Trying to ride one of the wild horses, the farmer falls and breaks his leg - which reduces his physical capacities.

After weeks, his horse finds its way back and brings along other horses from the barbarian territories, thus increasing the farmer's property.His horse, a considerable part of his property and livelihood, runs away.Without his fault and without being able to influence them, the farmer goes through various situations which all have important consequences for him: The parable tells the story of a farmer who lives with his father close to the border with the barbarian territories. Nine out of ten border residents were killed,Įxcept for the son because of his broken leg.įather and son were protected/both survived. The barbarians invaded across the border.Īdult men strung up their bows and went into battle. 'Who knows if that won't bring you bad luck?'Īnd the son mounted with joy/loved riding. His horse came back with a group of barbarian horses. 'Who knows if that won't bring you good luck?' 208–209.Īnd it is difficult to foresee their change.įor no reason, his horse ran off into barbarian territory.

Les grands traités du Huainan zi, 1993, p. The English text is based on the translation by Claude Larre et al. In Western literature the parable was modified and is frequently used in philosophical or religious texts or in books dealing with management or psychological strategies. The story is well-known throughout the East Asian cultural sphere and is often invoked to express the idea of ' silver lining' or ' blessing in disguise' in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese. The story exemplifies the view of Taoism regarding 'fortune' ('good luck') and 'misfortune' ('bad luck'). 'The old man of the frontier lost (his) horse, how to know (if this is) fortuitous or not?', also Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows? or Bad luck brings good luck - and good luck brings bad luck are some of the many titles given to one of the most famous parables from the Huainanzi (Chinese 淮南子, English Master of Huainan), chapter 18 (Chinese 人間訓, Renjianxun, English In the World of Man ) dating to the 2nd century B.C. The old man lost his horse (but it all turned out for the best) ( Chinese: 塞翁失馬，焉知非福 lit.

The parables of chuang tzu