Chapter 1 — Wit and Wisdom

Tenali Ramakrishna was one of the eight celebrated poets—collectively called the Ashtadiggajas—in the court of King Krishnadeva Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire. He was known for his quick wit and humour and served both as a poet and a witty adviser, finding clever solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems.

The king came to the queen late in the evening to recite a poem. She was exhausted after a tiring day and yawned several times while he read. The king thought this was a sign of disrespect for his poem and stormed off. He stopped speaking to her and ceased visiting her altogether for weeks.

During a court discussion on paddy cultivation, Rama presented 'revolutionary' seeds and argued that the real problem lay not in the seeds but in the person sowing them—specifically, someone who yawns while sowing. The king himself yawned instinctively, and Rama pointed out that yawning is as natural as breathing. The king then realised he had been unfair to the queen, approached her with an apology that same evening, and their bond was restored.

The poem was written by Reginald Arkell. It describes the speaker's next-door neighbour, Mrs. Jones, who has a garden full of stones—including a crazy path, a lily pond, a rockery, a sundial, and tiny delicate plants placed between the stones. The poem ends with situational irony: Mrs. Jones invites the speaker to admire a special flower, and when the speaker asks where it is, Mrs. Jones replies, 'You're standing on it.'

The poem uses a pun in its title ('concrete' means both the stones in the garden and a clear/definite example), situational irony (the speaker stands on the flower they are looking for), alliteration, a refrain (the phrase 'My next-door neighbour, Mrs. Jones' appears in each stanza), and an AABBCC rhyme scheme. Its tone is humorous and light-hearted.

The four young men are Ram Datt, Shiv Datt, Har Datt, and Dev Datt. They had been travelling for ten days, journeying along a dusty road toward Ujjain in the hope of securing employment and, if possible, an audience with the King of Ujjain to have their talents recognised.

Ram Datt observed that only three of the four tracks left distinct impressions, indicating one leg was lame. Shiv Datt noticed the camel had grazed only on foliage to the left of the road, leaving the right side untouched, so it was blind in its right eye. Har Datt saw small droplets of blood along the track—a sign of mosquito bites that a long-tailed camel could have brushed away—so its tail was short. Dev Datt observed that the forefeet prints were deep while the sound hind-foot print was faint, meaning the camel drew up its hind legs because of pain in its belly.

After hearing each man explain his observation and the reasoning behind it, the king declared that their accusations were baseless and misguided. He told the merchant that these were men of wisdom, not thieves, and instructed him to continue searching for his camel and to be mindful of whom he accuses in the future. The merchant left the court chastened and embarrassed.

The King of Ujjain was so impressed by their remarkable intelligence and ability to see beyond the obvious that he invited all four of them to become his royal advisers. He declared that their counsel would guide his decisions and their wisdom would be a beacon for his kingdom.

The unit teaches three types of if-clauses through examples directly from the texts. The first type uses Simple Present + Present Modal for a condition that may or may not be fulfilled ('If you like, I will try my best'). The second uses Simple Past + Past Modal for a hypothetical or imaginary situation ('If, by chance, something were to go wrong, our farmers would suffer'). The third uses Past Perfect + would have + Past Participle for an impossible-to-change past situation ('If I had known this would happen, I would have chosen another day').

All three texts explore wit and wisdom as powerful tools. In 'The Wit that Won Hearts', Tenali Rama's humour and indirect approach resolve a royal quarrel without confrontation. In 'A Concrete Example', the poet uses gentle humour and irony to capture the quirky wisdom in Mrs. Jones's appreciation of her garden. In 'Wisdom Paves the Way', the four travellers demonstrate that careful observation and logical reasoning—forms of practical wisdom—can clear one's name and earn recognition.

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