Bragging Soldiers Around The Campfire

One day when Tenali Raman was returning to Vijayanagara, he spotted some people sitting around a campfire and talking. He wished to rest for the night, and so he sat comfortably near the fire. After some time, Tenali Raman realised hat the men were war veterans and were narrating tales of their bravery. One soldier described how he single-handedly killed ten rival soldiers and another narrated how he kept an entire enemy regiment at bay during a battle. This cycle went on until none of them had anything to boast about. Just then, one of them turned towards Tenali Raman and asked him if he has any such tales to tell.

Tenali Raman replied saying he did and everyone seemed surprised to hear that he did. 

Tenali Raman narrated that once while he was travelling, he spotted an unusually large tent. Out of curiosity, when he looked inside, he found the largest man on earth lying on the mat. Tenali Raman recognised him as the dangerous dacoit who had been terrorizing that part of the country for decades. The soldiers were dying to know what happened next. 

Tenali Raman then replied saying he took out his sword and cut off the man’s toe and then ran for his life. Upon hearing this, the soldiers laughed and said that if they were in his place, they would have cut off the man’s head.

Tenali Raman simply smiled and sad that someone had already done that and that his head was lying next to his body. 

Moral
We might have done great things in life, but we cannot underestimate others.