King Krishnadevaraya and his clever minister, Tenali Raman, were walking through the marketplace one sunny afternoon. They noticed a large, worried crowd gathered around the town's central well.
"What has happened here?" the King asked with concern.
A village elder replied, "Your Majesty, a thief is haunting us. Every time we bring a new bucket to draw water from this well, it vanishes! We are at our wits' end."
The King turned to Tenali Raman. "Can you find this thief, Raman?"
Tenali Raman walked to the edge of the well. He observed the muddy ground. He saw many footprints, but one set of tracks looked peculiar—they were deep and hurried, as if someone had run away in great haste. A small smile played on his lips.
"I have a plan, Your Majesty," Tenali Raman said. "First, let us call the royal cobbler. I want him to make a very special pair of sandals."
When the cobbler arrived, Tenali Raman whispered a secret instruction to him. The cobbler began working on a pair of oversized, large sandals. Tenali then proposed, "To catch the thief, we must conduct a test in secret. Each villager should enter a private room, try on these sandals, and then come out to report to us."
The King agreed. One by one, the villagers entered the room. When they emerged, they all said, "Sire, the sandals fit us perfectly!"
However, a young man stepped out looking very nervous. He stammered, "Your Majesty, those sandals are far too large for me. They do not fit at all!"
Tenali Raman immediately pointed at him. "There is our thief!"
The King was puzzled. "But Raman, how did you know?"
Tenali Raman laughed and explained, "The footprints were a distraction, but the sandals were the real trap. I instructed the cobbler to make the sandals incredibly large so that they would technically 'fit' almost anyone. The honest villagers simply said they fit to avoid trouble, but the thief, in his fear of being caught, felt compelled to tell the truth that they were too big for his small feet."
The King was amazed by Tenali's wit and ordered the thief to be punished.
Moral
Intelligence and a clever trap can reveal the truth that even a thief's fear cannot hide.
