Once the chief of army had a son and so he invited everybody to bless the son. When the king said he should grow to be a warrior like his father Tenali said he would be far greater. One of the jealous courtiers then said how he could say that by merely looking at the infant and the king agreed.
To test his skill of judging, two pots of gold, one of solid gold and one of hollow gold were brought and tied to a chain. Then Tenali was asked to look at them from a distance and tell which one was of solid gold and which one of hollow gold.
Tenali looked closely and gave the correct answer surprising everyone. When asked for an explanation, he said that the chain tied to the solid gold pot was a little strained while the one with hollow gold was light making the pot sway a little.
This convinced the king that Tenali had the skill of judging by mere appearance.
