Tenali Raman and the Red Peacock.
One day, King Krishna Deva Raya's greedy minister,
Chatur Pandit arrived at the king's court with a red peacock.
Krishna Deva Raya exclaimed, "I have never seen such a creature!"
The courtiers agreed.
The Chatur Pandit offered the red peacock to the King.
He said to the King, "Your Majesty, please accept this gift.
My servants searched the jungles of Madhya Pradesh to find this exotic bird."
Meanwhile, Tenali Raman thought to himself,
"How can a bird so brightly coloured, survive in the jungle?
Surely it will be an easy prey for other animals."
The King, however looked at Chatur Pandit and said, "Thank you Chatur Pandit.
How can we reward you?"
"Your Majesty, a 100 gold coins will be enough,
as I spent that to get the bird" said Chatur Pandit quickly.
Tenali Raman spoke up, "Your Majesty, I think we should observe this peacock for a while
before we give Chatur Pandit his reward.
I will go to Madhya Pradesh to get more birds like these."
"Alright Tenali Raman", said the King.
"You have two weeks to bring back more birds like this one."
Tenali Raman went home.
He did not go to Madhya Pradesh.
Instead, he called his spies, and said, "Find the person who painted the peacock red."
The spies searched for the painter and finally found him.
They brought him to Tenali Raman.
Tenali Raman said to the painter, "Don't worry, I won't punish you.
Just paint another 10 peacocks the same colour."
"Yes Sir," replied the painter.
He painted 10 more peacocks in red colour and gave them to Tenali.
At the end of two weeks, Tenali Raman took the red, painted peacocks to the King.
Krishna Deva Raya was pleased with Tenali.
He asked the treasurer to give Tenali a 1000 gold coins.
"Your Majesty, that is not what they cost," said Tenali Raman.
The confused King asked, "So what is the price then Tenali."
"A bucket of water, a bag of red paint, and a gold coin for this artist," replied Tenali Raman.
The King was angry with Chatur Pandit for trying to cheat him.
He said angrily, "Chatur Pandit, I sentence you to...."
Tenali Raman spoke, "Your Majesty, your desire for fame led you to believe a red peacock could exist.
For a long time, there has been needless spending on such curiosities."
He added, "It is better that your subjects be prosperous, rather than a display of wealth.
I request you to let Chatur Pandit go and reward the artist for showing this."
"You are right, Tenali," said the King.
Chatur Pandit fearing the King's anger, begged for forgiveness, "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
"I will do so, but you are banished from the court for a month.
And you must return the gifts you got earlier," said the King.
The monsoon arrived and the peacocks danced.
The rains washed away their red colour.
Krishna Deva Raya amused with himself, laughed and said to Tenali,
"Look! Tenali Raman."
Tenali smiled.
The people of the kingdom danced in the rain.
And said to each other, "We are lucky to have a king who is not afraid to admit his mistake."
A sorry Chatur Pandit walked home alone in the rain.
Well, it doesn’t take much to admit your mistake, does it?