53. 塞翁失马，焉知非福【sài wēng shī mǎ，yān zhī fēi fú】

[Shudan Guan]

Once upon a time, there was an old man in the frontier fort called Sai Weng. Sai Weng lost a horse one day, and people all came to comfort him, yet he said: “It’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Later, the horse brought back another good horse. People were all happy for him, but he said: “It might not be a good thing.” One day, his son fell on the ground when riding that good horse, he said to people, “Perhaps it’s a good thing.” Later a war occurred, yet Sai Weng’s son wasn’t selected by the army because of his disability, and he lived through the war. 

[Annotation] 塞: Frontier fort. 翁: Old man. 

[Definition] The old man lost his horse, but it turned out for the best. How does he know whether it is a fortitude or not? 

 

* If you are interested in Chinese folk tales or ghost stories, have a look at: https://chinesestoriesfolktales.quora.com