Once there was a great poet named Tenali Ramalinga in the court of Emperor Sri Krishna Devaraya. He can defeat anyone with his wits. He received many gifts to please the king.
Four notorious robbers hatched a plan to rob Ramalinga’s house and hid in a banana bush in the back garden of Ramalinga’s house. It was the time for Ramalinga to have his meal. He went into the yard to wash his hands and looked at the trees unexpectedly. He observed that the thieves were hiding in the dark. Ramalinga suddenly thought of a trick without any tension.
He called his wife, shouted loudly, and said, “There is a lot of fear of thieves in the village. In these days, jewelry and coins should not be kept in the house. Let’s wrap them in a sack and throw them into this well!” The thieves heard these words. Ramalinga’s trick worked.
Ramalinga went inside the house and, after some time, brought a bundle and threw it in the well. The thieves saw the package being thrown into the well. The thieves were happy that the wire they were looking for hit the leg. The thieves decided to stay till everyone fell asleep and then go down into the well.
It was very dark, and everyone fell asleep. Then the thieves behind the banana trees got up and looked into the well. The first one went down into the well and searched for a long time for the bundle of jewels. The jewelry package was not found because the water level was high. Another thief said it would be better if some water was poured out. Then the thieves tried to drain out the water from the well for a long time.
Ramalinga saw them pouring water and thinking that it was the time he went into the backyard without making any sound and watered the banana trees. Thieves took turns taking water from the well. No matter how much water they are pouring, the water in the well did not run out. But the banana trees were well watered. They are pouring the water out until the next day.
Finally, they found the package. They were happy that their hard work had paid off. The thieves untied the knot with great hope. It has stones instead of jewels. The thieves did not get a word, knowing how Ramalinga had cheated them. The robbers bowed their heads in shame and ran away.
Those thieves used to think that there was no one better than them. They were able to rob many people. But Ramalinga’s house could not be robbed. The king came to know what had happened. The king was pleased with Ramalinga’s intelligence and honored him with many other gifts.
Moral of the story:
Danger can be overcome with trickery.