Tenali Rama: The thieves who watered the garden

Told in English, Telugu.

Long, long ago, in the great kingdom of Vijayanagara, there lived a man named Tenali Ramakrishna. Everyone called him Tenali Rama. He was a poet in the court of King Krishnadevaraya, and he was famous for one thing above all. He was clever. Very, very clever.

That summer, the sun was hot and fierce. Not a single drop of rain had fallen for many weeks. The ponds were low, the fields were dusty, and the leaves in Tenali Rama's garden were drooping and sad. His brinjal plants hung their heads. His jasmine bushes looked tired. Even the banana trees seemed to be sighing.

At the back of his house there was a deep, old well. It still had water, far, far down. But pulling up bucket after bucket to water the whole garden was very hard work.

One evening, Tenali Rama sat on his front step, fanning himself and looking at his thirsty plants. "Oh, my poor garden," he said. "If only someone would help me draw water from that well."

Just then, he noticed something. Behind the big tamarind tree near his gate, two shadows were moving. He looked again, very carefully, without turning his head. Yes! Two men were hiding there, crouched low and whispering.

Tenali Rama did not jump. He did not shout. He simply smiled a tiny smile to himself. "Aha," he thought. "Thieves. They are waiting for us to fall asleep so they can creep in and steal our things."

Then an idea came into his head, the way a lamp lights up a dark room.

He walked inside and called to his wife, in a very loud voice, much louder than usual. "My dear! Come here, quickly!"

His wife came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands. "Why are you shouting? I am right here."

Tenali Rama winked at her and put a finger to his lips. Then, still in his big loud voice, he said, "I have heard that there are thieves going around the village these days. We must keep our gold and jewels safe!"

His wife understood at once that something was going on. She played along. "Oh no! Thieves! What shall we do?" she said loudly.

"Here is my plan," said Tenali Rama, nice and loud, so that his voice carried all the way to the tamarind tree. "We will put all our gold coins and jewels into our big wooden box. Then we will drop the box into the well! No thief will ever think of looking at the bottom of a well."

Behind the tree, the two thieves looked at each other with wide eyes. "Did you hear that?" whispered the first thief. "Gold! Jewels! In the well!"

"This is our lucky night," whispered the second thief, rubbing his hands.

Inside the house, Tenali Rama and his wife were giggling quietly. They took the big wooden box and filled it up, not with gold, not with jewels, but with stones from the garden and old broken bricks. It became very heavy. They tied the lid shut with a strong rope.

Then together, huffing and puffing, they carried the box out to the well. "Be careful with our precious treasure!" Tenali Rama said loudly.

One, two, three, and SPLASH! Down went the box, deep into the water.

"Now our treasure is safe," said Tenali Rama with a big yawn. "Let us go to sleep." They went inside, blew out the lamp, and closed the door. But Tenali Rama did not sleep. He sat by the window and peeped out.

Soon, the two thieves came tiptoeing out from behind the tamarind tree. They crept to the well and looked down. It was dark and very deep. They could not see the box at all.

"The water is too deep," said the first thief. "We must pull the water out until we can reach the box."

So they picked up the bucket and began. Down went the bucket, up came the water. Down went the bucket, up came the water. They emptied each bucket on the ground, and the water flowed along the little channels, right into the garden.

Bucket after bucket. Hour after hour. The thieves were sweating and panting. "Keep going," puffed the second thief. "Think of all that gold!"

And all the while, the cool water ran and ran, to the brinjal plants, to the jasmine bushes, to the thirsty banana trees. Tenali Rama sat at his window, smiling, and every now and then he quietly moved the channels with a stick so the water would reach every corner.

Can you imagine how tired those thieves must have been?

At last, just as the sky turned pink and the first rooster crowed, the thieves pulled up the heavy box. Their hands were shaking with excitement. They untied the rope, lifted the lid, and looked inside.

Stones. Old bricks. Nothing else!

The two thieves stared at each other, their mouths hanging open.

Just then the door creaked, and out stepped Tenali Rama, fresh and smiling. "Good morning, my friends!" he said cheerfully. "Thank you so much for watering my garden. Look how happy my plants are! I have been wishing for a helper for weeks, and you two worked all night. If you come back tomorrow, the vegetables would love another drink!"

The thieves looked at the green, shining garden. Then they looked at Tenali Rama. Then they turned and ran out of the gate as fast as their tired legs could carry them, and they never came near that house again.

Tenali Rama's wife came out laughing. "You saved our things, and you got the whole garden watered too!"

When the story reached the royal court, King Krishnadevaraya laughed until his eyes were wet. "Only Tenali Rama," he said, "could make thieves do his gardening!"

And so, my little one, remember: when trouble comes creeping, stay calm and think. A clever idea can turn a bad night into a very good morning. Now close your eyes, and sleep well.