Good, Bad, Who
Knows?
There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old
horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when
the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the
farmer replied, "Good, Bad, who knows?"
A week later, the horse
returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors
congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good, Bad, who
knows?"
Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame
one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone
thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was,
"Good, Bad, who knows?"
Some weeks later, the army marched into the village
and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the
farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off.
Now was that good luck or
bad luck?
Who knows?
Everything that seems on the surface to be an evil
may be a good in disguise. And everything that seems good on the surface may
really be an evil.
Author
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