There was a merchant living in a village who had a beautiful daughter. Once, he was burdened with a huge debt, which he had taken from a man in the same village, a very unscrupulous and cunning individual. The merchant was unable to repay the debt, so the man gathered the villagers and went to the merchant's house.

He said to the merchant, “If you cannot repay my debt, then marry your daughter to me.” Hearing this, the merchant remained silent because he was helpless.

The merchant’s daughter overheard everything from inside the house. After a while, the man proposed to the villagers and the merchant, “Alright! I will put a white stone and a black stone in a bag, and the merchant’s daughter will have to draw one stone from it.
If she picks the white stone, I will forgive the debt and not marry her. But if she picks the black stone, I will forgive the debt, but she will have to marry me.”

The merchant’s daughter agreed to the proposal, as did the villagers. The man placed two stones in the bag in front of everyone. But the cunning man secretly placed two black stones in the bag.

The merchant’s daughter noticed that both stones in the bag were black. She realized that whatever stone she picked would be black. If she picked a black stone, the debt would be forgiven, but she would have to marry him. If she exposed his trick to the villagers, the debt would not be forgiven, and the man would surely seek revenge on her father sooner or later.

The girl was lost in thought when she was asked to pick a stone from the bag. She reached into the bag, pulled out a stone, and, without letting anyone see it, dropped it on the ground. The stone got mixed up with other stones on the ground.

The girl then said to everyone, “Now, how will we know whether the stone I picked was black or white? Look at the other stone in the bag. If the remaining stone is white, the one I picked was black. If the remaining stone is black, the one I picked was white.”

Since the bag contained only black stones, everyone believed that the stone she had picked must have been white. As a result, the merchant’s debt was forgiven, and the girl did not have to marry the cunning man.

Moral: In life, people often find themselves in difficult and helpless situations. When someone tries to take advantage of your helplessness, don’t act too innocent. Instead, use your intellect. The more you try to appear naive, the more people will exploit you.

This doesn’t mean you should start arguing or being hostile, but rather, you should be like the ocean—calm on the surface, but with a depth of knowledge and wisdom within.