Mahesh Das was a citizen in Akbar' kingdom. He was an intelligentyoung man. Once when Akbar went hunting in the jungle, he losthis way. Mahesh Das who lived in the outskirts helped the kingreach the palace. The emperor rewarded him with his ring.

The Emperor also promised to give him a responsible posting at hiscourt. After a few days Mahesh Das went to the court. The guarddid not allow him to enter. Mahesh Das showed the guard the ringwhich the king had given him. Now the guard thought that the
young man was sure to get more rewards by the king. The greedy
guard agreed to allow him inside the court on one condition. It was
that Mahesh Das had to pay him half the reward he would get from
the Emperor. Mahesh Das accepted the condition. He then entered
the court and showed the ring to the King. The King who
recognized Mahesh asked him "Oh young man! What do you
expect as a reward from the King of Hindustan?" "Majesty! I expect 50 lashes from you as a reward." replied Mahesh Das. The
courtiers were stunned. They thought that he was mad. Akbar
pondered over his request and asked him the reason. Mahesh Das
said he would tell him the reason after receiving his reward. Then
the king's men whipped him as per his wish. After the 25th lash
Mahesh Das requested the King to call the guard who was at the
gate. The guard appeared before the King. He was happy at the
thought that he was called to be rewarded. But to his surprise,
Mahesh Das told the King ,"Jahampana! This greedy guard let me
inside on condition that I pay him half the reward I receive from you.
I wanted to teach him a lesson. Please give the remaining 25
lashes to this guard so that I can keep my promise to him."

The story is about the kingdom's guard who cheats the poor innocent people by making them pay to enter the court or meet the emperor.

Moral Of The Story - Greed is a curse.