Thinking Out of the Box
In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan shark. The loan shark was a very old, unattractive-looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.
He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter.
Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.
The loan shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.
The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan shark.
Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan shark bent over and picked up two pebbles.
Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag.
He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.
The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:
Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.
Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan shark for cheating.
Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.
She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;
“Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”
The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan shark didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.
Moral of the story:
It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation through out-of-the-box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.
Related posts:
Short Story "The Curse of The Bullock" for Children, moral story for kids in English for competition...
Children Story
English Inspirational Story "Stilling the Mind" Moral Story for kids and Students.
Moral Story
English Short, Moral Story “The Fox Who Got Caught In The Tree Trunk” for Kids and Children for Clas...
Short Story
Moral Story "Creative Thinking " for Kids and Children, English Story for Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, c...
Children Story
English Inspirational Story “Honesty must be absolute” Moral Story for kids and Students.
Moral Story
English Inspirational Story "Emulate Lincoln's Humility" Moral Story for kids and Students.
Moral Story
English Short, Moral Story “The Crow and The Eagle" for Kids and Children for Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1...
Moral Story
English Short, Moral Story “Contentment is a great Wealth" for Kids and Children for Class 5, 6, 7, ...
Moral Story
English Inspirational Story "Paving the Way to Inner Growth" Moral Story for kids and Students.
Moral Story
English Short, Moral Story “Be happy and Live Life Positively” for Kids and Children for Class 5, 6,...
Moral Story
English Short, Moral Story “The Clever Crab" for Kids and Children for Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, comp...
Moral Story
Hindi Moral Story "Sahanshakti", "सहनशक्ति” for Kids, Full length Educational Story for Students of ...
Children Story
Short Story "Money Can't Buy Everything " for Children, moral story for kids in English for competi...
Children Story
English Inspirational Story “Face the Truth” Bedtime Moral Story for kids and Students.
Moral Story
English Short, Moral Story “Who will bell the cat" for Kids and Children for Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...
Moral Story
Hindi Moral Story "Koyal", "कोयल” for Kids, Full length Educational Story for Students of Class 5, 6...
Children Story
Moral Story "The Boy who Cried Wolf " for Kids and Children, English Story for Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...
Children Story
Short Story "Why the sky is far away" for Children, moral story for kids in English for competition ...
Children Story
Hindi Moral Story “Sachi Maa”, “सच्ची माँ” for Kids, Students of Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
हिंदी कहानियां
Hindi Moral Story "Sher aur Chuha", "शेर और चूहा” for Kids, Full length Educational Story for Studen...
Children Story