A handful of grain

Once in the kingdom of Vijayanagar there was a very scholarly woman. She was very well read. She had defeated many men in scholarly debates. 

All this got into the woman's head. She believed that she was far too clever than the others in her kingdom. 

She even announced that she could offer 1000 gold coins to anybody who could outsmart her in wit and wisdom. 

A few days later a man was selling firewood on the streets, just outside the woman’s house. 

The man selling the firewood had a grating voice which irritated the woman. Just to get the man to stop talking aloud, the woman asked the man to sell the firewood to her. 

The man selling the firewood studied her. “What price would you offer for the wood?”

The woman was slightly surprised. “What price do you want?” 

“I want a handful of grain,” the man selling the firewood replied. 

The woman agreed to it and asked the man to keep the firewood inside her home.

“Now give me a handful of grain,” the man selling the firewood told the woman, after he had kept the grain in her house. 

The woman picked up a fistful of rice and handed it over to the man. 

The man shook his head. “This is not what we agreed on. I cannot accept this.”

The woman was surprised and she pulled out a bigger handful. 

However the man was still not satisfied. 

The man finally looked accusingly at her. “You offered a handful of grain for my firewood. Now you have taken my firewood but you have not kept your part of the bargain.” 

The woman was angry too. “You wouldn't accept anything that I'm giving you. And you are blaming me for that?” 

The argument went on and finally they went to court. 

The judge heard the woman and the man. 

The judge finally turned to the man selling the firewood. “If she is willing to offer you grains which fit in her hand why do you not accept it?” 

The man selling the wood shook his head. “That was not our agreed deal. I wanted a handful of grain. That means that I wanted a single grain that would fill the entire hand.” 

The court was silent and the woman was shocked as the man continued. “The woman failed to understand this. She has not given me what I asked for so I cannot accept the payment.” 

Everybody at the court looked at the woman and the man and they all realized that the man had outsmarted the woman. 

A few days later the woman removed the announcement outside her house proclaiming that she would pay anyone a 1000 gold coins if they defeated her. 

Naturally the man selling the firewood was not a seller at all but it was Tenali Raman, a minister of the court of the kingdom of Vijayanagar, who had come in disguise to teach the woman a lesson.

Indian Folk Stories