One day, a single sweet went missing from the palace kitchen. The cook complained that a young servant boy named Tuntun had taken the sweet without asking.

When Emperor Akbar heard about it, he became angry. He called Tuntun to the court and said, “You have stolen! You will be punished.”

Tuntun stood there frightened. Tears came to his eyes. He was only ten or eleven years old.

Birbal stepped forward and said gently, “Your Majesty, the mistake is small, so the punishment should also be the smallest. With your permission, may I decide the punishment?”

Akbar agreed. Birbal smiled and said to Tuntun, “Son, your punishment is this — you will walk around this court and go to every person. Politely say to each one, ‘I took one sweet without asking. Please forgive me.’ That is all. And you will carry that same sweet on your open palm while you walk.”

Tuntun nodded and began his punishment. He went to each courtier one by one. Some people smiled, some patted his head kindly, and some said, “Don’t do it again.” The sweet stayed on his open palm. The more he walked, the heavier that small mistake began to feel.

When he had apologised to everyone in the court, Birbal called him back and asked, “Now tell me, how did this small punishment feel?”

Tuntun’s eyes filled with tears. He said softly, “Uncle Birbal, the punishment looked small, but it felt very big. I will never take anything without asking again.”

Akbar was amazed. He looked at Birbal and said, “Birbal, you gave the smallest punishment and taught the greatest lesson!”

A warm and gentle atmosphere filled the court. Tuntun was forgiven, and from that day he always asked permission before taking anything.

Moral: Sometimes the smallest punishment reaches the heart and teaches more than the biggest one.