The Pebble Story

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The Pebble Story

by Anonymous

 

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. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father

would be thrown into jail.

 

All the villagers 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 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?

 

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag

and expose the money-lender as a cheat.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in

order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

 

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used

with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between

lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma can not be solved

with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she

chooses the above logical answers.

 

What would you recommend to the Girl to do?

 

Well, what she did was:

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."

 

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had

picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his

dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation

into an extremely advantageous one.

 

MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution. It is

only that we don't attempt to think.

Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools.