Birbal Stories: Birbal Shortens Road

The Emperor Akbar was traveling to a distant place along with some of his courtiers. It was a hot day and the emperor was tiring of the journey.

 

“Can’t anybody shorten this road for me?" he asked, querulously.

 

“I can," said Birbal.

 

The other courtiers looked at one another, perplexed¹. All of them knew there was no other path through the hilly terrain². 

 

The road they were traveling on was the only one that could take them to their destination.

 

“You can shorten the road?" said the emperor. “Well, do it."

 

“I will," said Birbal. “Listen first to this story I have to tell."

 

And riding beside the emperor’s palanquin, he launched upon a long and intriguing³ tale that held Akbar and all those listening, spellbound. Before they knew it, they had reached the end of their journey.

 

“We’ve reached?" exclaimed Akbar. “So soon!"

 

“Well," grinned Birbal, “you did say you wanted the road to be shortened." 

1 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

2 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

3 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》