Once, a spy from other kingdom with an intention to kill the king came to Tenali’s house and asked to stay saying he was Tenali’s far relative.
While Tenali couldn’t recognize him, he let the stranger stay at his place.
One day, Tenali had to go out of town for a few days, so the stranger wrote a fake letter to the king in the handwriting of Tenali’s wife saying she was ill and needed help.
When the king came to his house, the spy tried to kill the king who somehow saved himself.
The guards captured the spy and Tenali was questioned for harbouring a spy when he returned from his trip.
The angry king asked him to choose how he wanted to die and Tenali replied he wanted to die of old age. This made everyone laugh and he was excused.
