Once, a shepherd came to the court demanding compensation from his neighbour for the death of his sheep due to the wall collapse. When the king was about to call the neighbour and punish him, Tenali spoke up that the neighbour was not at fault.
The king asked him to prove who the real culprit was. Tenali called the neighbour to the court. When called to the court, the neighbour said that the mason who built the wall was to be blamed.
When the mason was called in, he blamed the labourer who had waterycement batter. Similarly, the labourer blamed the water man who used extra water and the water man blamed the big water carrier he was given. On being asked who gave him the water carrier for water, he said it was the shepherd. In the end, the real culprit was proved to be the shepherd himself, whose one wrong step led to the death of his sheep.
