An Intelligent Girl

There is a story from ancient times, about a mean moneylender, who had lent money to a trader. Because of setbacks one after the other, the trader was unable to pay.
The trader had a pretty young daughter and the devi¬ous moneylender had his eyes on her.To show his devious helpfulness, he suggested that if the trader would agree to his marrying the young girl, he would forgive the debt or else hell would break loose.
Both the trader and the daughter were in a fix. The moneylender pretended to be generous by proposing that let fate decide. He proposed that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag and the girl would pick one pebble. And if she picked the black pebble, she would have to marry him and the father's debt would be forgiven. But if she chose the white pebble, she would not have to marry him and H debt would still be forgiven.
The daughter was not just pretty but also very intelli¬gent. She didn't want her father to go to jail, she agreed to the proposition. The day came when the whole vil¬lage collected to see the fate of the trader and his daughter. They were standing on the bank of the river full of pebbles.
The moneylender stooped down to pick up the two pebbles. Making sure nobody was noticing, he picked two black pebbles so that he could make sure he married the girl. Quietly, the sharp eyes of the girl were also watching. The girl was then asked to pick one pebble, upon which her and her father's fate rested. Supposing you were one of the spectators at this hap¬pening:
1. What would you have done?
2. What would you advise the girl to do?
3. How would you handle the situation?
4. What are the girl's choices?

(a) She could expose the moneylender by asking him to show both the pebbles.
(b) She could refuse and sacrifice her father.
(c) She could take a black pebble and sacrificeherself to save her father.

The choices aren't easy. It was either her life or her father's life and she was not prepared to sacrifice anyone. And more so her father's. Here is what the girl did.
She put her hand in the bag and picked one pebble knowing full well that they were both black. She was the only one who had seen what the moneylender had done. As she pulled her hand out of the bag, without looking at the pebble she on purpose lost her balance, fell on the ground and dropped the pebble. It got mixed up with others, so nobody could see what colour it was. She got up, apologised for her clumsiness and said, "Let's check what colour pebble is in the bag, that will tell us which one I picked." The pebble in the bag was of course black, it was assumed that the one she had picked was white.
In front of the whole village, the moneylender did not have the guts to accept his dishonesty. He had to live with his decision and both the father and the daughter went free.
Her action was guided by the motivation to preserve honour. Her on-the-spot decision showed that wisdom is nothing more than timely application of common sense.
Those who love freedom are willing to accept the challenges of life so that they can live with respect and dignity.