Thieves and Tenali Ramakrishna
Once King KrishnadevaRaya visited the jail in his kingdom to survey it. There, he met two prisoners who were thieves. They pleaded for the king’s mercy. Then king asked then to justify their release and how would it benefit their kingdom. They told the king that they were experts in their profession and hence can act as his spies. Thus, they could help the king by providing him with the information about other thieves and robberies being planned. Then king got a naughty thought to test thieves and also Tenali Rama.
KrishnadevaRaya Releasing Thieves on Condition
KrishnadevaRaya agreed to release them with a condition. He told them that he intends to test if they were suitable to be his spies or not. He said he would appoint them as spies only if they could rob Tenali Ramakrishna’s house. Also, he said that if they could not steal valuables from Tenali Rama’s house they will again be put back in the prison. The thieves were not aware of Tenali Rama’s wit and smartness. So, they thought it was a simple job and happily accepted the challenge.
That same night these two thieves were sent to Tenali Rama’s house. These thieves hid themselves behind some bushes waiting for appropriate time. Tenali Rama came out of his house for a short walk after dinner. He heard some sounds in the bushes. He quickly understood the presence of thieves in his garden.
Tenali Ramakrishna Plotting Against Thieves
Tenali Rama was quiet for a few minutes, plotting a plan to teach the thieves a lesson. Later, he went inside his house and told his wife loudly(so that thieves can hear) that there are thieves in their garden, and they should be very careful about the jewelry and other valuables in the house. He asked her to pack all the valuables in a trunk. The thieves heard this conversation. They felt very happy that their job has become much easier as all the valuables would be available at a single place.
After some time, Tenali Rama brought out the trunk and dropped it in the well at the backyard of his house. He did all this in such a manner that the thieves can see what he was doing. The thieves saw this. The thieves went near the well and started drawing water out of it. They did that throughout the night. They finally pulled the trunk out of the well by dawn. To their shock the box was empty. Right then, Tenali Rama came out of his house and thanked them for watering his plants. The two thieves realized that Tenali Rama had outsmarted them. They apologized to Tenali Rama and guards put them back in prison.