Tenali Rama's Dream

Tenali Rama is another historic personality known for his wit and humour. He was a poet at the court of Krishnadevaraya, a 16th century monarch of the Vijayanagara Empire in South India. Like Birbal, folktales about Tenali Rama spread far and wide. Today, he’s considered one of the most beloved characters in Indian history.

One day the king decided to have some fun at Tenali Rama’s expense. In front of the entire court he announced that he had had a very strange dream the previous night. He said that during a walk, he and Tenali Rama came across two pits. One was filled with honey and the other was a cesspool. While the king plunged into the one filled with honey, Tenali Rama tumbled into the cesspool. The courtiers were delighted to hear this as they all envied Tenali Rama’s cleverness. They started laughing out loud and clapping at the king’s joke.

The next day, Tenali Rama arrived at court and revealed that he had had a very similar dream the previous night. He said that while the king managed to get out of the honey pit, he himself struggled a lot to get out of the cesspool. But finally he managed to escape and reach the ground. However, neither of them could go back home in that sorry state, so they came up with an idea. While the poet licked off the honey from the king’s body, the latter too cleaned off Tenali Rama in the same way. Everybody in the court, including the king, were stumped.

~ Indian Folk Tale