C

A young woman in a small German town was going to give a piano concert. Her posters said that she was a pupil of Franz Liszt, the great Hungarian pianist.

This was not true.

One day the woman learned that Liszt himself was in town. Now people would find out and she would never be able to give a concert again. What should she do? Finally she went to see the famous man herself. She told him everything. Her parents were dead and she was alone. She had to make a living. She decided to give piano lessons to rich children. But who would send their children to an unknown young woman? So she told people Franz Liszt was her teacher.

"I believe you," Liszt said. "You've done wrong, but I can see you are truly sorry about it. That's enough. Now let me hear you play."

The young woman was shy at first. But then she saw Liszt smiling. It made her feel better. Now she wasn't afraid any more. She started playing. She put her heart into it and she played wonderfully. Liszt was quite pleased. When she finished, she turned to look at Liszt. There was a smile on his face. She could see he was pleased. Then Liszt gave her some advice. After he finished, "Now you really are my pupil. Go ahead with your concert. And you can add a note to the posters. Say that your teacher himself will be there. He will play the last piece."

Why did the young woman tell a lie that she was a pupil of Franz Liszt?