Tenali Raman and the Thief

King Krishnadevaraya was the ruler of the Kingdom of Vijayanagar. 

One of the king’s ministers was Raman of Tenali.

Raman was a witty man and he rose to prominence in the court of Krishnadevaraya by his intelligence.

Once it so happened that Tenali Raman was traveling from one place to another and Raman had plenty of gold coins with him. 

At that time another man joined him. The other man claimed that he was afraid of thieves and wanted company for protection.

Tenali Raman readily agreed to this.

Both the men set out on their journey. 

After a day’s exhausting journey both the men rested in a room in an inn. 

The man who had accompanied Tenali Raman was not none other than a thief himself. He stole from travelers by accompanying them in this manner.

At night when Raman was fast asleep, the thief searched all of Raman's belongings. But with no luck. The thief even looked under Raman's pillow. But the thief still did not get anything.

So the next morning the two men set off on their travels again. 

That night too the thief’s search did not yield any results.

Finally on the third day, the two men were about to part ways. 

At that time the other man openly confronted Raman. The man admitted that he was a thief and that he was sure that Raman had plenty of riches with him. The thief looked disappointed and told Tenali that he could not find the riches anywhere no matter how hard he looked.

Tenali Raman laughed at the thief. “I knew you were a thief the minute I saw you. I knew I had to keep my belongings safe so I hid it in a very safe place. 

The thief was annoyed. “I looked everywhere. I even checked under your pillow.”

Tenali Raman shrugged. “Did you look under your pillow?”

The thief was stunned as Tenali Raman continued, “I knew you would never look there, so I hid all my coins under your pillow.”

Indian folk stories