Tenaliraman and the horse

Tenaliraman and the horse

The king wanted all his people to grow horses . Maithree could not understand. Dogs, Yes. Cats , Yes. But why at all horses. She has seen them in cowboy films on the TV. And so natural question was why?

Thatha had to go back to old history. During those times , Maithree, wars between kings were being fought. But then why, popped the question from Thatha’s own Kutti. All kings wanted to rule over others so that they become richer and so they fought wars. Does it mean, Thatha that Tenali's king was bad, interjected Kutti. No, Darling but he was afraid of other kings and he needed more horses. So, Kutti, he called all his people and gave them one horse each to bring up. He also gave them lot of straw so that the horses can eat. All people were happy except Tenaliraman. He shut his horse in a room and daily at 9 AM sharp give it very little straw . The rest o the straw he gave to his cows. Maithree Kutti , was very angry. Is it not bad, Thatha shouted , Maithree.. Thatha agreed but told her that this was indeed bad.

After one more year, the king wanted to see all his horses. All of them brought their horses. They were indeed very good. But King noticed that Tenaliraman had not brought his horse. He asked him why he has not brought his horse. Tenaliraman replied that his horse was very strong and he could not bring it. The king was surprised. He said , I will send my police to your house tomorrow at 9 AM. Tenali nodded his head. Maithree Kutti was jumping. Thatha , that means Tenaliraman would be punished by the king, is it not, Thatha.

Next day the police inspector went to Tenali Raman’s house. He had a beard, which was very long. Tenali Raman took him to the room where the house was kept locked. He asked him to see through the window. The inspector peeped in through the narrow window. Naturally his beard entered the room first. The horse thought that it was straw being given at the regular time. It Caught hold of the beard of the inspector and started pulling. The inspector was crying in pain. But the horse was not leaving because , it knew that this was the only straw for the day. The inspector lost his beard and ran to the king

He told the king that Tenaliraman's horse was very strong. That is cheating , Thatha , cried , Kutti. That is true , darling, but then some times people do get deceived by clever people