One day when Tenali and his wife were resting at home, they heard some leaves rustle in their garden.
They knew it was the intruders and, hence, raised his voice saying he was going to hide his jewels in the well. So he came out with his wife to drop a big box into the well and went inside.
The intruders in the garden saw this and were overjoyed, and started drawing the water out of the well. By daybreak, they were very tired and sat down to rest by the wall of the well. It was then when Tenali came to them and offered to pay money for watering his garden all night.
Hearing this, the intruders were very ashamed and promised never to rob anyone again. Later Raman told them that the box in the well they were looking for had only rocks in it.