NAME - Anshika Gupta

ROLL NO. - 2OBC363

SECTION - K
PHONE NO. – 9971466871

(STORY)
TENALI RAMAN & THE TWO THIEVES

Once upon a time, there was a wise man named Tenali Raman. He used to work at
the court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya. One summer night, Tenali Raman was
returning from the palace. On the way he passed by his fields which lay near his
house. He found that all his plants had dried up. He thought of watering them
tomorrow.
When Tenali Raman was about to step inside his house, he heard the rustling of
leaves. The sound came from the bushes outside. There was not even a slightest
breeze blowing at the time, so he wondered how could the leaves rustle on their own.
Being a wise man, he figured out that some thieves were hiding in the bushes. He
figured that they must be planning to rob his house in the night.
He thought of a plan and called out to his wife, “My dear, I have heard that some
notorious thieves are on the loose in our neighbourhood. So, let’s hide all the
jewellery and money that we have in the well.”
They went inside the house and Tenali Raman whispered the entire story to his wife.
He asked her to fill up an old trunk with some heavy junk. A little later, Tenali
Raman and his wife came out of the house carrying a big trunk, and dropped it into
the well. Then they went back inside the house, and pretended to be asleep.
The thieves waited for a while and then started drawing water from the well. They
hoped to empty the well and get the treasure. The thieves kept drawing out water the
entire night. Towards daybreak, they managed to pull out the trunk. But when they
opened it, they were extremely disappointed. They found that the trunk was filled with
big stones!
The thieves understood that it was Tenali Raman’s plan to outsmart them. Just then,
Tenali Raman came out of his house and said, “Thank you friends, for watering my
plants. The King will now pay you for your hard labour .”
Hearing this, the thieves fell at Tenali’s feet for forgiveness. They promised not to
steal or rob anyone ever again. Tenali decides to let them go.
MORAL - The best response to any difficult situation is to keep your calm.
(SCRIPT)
Tenali Raman & the Two Thieves
 - An Indian Folk Tale

Characters

✔ STORYTELLER

✔ TENALI RAMAN

✔ WIFE

✔ TWO THIEVES

(Scene: A Village)
Long ago, there was a wise man named Tenali Raman.
STORYTELLER He used to work at the court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya.
He used to leave his home early in the morning, and returned
late at night. One moonlit night, he was returning home and
was fighting his hunger while trying hard to remain active.

TENALI RAMAN Thank God! I am finally about to reach my destination!

It’s too hot today and I’m starving. I shall eat and then head off
to bed once I am home.

(Tenali passes by the fields near his house)

TENALI RAMAN Oh no!! The plants are wilting.

I don’t get any time to water my fields and plants.
But, tomorrow I must water these fields. It’s been long since
they received any water.

(Nearby bushes shows slight movement)

TENALI RAMAN Mmm…It is a hot night and there is no breeze blowing at all.
How come the leaves are rustling on their own?

(Suddenly, something caught Tenali’s attention)

STORYTELLER Suddenly, Tenali caught sight of two dark figures, hiding

behind the bushes. He figured them to be thieves and decided
to teach them a lesson.

(Tenali knocks on his door, and his wife comes out)

WIFE Come inside! You must be very tired after the journey, I will
warm up your food now.

STORYTELLER Tenali raises his voice at her and continues to speak loudly to
make sure that the thieves in the nearby bushes would hear
him.

TENALI RAMAN No no No!! Listen, I heard in the court today that our city
is flooded with thieves. There were many reports of theft
 (Loudly) last night.

WIFE Ohh thieves! That is bad, what shall we do now?? We have so

many prized possessions in the house.

TENALI RAMAN Yes, we need to safeguard our valuables!

Let’s put all our jewellery and money in a trunk. Then, we
(Loudly) can lock and throw it in the well in our field. No one will be
able to locate it there.

STORYTELLER The two thieves hiding in the bushes heard this conversation
and smiled at each other.

THIEF 1 Hahahaha!! Such naive people.

THIEF 2 Sssshhh! They will hear us.

Let us wait for them to sleep and then we can steal their trunk
from the well.

(Tenali and his wife go inside the house)

TENALI RAMAN Dear, don’t panic. I saw thieves hiding in our garden.
I will teach them a lesson today. Quickly go and get an old
(Whispers) trunk and fill it with some stones. We will throw this trunk in the
well and befool them.

WIFE Fine, this sounds good! I will fill the old trunk immediately.

(Wife goes off and returns with a big trunk full of grinding stones.)

TENALI RAMAN Good, Let’s go outside now.

This trunk is very heavy.
(Loudly) Hold it carefully, dear!
It has all our valuables.

STORYTELLER Now, Tenali and his wife dragged the old trunk across their
fields and dropped it into the well with a loud noise. The thieves
were watching this very happily.

TENALI RAMAN Hmm, finally done! Our valuables will be safe now.
I’m very exhausted, let’s go and sleep inside.
(Loudly)

(Tenali and his wife return to their house & pretend to be asleep)

(A little later)

THIEF 1 Quick, quick, come! They are gone.

Let’s pull out the trunk.

THIEF 2 Wait! It seems to be a massive trunk.

Who will go down the well and pull it out??
 THIEF 1 Let’s drain out all the water from this well, then we can easily
get down and take out the trunk.

(Thieves starts to drain out water from the well)

STORYTELLER The thieves continued to draw out water from the well the
entire night. They were bone-weary from the meticulous work
but they didn’t dare to stop. Before the daybreak, they were
successfully able to pull out the trunk.

But when they opened it, they were extremely shocked and
disappointed to find big stones instead of jewellery and money!

THIEF 1 What is this! What is this!.....Stonesss!!! Whyyy??

Tenali Raman fooled us. Oh no!!

THIEF 2 Run! Run, before he comes!

Otherwise, we will be punished in the King’s Court.
RUN!! Get out of here.

(Tenali opens the door and steps out)

TENALI RAMAN Thank You, my good friends!! You have saved my time and
effort by watering my fields. The King shall definitely reward
(Laughing) you for the services you have rendered to me.

(Thieves are traumatized & they fall at Tenali’s feet)

THIEF 2 Please lord, please forgive us!

We have realized our mistake. We are very sorry!
We won’t repeat this ever! We will never rob anyone.

THIEF 1 Yes, please forgive us!

We promise not to steal again.
Please let us go.

TENALI RAMAN I’m glad you both learnt your lesson.

I will let you go this time but if you dare to steal again…I will
(Laughing) make sure that, you thieves, end up in the King’s prison!!

(Thieves run away)

STORYTELLER With this, Tenali’s dry fields were watered and the notorious
thieves learnt their lesson.

The moral of the story is that - We

can overcome any
trouble if we do not lose our cool and by using our
wit in dire situations.