The Tree That Owned Its Fruit

A landlord tried to claim fruit from a tree growing by a poor man’s hut; Birbal asked the wind to testify.

When the wind blew, branches swayed over the poor man’s roof and shed fruit on his mat. Birbal said, ‘Things go where they lean.’ If a branch feeds a table, the table shares its rights. The landlord kept the trunk and the shade by the road; the fruit belonged to the door that welcomed it.