The Tale Of Two
Pebbles
Many years ago in a small Indian village, a
farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village
moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer’s
beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the
farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter.
Both the
farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning
money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them
that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag.
Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.
If she picked
the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be
forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her
father’s debt would still be forgiven. If she refused to pick a pebble, her
father would be thrown into jail.
They were
standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the
moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the
sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them
into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.
Now, imagine
that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the
girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?
Take a moment
to ponder this. What would you recommend that the girl do?
The girl put
her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she
fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became
lost among all the other pebbles.
“Oh, how
clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one
that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”
The
moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty. The girl changed what seemed an
impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.
Most problems do have a solution, sometimes we just need to
think in a different way.
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