Tenali Raman and the thieves
A funny folk tale from South India about Tenali Raman, a clever poet at the court of King Krishnadevaraya, about 500 years ago.
1. One hot summer, there was no rain. Tenali Raman’s garden was dry, and he was too tired to carry water from the well.
2. One night, he saw thieves hiding near his house. He had an idea! He said loudly, “Thieves are near! Let’s hide our jewels!”
3. He filled a big box with stones and dropped it into the well. Splash! The thieves heard it all.
4. When the house was dark, the thieves crept to the well. They pulled up bucket after bucket of water to find the box.
5. All night long they poured the water out, and it ran straight into Tenali’s garden. They never found any jewels!
6. In the morning, Tenali called out, “Thank you for watering my garden!” The thieves ran away and never came back.
The lesson: use your brain! A clever idea can turn a problem into a help.
Put it in order
Write 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the boxes.
The thieves pulled up water all night.
Tenali saw the thieves hiding.
The garden got watered.
Tenali dropped a box of stones into the well.
Nibbles asksLong ago, many families got water from a well. Where does the water in your home come from?
Did you know?Tenali Raman stories have been told for hundreds of years, in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and many other languages.