It is also said that the great king Krishiadeva Raya once called his entourage to him and said:
- I will give each of you a cow and a cat. You must feed your cats cow's milk, and the one who can fatten his cat the best at three months will be rewarded with a generous hand. Obey - this is my will.
The entourage bowed low and went home to carry out the royal order.
Tenali Ramakrishna also received a cow and a cat by order of the king. His children had recently become seriously ill, and there wasn’t even a stale cake in the house. In the evening, Tenali Ramakrishna milked the cow and first of all tasted the milk himself. The milk seemed very tasty to him - it was so sweet, fragrant, thick!
“No,” thought Ramakrishna, “it will probably be too fatty for a cat!” She won’t drink this milk from me.”
He boiled milk in a small pot, placed the pot in front of the cat and poked its muzzle into the hot milk. The cat didn’t like this at all: she snorted, hissed offendedly, broke away from Ramakrishna’s hands and ran away. Since then, at the mere sight of a cup of milk, the cat hastened to leave, offended and indignant. And Ramakrishna milked the cow, drank milk, gave water to his sick children and praised the mercy of the great king in his soul. Three months later, the entourage gathered again in the royal palace, and each brought his cat with him. Oh, what kind of cats they were - sleek, well-fed, well-fed!.. Some courtiers' cats were as thick as a tiger, while others were thicker than a buffalo... And only Tenali Ramakrishna's cat was skinny, shabby, scary - skin and bones. King Krishnadevaraya saw this unfortunate cat and asked with surprise and anger:
“What did you do to the poor animal, Acharya Ramakrishna?” Did you give the cat milk or not? Answer immediately!
- O merciful lord! – Tenali Ramakrishna humbly replied. – What was I supposed to do? After all, this nasty cat doesn’t drink milk at all: in all her time she has never touched it. So that the milk wouldn’t go to waste, I had to drink it myself and give it to my little children. After all, my children, great king, were very sick, but now they are all healthy thanks to your mercy.
– Where have you seen a cat that doesn’t drink milk? – Krishnadevaraya became completely angry. - You are laughing at me, stupid brahmin!
- Do not be angry, O great king! - said Ramakrishna. - Order it better to check whether I am telling the truth or not, and you will see for yourself whether your faithful servant dares to lie.
The king ordered a pot of milk to be placed in front of the cat. So what? The cat hissed angrily, snorted, knocked over the pot with its paw and rushed headlong out of the palace. The king was very surprised and asked Ramakrishna to tell how it happened.
They say that later the king felt a little ashamed. He realized that it was not good to give milk to cats and forget about small children.
And the words “Tenali Ramakrishna’s cat” became a proverb. If Telugu people now see how some adult - mother, father or elder brother - tries to show that the child standing next to him does not like sweet cakes or beautiful toys, they laugh and say:
- Everything is clear! This is Ramakrishna's cat!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru