Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing

a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied

the merchant's beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forget the merchant's

debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified

by the proposal.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an

empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the

black pebble, she would become the moneylender's 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.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant's garden. 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 her pebble from the bag.

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 moneylender 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.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference

between lateral and logical thinking. But by thinking out the box 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 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 moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed

an impossible situation into an advantageous one.