Good Fortune of Misfortune

There was once an old man living on the northern border. One day, one of his horses ran away, and it could not be found though he looked for it far and near. On hearing about his, many of his neighbors expressed sympathy with him for the loss. But the old man said, "This may turn out to be a blessing."

A few days later, the horse came back of itself, and in addition brought a strange horse home with it. On this the old man was congratulated by his neighbors, but this time he said to them, "This may turn out to be a misfortune."

Now that he had a new horse, and a good one at that, his soon took to riding. One day, while galloping happily on the horse, his son had a bad fall and broke his leg. Again, his neighbors came to say comforting words to the old man, and they were surprised to hear him say, "Who knows, this may be a blessing."

A year later, fighting broke out near the border when some northern tribes started attacking the area. All able-bodied young men were ordered to take up arms and fight the invaders. Many of them died in battle. The old man’s son, however, was exempted from military service, because he was crippled. Thus he survived the fighting.

The old man's story may be an illustration of the ancient philosopher Lao Zi's famous saying: "It is on disaster that good fortune perches; it is beneath good fortune that disaster crouches."