151 Stories of Tenali Raman

One day, Tenali Raman was going back after having an audience with the king. His one coin fell down from his pocket. It was the only money he had at that time, so he started immediately looking for it. Rajguru, who was one of his bitter enemies at the court, said, “See, Your Majesty, how […]

One day, king Krishnadeva saw a woman hugging and kissing a very dark, ugly and unattractive child. He was very surprised to see that. He thought and thought but could not reasion it. He asked Tenali why she was doing that to such an unattractive child. Tenali replied innocently, “Your Highness, he must have been

One day, Tenali’s five-year old daughter accompanied him to the Royal Court. When Krishnadeva saw her, it just came to his mind that he should test her wits whether she had the same type of wits as her father had. He started talking to her, “Do you know Persian, O little girl?” “A little lesser

Once Tenali was invited to dinner by a rich man. When Tenali reached there, he found himself in a large crowd. The host greeted him warmly and took him inside. Tenali said, “I did not know that there would be so many guests in this gathering.” The host replied politely, “They are not guests, Sir.

Krishnadeva used to ask many odd questions from his courtiers and amused himself. One day, he entered the Royal Court, settled in his Royal chair, and asked his courtiers, “What punishment should be given to a person who pulls my moustache?” One said, “He should be beheaded.” Another said, “He should be flogged.” Yet another

One day, king Krishnadeva was taking a walk in his royal gardens with several courtiers. Many flowers were flowering at that time of season. A poet pointed out towards a beautiful flower and said, “Look your Highness, how beautiful that flower is! No man can produce such a beautiful thing as this.” Tenali was also

Several courtiers were vying to be the Royal Advisor of king Krishnadeva. So one day, when they came to the court, they said to the king, “Each of us wants to be your Royal Advisor.” The king said, “No problem, but you will have to pass the test before you could be my Royal Advisor.

One day Krishnadeva was strolling in his palace gardens with his dear minister Tenali. Many crows were flying around. The King enjoyed their flying. Just then, he thought, How many crows could be in his kingdom? Immediately, he posed this question to Tenali. Tenali thought a moment and then said, “They are ninety-five thousand, four

Once Krishnadeva and Tenali passed through some farms while riding on their horses. They happened to pass through a cabbage patch. Looking at the patch, Krishnadeva said to Tenali, “What a delightful vegetable the cabbage is!  I like it very much.” Tenali said, “Huzoor, cabbage is the king of vegetables.” Krishnadeva did not reply to

Once upon a time there was an old man called Sthira, who lived alone in Tenali’s village. The villagers and Tenali would often come over to the old man’s house and express their sympathy that his only son had gone so far away to study. To all their concern, Sthira would always thank them and

One day, the court-barber, who was very jealous with Tenali, plotted a plan against him. So when the king called him again to trim his beard, he went and started trimming his beard. He said, “Sir, last night I dreamt about your father. He said to me that everything is good in paradise, but he

Krishnadeva was very impressed with Tenali’s wit and wisdom. So one day, the king promised him for many gifts. But it so happened that several days passed, but there was no sign of gift. Tenali was very disappointed. He didn’t know what to do. One day when Krishnadeva was taking a stroll at the bank

Once Krishnadeva went to the river with his two sons and wise Minister Tenali. On the bank of the river, the king and his two sons took off their clothes and asked Tenali to take care of them while they took a bath in the river. Tenali was waiting for them to come out of

One day Krishnadeva asked Tenali, “Tenali, can you tell me how many bangles are there on your wife’s hand?” Tenali said, “No, Your Highness, I cannot.” “You cannot? Although every day you see her hand, still you cannot tell how many bangles are there on her hand.  How is that?” said the king. Tenali said,

It was once when a poet visited Tenali Raman. He thought he would impress the court jester with some of his compositions. But when he met Raman, he asked the poet to leave his poems with him, and promised to read them on a later date. But the poet insisted that he wanted to read