King Krishnadeva Raya decided to distribute a colt each to some of his selected courtiers. He gave one to Tenaliraman too. He told all of them to bring up their respective colts properly and even made provision for giving them extra funds to feed their animal. While the others kept their colts in proper stables and fed them regularly, Tenaliraman kept his colt in a small room, which had a small hole in the wall. He would give only a small amount of hay and water to drink to his colt. He saved on the expenditure meant for the colt'supkeep.
One day Krishnadeva Raya invited all the courtiers who had been given a colt to bring their colts for display. Tenaliraman decided not to take his colt for the inspection.
The king saw that the colts of the courtiers were healthy with shining skin and mane, but Tenaliraman'scolt was nowhere to be seen. So the king asked him the reason for it.
Tenaliraman replied, ?What to do, my colt is very unruly and is not in my control. If you were to send a soldier with me, then I can fetch him along.?
The king deputed a soldier who was the bravest in kingdom. It so happened that the soldier had a thick beard which made him appear imposing. Tenaliraman took him to his house and made the soldier look at his colt through the opening in the wall.
When the colt saw the soldier'sbeard, he thought it was grass and caught hold of it. The soldier began to howl in pain, not knowing how to escape. Meanwhile Tenaliraman rushed to the king and told him, ?The colt has caught hold of the soldier you had sent and will not leave him.?
So the king decided to go to Tenaliraman'shouse himself. The king ordered his men to pull down the wall. Once the wall had been pulled down, the kings? men could manage to get the soldier released from the colt'sjaw.
Meanwhile the king saw in what poor condition the colt was. It could barely stand on its legs and looked emaciated and thin. He turned to Tenaliraman to ask, ?What have you done to the poor colt? It can barely stand upright. Why didn'tyou feed it properly? I had told you to take proper care of your animal.?
Tenaliraman replied, ?What could I do? Look at this colt, despite giving it little food to eat, it is so strong that even your strongest soldier could not control it. Had I fed it much more, it would have caused immense mischief.?
The king did not know what to say and chose to leave.
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