There was a washerman in Akbar's kingdom who had a donkey.
The donkey was old and slow and ate a great deal. The washerman complained about him constantly - to his wife, to his neighbours, to anyone who stopped long enough to listen. The donkey, he said, was useless. The donkey was a burden. The donkey did nothing but eat and sleep.
One day Emperor Akbar overheard this and was struck by a thought.
"If the donkey is so useless," he said to Birbal, "why does the washerman keep him?"
Birbal said he would find out.
He went to the washerman's house and spent an afternoon there, watching. He saw the donkey carry heavy bundles of wet clothes from the river. He saw the washerman load him without a word of thanks. He saw the donkey stand patiently in the sun while the washerman rested in the shade.
Birbal came back to the court.
"The donkey is not useless," he told the Emperor. "He does most of the work. The washerman complains about him because complaining costs nothing and gratitude is harder."
Akbar thought about this. "And what should be done about it?"
"Nothing," said Birbal. "The donkey does not know he is being complained about. He just keeps working."
Akbar laughed. Then he stopped laughing and looked at Birbal for a moment.
"Are you talking about the donkey?" he said.
Birbal said nothing. But he smiled.
There are people in every household who do the quiet work without recognition. And there are those who speak loudly about how much others cost them - while forgetting entirely what those others carry.
