The Polyglot's Mother Tongue

Image generated using ChatGPT 4o from the prompt: image for the page: [link], showing the scene in a bedroom, where an informant is splashing cold water on Roshan Hindustani

Once, a polyglot came to Emperor Akbar's court. He called himself "Roshan Hindustani," which wasn't his real name, and wanted the Emperor's courtiers to discern his mother tongue. When quizzed, he was found to be fluent in several languages. Beerbal requested the Emperor for some time, and the latter awarded him four days.

A certain courtier bought many sweets during this period and offered them to Roshan Hindustani. After a bout of indecision, Roshan Hindustani picked jalebis, said they were his favorite, and ate them with great relish. When the courtier inquired which state jalebis were made in, he was told that jalebis were made in all states!

During the dead of the night, Beerbal had an informant splash cold water on Roshan Hindustani. Roshan Hindustani started muttering something in Bengali, revealing his real name was "Vishwas Mukherjee." Beerbal concluded that the man's mother tongue was Bengali.