Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
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 man who fancied the business owner’s daughter.
He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt. However, the catch was that he would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter. 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 out, but the loan shark would marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped out, but the daughter would not have to marry him.
Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan shark bent over and picked up two pebbles. While he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag. He then asked her to reach into the bag and pick one. She drew out a pebble and, before looking at it, ‘accidentally’ dropped it among the other pebbles on the path. “Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “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 was, of course, black. Since the loan shark did not want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble she had dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.
What is the moral of the story?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → A calm mind and quick thinking can find a way out of an unfair situation.
The deal was unfair.
- The daughter saw the loan shark put “two black pebbles” into the bag. She did not panic or cry.
- She drew a pebble and ‘accidentally’ dropped it on the path.
- Then she said the pebble left in the bag would show which one she had picked. That pebble was black, so the dropped one had to be white.
- Her calm, quick idea saved her and cleared her father’s debt. That is the lesson of the story.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: Honesty is always rewarded in the end. — Incorrect. Contradicted: The daughter does not win by being honest. She drops the pebble on purpose and says, “Oh, how clumsy of me”.
Option 3: It is wiser to accept a bad deal than to argue with a powerful person. — Incorrect. Opposite meaning: The daughter does not give in to the bad deal. She finds a way to beat it.
Option 4: Clever people always manage to get the better of the weak. — Incorrect. Contradicted: The cunning loan shark loses in the end. He has to “clear her father’s debt” and cannot marry her.