WISDOM: You Never Can Tell

You Never Can Tell

In a small Chinese village there lived an old man who greatly loved two of his blessings. His first love was his only son who was born to him late in life. His other love was a great stallion that was kept in a large corral next to the old man's humble home.

One day the old man awoke early in the morning to find that the corral was empty. The stallion was gone!

When word of the old man's misfortune reached the nearby village, his neighbors came to visit the old man to console him. "Because we respect and love you, we have come to share in your misfortune," his neighbors said.
"Bad fortune, good fortune, you never can tell," was all the old man said.

The next day the stallion returned in the company of a beautiful mare that had been running wild. Whereas before the old man had only one horse, now two fine horses lived in the corral. His neighbors heard the news and again they paid him a visit. "Sir, we believe you are a prophet. We believed you had suffered a misfortune, but you knew good fortune would come," said his neighbors. "Good fortune, bad fortune, you never can tell," was all the old man said.

Soon it came time to break the wild mare. The old man's only son, who was strong and brave, jumped astride the mare's back. The son was immediately thrown from the back of the wild mare and suffered a broken leg.

Again the neighbors paid a visit to the old man. "What grievous bad fortune has befallen you," they said. "Bad fortune, good fortune, you never can tell," was all the old man said.

The next day the War Lord arrived and drafted all the strong, brave young men, except the one with a broken leg.

You just never can tell.