>It reminds of the Chinese saying: > > 塞翁失马，焉知非福 > > Which is literally translated as: > "A man who lost his horse is neither fortune nor misfortune." > > or roughly translated to mean: > "What ever will be... will be." >
I got some offline feedback that basically says, "Huhh? What are you talking about?" For most who probably do not care about what I have to say, please press the delete button now. For those who do, this is the story I heard when I was a kid... Long long time ago lived a very old man in China. Although he lived alone with his only grandson, he was not lonely- he was a very well liked and respected old man. When he was younger, he was a dedicated and hard working jockey. But as he got older, he became too weak to race horses so he retired to training wild horses instead- perfecting the art of a horse whisperer. One day, the fence on his ranch broke and his horse ran away. The neighbours heard about it and felt really bad for him. They went to his house to console him... but to their surprise, the old man was not at all sad. Instead, he said, "This may be a fortune". The neighbours were no longer worried about the old man and went home happy knowing that he can be so optimistic. Amazing how fate works... the next day, not only did the horse found his way home, he brought back a wild but gorgeous companion. When the neighbours heard about this good new, they were so happy for him and went to his house to congratulate him. However, to their surprise, the old man was not at all happy. Instead, he said, "This may be a mis-fortune". The neighbours were completely puzzled by the old man's reaction and went home thinking the poor old man has become senile. Amazing how fate works... the next day when the old man tried to tame the new wild horse by having his grandson ride it, the young man fell off and broke his leg. When the neighbours heard about the news, they rushed to his house to see if the young man was okay and to see if he needed any help. Again, to their surprise, the old man said, "This may be a fortune.". Call it fate... call it coincidence... the next day, the army drafted all the young men in the village to go to war. But because the old man's grandson had a broken leg, he was not drafted and permitted to stay home. The sad thing was that all the young men drafted either perished or were seriously injured in the war. Thanks, Ben
