ONE day Tenali Raman fell ill and could not attend King Krishnadeva Raya’s court for a few days. The king sent his courtiers to find out the reason for Tenali Raman’s absence from court. They returned to tell him that Tenali had fallen ill and had become very weak.
Just to check how active Tenali Raman is even after illness the king decided to check the alertness of Tanali Raman.
He got a glass cabin built with no opening anywhere and got it announced that anybody who could put anything inside the glass cabin would be duly rewarded. The courtiers came forward very excitedly to try their luck but failed. Some men and women from the common public too came forward to try their hand at it, but gave up. Some of the courtiers went to Tenali Raman to ask him to try his luck. On recovering from his illness, Tenali Raman too came to court and saw the glass cabin. He went around the cabin a number of times and then said to the king, “”I’ll come tomorrow night with the answer but meanwhile, could Your Majesty please instruct the servants to light up all the lamps before I arrive?”
The king readily agreed. The next night, Tenali Raman arrived and saw all the lamps shining bright in the hall where the glass cabin was kept. He went and stood between the lamps and the glass cabin. His shadow fell in the glass cabin. He turned to the king and exclaimed, “Your Majesty, see I have placed my shadow inside the glass cabin.”
The king came forward and saw the shadow falling in the glass cabin. He was happy to see Tenali Raman’s presence of mind.
Tenali Raman said to the king, “I know Your Majesty has done all this drama to test my intelligence. Your Majesty, though I may be physically ill, my brain functions normally as it always does in health or sickness.”
