Once, a poor farmer needed to repay a lot of money to a cunning old man who was like a loan shark. The farmer had a lovely daughter. The old money-lender came up with a strange idea to get his money back. He said he would cancel the debt if he could marry the farmer’s daughter. The farmer and his daughter were shocked and immediately said no.
The tricky old man then suggested leaving the outcome to luck and fate. He said he would put a white stone and a black stone in an empty bag, and the girl would blindly pick one of the stones.
If she picked the black stone, she would marry him, and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
If she picked the white stone, she wouldn’t have to marry him, and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
If she refused to pick a stone, her father would be thrown in prison.
Things happened quickly, and a crowd gathered. While they talked, they walked to the banks of a nearby river, and the old man reached to pick up the two stones. The young girl, with sharp eyes, noticed that he had taken only two black stones and put them in the bag. She didn’t say anything. Then the old man asked the young daughter to pick a stone from the bag.
Think about what you would do if you were there. What advice would you give to the girl? Well, there are three options:
1. The daughter can say no and not pick a stone.
2. The daughter can take out the two black stones from the bag to prove that the old man cheated.
3. The daughter can pick the black stone and marry the old man to save her father from going to prison.
So, what do you think is the best choice? In this story, here’s what the girl did:
She looked into the eyes of the old man, got into the bag, and took out a stone, letting it fall into the river.
“Oh! I am clumsy,” exclaimed the girl. “But that is not important. Let’s see the remaining stone in the bag; it will clearly tell all of us which one I took out first!”
Since the remaining stone was black, the first stone taken could only be white. The old lender could not dare to admit his dishonesty.
The young girl, with her quick out-of-the-box thinking, creatively transformed a situation that seemed impossible into a very advantageous outcome for herself.
There is always a solution. It is just that we don’t always know how to look at things from the right angle.
