The Pebbles

Many years ago, in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to an old and mean moneylender, who fancied his beautiful daughter.

So, when the farmer could not repay his debt, the moneylender proposed a deal: he would write off what the poor man owed him if he could marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal and said "No". But the cunning moneylender suggested that they let providence settle the issue.

He told them he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. If the girl picked the black pebble, she had to become his wife and her father's debt would be written off.

If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him, and her father's debt would still be cleared. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

When the next day dawned, all the villagers gathered on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer's field to see what would happen. As they waited, the moneylender bent to pick up two pebbles.

The farmer's sharp-eyed daughter noticed that he had selected two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then held the bag out to her.

Now, imagine you were the girl standing in the field, with all eyes on you. What would you do?

Refuse to pick a pebble? Empty out the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat? Dip your hand into the bag and save your father from debt and imprisonment?

Well, this is what she did ...

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without even 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 exclaimed. "But, never mind. If you look into the bag for the remaining pebble, you will be able to tell which one I had picked."

As the moneylender dared not reveal his dirty trick, he had to declare that the girl had picked the white pebble. Thus her father's debt was cleared and she saved herself from being bound to the dishonest moneylender.

Sent to Starmag by Pola Singh