Krishnadeva Raya was unwell; he had a bad cough. The doctors gave him medicines and they told him not to eat sour things like pickles, yoghurt and tamarind. But the King was, after all, a King. He would not obey mere doctors!
The doctors and the ministers were all worried. Finally, they decided to ask Tenali Raman what to do, because he was the only person who could perhaps find a way out of this dilemma. Tenali Raman thought out a solution.
The next day, he visited the King with a medicine. “This is sent by a great physician, Sir. Please take it,” requested Tenali Raman. “And you may eat whatever you like with it,” he added.
“What? Pickles and yoghurt and all?” asked the King. “Certainly,” replied Raman.
A week later, Tenali Raman visited the King again and asked him how he was. “No worse,” said the King, “but no better either, Tenali Raman. The cough is still bad.”
“Sir, just continue the medicine and all the sour things. This has three benefits for you,” advised Tenali Raman.
“Benefits? What benefits?” wondered the King.
“Sir, there will be no thefts in the palace; no dogs will trouble you and there is no fear of old age,” said Tenali Raman, smiling.
“I don’t understand. What have thieves, dogs and old age got to do with my cough or the illness or this medicine?” said the King, even more confused.
“Well, Sir, if you eat sour things, you will keep coughing all through the day and night, so no thief will dare to enter the palace as you will always be awake and alert.”
“And the dogs?” asked the King. “Sir, when you do stand up, you will be so weak with no sleep that you will need a walking stick to assist you; and no dog will ever come near a man carrying a stick!” stated Tenali Raman.
“Good heavens! And what about old age? What was that?” wondered the King.
“Oh, Sir! If you stay ill all the time, you are likely to die young, so you will not have to worry about old age at all,” suggested Tenali Taman happily.
The King was horrified at the picture Tenali Raman had presented before him and he realized that Raman had told him what would happen if he didn’t stop eating sour things! So, the King stopped eating them. What a clever man Raman was!
