The Cursed Man or King? - A Tenali Raman Story

In the Kingdom of Vijayanagara, there lived a man named Ramaya. The rumor was that if one saw Ramaya in the morning, they would be cursed and not be able to eat the whole day. Hearing this, the King wanted to test it out for himself.

The guards made the arrangements for Ramaya and set up a room right next to the King for him. The next morning, the King walked to Ramaya’s room, so he could look at him first thing and test this rumor out.

It just so happened that at lunchtime, the King spotted a fly in his meal and asked the cook to take it away and prepare a new lunch. By the time lunch was served again, the King had lost his appetite and realized that this rumor was indeed true – seeing Ramaya’s face first thing in the morning did cause people to be cursed. He didn’t wish this for his people and demanded that Ramaya be hanged.

Distraught, Ramaya’s wife goes to Tenali Raman for help as she doesn’t want to lose her husband. Hearing the whole story, Tenali Raman goes to Ramaya and whispers something into his ear, right before he is to be taken to be hanged.

On the same day, the guards ask Ramaya if he has any last wishes. Ramaya says he wants to give the King a note that he must read before the hanging. The guards deliver this note to the King. In the note were the words Tenali Raman had whispered – ‘If seeing Ramaya’s face, one loses their appetite; then a person who sees the King’s face, first thing in the morning, is destined to lose his life. Who is, therefore, more cursed – Ramaya or the King?’

Reading this, the King understood his mistake and set Ramaya free!

Moral – Don’t give in to superstitions