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?




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Chhote se Chintu Miyan,
Lambi si Pooch.
Jahan Jaye Chintu Miyan,
Wahan Jaye Pooch.

छोटे से चींटू मियाँ,
लंबी सी पूंछ।
जहाँ जाये चींटू मियाँ,
वहाँ जाये पूंछ।

Bolo kya?

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No Solution

In 2007, a puzzle was released and $2 million prizes were offered for the first complete solution. The competition ended at noon on 31 December 2010, with no solution being found. Wiki