Tenali Raman and the Cat

A long time ago, Krishna Deva Raya had a very wise minister in his court – Tenali Raman. Once, the kingdom faced a major problem of rates. Rats had multiplied to a very large number and were creating a lot of destruction. They were nibbling through important papers, clothes, grains in food stores, etc. There were not many cats in the kingdom to catch all the rats. So, the king asked all the houses in the kingdom to keep one cat each. But cats feed on milk and not every house owned a cow to get the milk. So, the king also gave cows to every house. The people were happy and brought up the cows and the cats. They used to give a lot of milk to their cats.

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But Tenali Raman was a lazy fellow and he was also very fond of drinking milk. He wanted to keep the milk from the cow for himself. So he thought of a clever trick. He boiled the milk and poured it in a pan. Then, he put this pan in front of the cat. As soon as the cat touched the boiling hot milk with its tongue, its tongue got burned and it ran away at once.

Tenali repeated the same thing the next day and again the day after that. After a few days like that, the cat refused to touch the milk that was offered to it for fear of getting its mouth burned. In this way, Tenali got to drink all the milk himself.

One day, the king ordered for all the cats to be brought before him for inspection. While everyone else’s cats were fat and healthy, Tenali’s cat looked thin and weak. The king was a very angry with Tenali for not taking proper care of the cat. But Tenali pleaded, “Your Majesty, I cannot help it. My cat does not drink any milk at all.” The king said, “Nonsense, I will put you in prison for telling a lie.” Tenali requested the king to give him a chance to prove it and the king agreed.

So, Tenali brought his cat and the pan of milk in front of the king. He offered milk to the cat. But on seeing the pan of milk, the cat ran away, frightened. The king was surprised at this but he let Tenali go. Tenali lived happily, enjoying lots of milk by himself.

The End

Tenali Raman Attempts to Turn a Dog into Cow

One early morning, King Krishna Deva Raya woke up, walk out of the rooms and called out to the gaurds. When a guard appeared, the king ordered him to fetch the barber immediately. The guard left to carry out his orders and the king returned to his room. He sat down comfortable in an easy chair and in no time he was deep asleep again. When the Barber came to the king’s room, he found the king sleeping in the chair.

He did not want to wake the king up. So, very quietly, he trimmed the king’s hair and shaved his beard. The king was still sleeping soundly when the barber completed his job and left. A little while later, the king woke up. As he did not see the barber whom he had summoned, he got angry. He shouted for his attendant and told him to bring the barber to him that very instant.

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Just then, the king put his hand on his chin. To his surprise, his chin felt smooth and shaved. So the king went to take a look at himself in the mirror. He saw that his hair had been trimmed neatly and his beard was properly shaved. The king was impressed with the barber’s work. When the attendant brought the barber along, the king said to the barber, “You have done good work today. Iam impressed with you. Ask for a boon and I shall grant it.”

The barber was very happy to hear this. He replied, “Your majesty, you have been so kind that my family and I have no dearth of anything. But, since long I have had just one wish – that is to become a Brahmin if you Highness can bestow this boon upon me.”

The king was astonished on hearing the barber’s wish but he said, “If that is what you desire, it shall be fulfilled tomorrow.”

“The barber was overjoyed and he left the room, praising the king”.

Then, the king summoned some Brahmins and instructed them, “I have promised to transform the barber to a Brahmin. You have to make sure that you carry out the transformation with all your knowledge. I will reward all of you suitably.” Lured by the mention of the reward, the Brahmins agreed at once to transform the barber to a Brahmin.

This news spread around the town and became a cause of great concern for the Brahmins. They talked among themselves, “What the king is doing not fair. It is something that goes against dharma. You cannot just transform somebody into a Brahmin. This will result in more and more people wanting to become a Brahmin.”But none of them had the courage to voice their objections openly for fear of punishment.

So, they decided to go to Tenali Raman to seek a solution. Tenali Raman listened to the whole story and assured the Brahmins that he will do his best to stop this activity. The next morning, the Brahmins who were ordered by the king, took the barber to the holy river and began the procedure of the transformation by chanting hymns and mantras. The king was also overlooking the proceedings.

The king noticed that, Tenali was standing with a black dog at a distance. Then the king went to Tenali and asked him what he was doing with the dog. Tenali replied that he was trying to transform the black dog into a white cow. The king laughed loudly and said, “Oh Tenali, you are such a fool! How can a dog turn into a cow by giving it a dip in holy water and chanting hymns around him?” Tenali replied, “My Lord, forgive me for being foolish. But, if a barber can be transformed into a Brahmin, why can’t this black dog change to a white cow?”

Then the King realized his mistake. He called the barber and told him that is was not possible to transform him into a Brahmin so he should ask for another wish. The barber replied respectfully that because of the king’s kindness he had plenty of everything and did not need anything.

TheKing appreciated Tenali’s intelligence and rewarded him for opening his eyes and stopped doing things against dharma.

The End.