Tenali raman and the difficult task

Tenali raman and the difficult task

Tenali Raman was a very wise and witty man in the court of King Krishnadeva Raya.
Krishnadeva Raya was the ruler of the Vijayanagar kingdom. Tenali Raman was the court
jester, and many stories are told about him.
One day, King Krishnadeva Raya asked his courtiers, “You are wise and learned men. Tell
me, which is the most difficult job in the world?”
The courtiers had a ready answer. They said, “Your Majesty, everyone knows that
the job of ruling the country is by far the most difficult job in the world.’
The king was pleased with their answer. But he noticed that Tenali Raman was smiling
to himself, as if he found this answer funny.
The king asked him why he was smiling. “Perhaps you don’t agree with your friends
that my job is the most difficult job in the world. Is that why you are smiling?”
Tenali Raman said, “Your Majesty, I agree that it is difficult to rule a country well.
But I don’t think that it is the most difficult job in the world. There is another job
which is much more difficult.’
“Tell us what that job is, Raman,” said the king.
“A mother’s job,” said Raman, “It is much more difficult to keep a child happy than
to look after a kingdom.”
The whole court broke into loud laughter, and of course Raman was asked to prove
the truth of his words.
So Raman brought a woman and her young son to the king.
“Now ask the kind Raja for anything that you want,” he told the little boy.
“An elephant,” said the little boy at once.
An elephant was immediately brought for him.
“Put him into my basket,” the boy said, “I want to take him home.”
“But he won’t fit into your basket, son. He’ll come walking behind you when you go
home.”
The little boy was stubborn. “I want him in my basket,” he said, “My friends won’t
know that he is my elephant if I don’t take him home in my basket.”
He started crying, and nothing that anyone said would make him change his mind.
The king and his courtiers tried everything they could. But the boy just did not listen.
He cried and cried and cried. Then the mother said something to Raman, and he
immediately sent for a toy elephant. She turned to her son and said, “Look, my son.
Here’s a small elephant which is much more beautiful than the big elephant. It is
wearing a gold chain, and there is a golden umbrella on top of its head. It has wheels
so that you can pull it behind you wherever you go. It will fit easily into your basket.
Tell the man to take away the big elephant - your basket will break if you put him in
it, and you can’t take him to your friend’s house because he is so big.”
The boy stopped crying. The mahout led away the elephant, and the little boy and his
mother went away happily.
Then the king wiping the sweat from his brow, said, “Raman, I agree that a mother’s
job is the most difficult job in the world.”
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source:
http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/anandchitra/tenali-rama-512/