Keep calm in the face of danger

Keep calm in the face of danger

　One peaceful night, Tenali couldn’t sleep, so he went out to the backyard. Suddenly, he noticed two shadowy figures moving in the dark, hiding themselves behind the bushes. Tenali realized that they might be thieves. He decided to teach them a lesson.

　He went inside his house and said to his wife loudly, “Dear, we need to safeguard all our valuables¹ from theft. Let’s move them to a safe place. Please bring me a metal box.”

　Tenali then whispered² to his wife his real plan. He asked her to bring some bricks³ and put them in the metal box. He carried the heavy metal box out to the well in the backyard. Then he dropped it into the well. The box dropped into the water with a loud noise: Splash! Then, Tenali went back inside to sleep.

　The thieves watching all this hugged each other excitedly. They went over to the well and looked into it. The well was deep and had a lot of water. They could not jump into it. They decided to drain⁴ the well. They drew the water out with a bucket from the well and poured it into the nearby garden. They had to do it carefully and quietly.

　At dawn, Tenali woke up and went out to the well. On seeing him, both the thieves trembled⁵ in fear.

　Tenali spoke to them gently, “Dear brothers! Thank you so much for watering my plants all through the night! I want to reward both of you in the king’s palace for the services you have offered me.”

　The thieves were terribly shocked and ran away at once.

Notes:

1. 意为：保护贵重物品

2. whisper v. 低声说；耳语 3. brick n. 砖

4. drain v. 排干 5. tremble v. 发抖；哆嗦