escorted to the palace of the king. Upon entering the palace, Birbal found that there were six people sitting in front of him adorning the same robe. They were also lookalike and it was hard to judge who the real king was.

After a couple of minutes, Birbal approached one of them and bowed in front of him greeting him.

That was the real king. How did Birbal know who was the real king ?

Asked by Neha on 10 May 2021


The horse jumps over the king.
Strangely there is absolutely no scratch on him.

Can anyone explain, how is this possible?

Asked by Neha on 06 Mar 2023

What is the difference between a jeweller and a jailer?

Asked by Neha on 11 Jul 2025

John named his first son Alpha, second Beta, third Charlie and fourth Delta. What is the fifth son's name?

Asked by Neha on 03 Aug 2024


A man died, leaving $10,000,000 for his widow, 5 sons and 4 daughters. Each daughter received an equal amount, each son received twice as much as a daughter, and the widow received three times as much as a son.

How much did the widow receive?

Asked by Neha on 17 Jan 2026

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword puzzles

In the 1920s, people feared that crossword puzzles would contribute to illiteracy.