Father,Girl and a moneylender. Solutions to Hardest problems

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.
1) If she picked the black
pebble, she would become
his wife and her father's
debt would be forgiven.
2) If she picked the white
pebble she need not marry
him and her father's debt
would still be forgiven.
3) But 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?
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 cannot
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, here is what she
did ....
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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 them to a
conclusion.

Adapted from
www.opinionkenya.com