Tuesday 17 September 2013

The greater fool wins the race!



One day a horse trader came to the Kingdom of Vijayanagara to meet King Krishnadevaraya.The trader showed the king a very beautifully groomed horse and sold the idea of buying 100 more such horses from the man. The king had a weakness for well-groomed horses and gave a 5000 gold coins as an advance payment for the horses that the merchant promised to deliver within two weeks.

For a few days after the merchant had left the king was impatient, but elated. One day he was pacing up and down in the palace gardens. Tenali Raman was sitting in one corner of the garden and was busy writing something. After a couple of hours, the king walked up to Raman and wanted to know what he had been writing all the while.
Raman stopped writing and looked up at the king, with a gentle smile on his lips. “Your Majesty, I was engaged in the task of compiling a list that contained the names of the fools in our kingdom. The top most name is that of the greatest fool and then the second and so on” explained Tenali Raman.

The King became curious and wanted to know whose name featured on top of the list. He ordered Raman to give the list to him at once. Raman feigned a frightened look as he reluctantly handed over the list to the King.On seeing the list the King was angered and turned red on his face. 

Image belongs to:http://goo.gl/OxI9W1 




“How dare you write my name on the top? Do I look like a fool to you” thundered Krishnadevaraya. Tenali Raman bowed in front of the King and began to explain. “My Lord, I did not mean to hurt you. I only wanted you to know that handing over 5000 gold coins to a stranger in the hope that he will bring you the horses was rather a foolish act.” The king cooled down a bit and turned towards Raman and asked him if he would remove his name from the list, if the horse trader delivered the horses on time, and as promised.

“Most willingly, Your Honour. In that case I will put the horse trader’s name on top of the list” said Tenali.
The King could never be angry for too long when Tenali Raman was around!

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