Tenali Raman ferrying a scholar across a river said something ungrammatical to him. “Have you never studied grammar?” asked the scholar. “No,” said Raman. “Then half your life has been wasted,” said the scholar looking scornfully at him. Sometime later Raman turned to his passenger. He said to him that the river was in spate. “Have you ever learnt to swim?” he asked.
“No,” said the scholar. “Then your whole life has been wasted,” said Raman, “We’re sinking. There is no way out. If you have no knowledge of swimming, you will surely lose your life.”
The scholar begged pardon of Tenali and requested him to save his life. Tenali somehow managed to save the scholar from being drowned. The scholar thanked Tenali for his timely help.
