Many 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 forgo 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.
The girl put her hand into the bag 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."
Sometimes it is necessary to think out of the box or, in this case, out of the bag.
-- Author Unknown
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