塞翁失马
The old man who lost his horse
Name: ________________ Date: ________
老人的马跑了。没有人偷它，也没有人把它放走，它就是自己跑了，一口气跑到了胡人那边。
这位老人住在边塞上。听说他算命很准，平时大家有什么事，都来问问他。可是这一次，大家是来安慰他的。
“太可惜了！”邻居们说，“那么好的马，说没就没了。”
老人一点儿也不着急：“这怎么就不能是一件好事呢？”
邻居们互相看了看。马已经丢了，还说是好事？
过了几个月，有一天晚上，门外传来了马的叫声。老人的马回来了，而且不是自己回来的，后面还跟着一匹胡人的骏马，又高又大，毛又黑又亮。
“恭喜您！”邻居们又都来了，“丢了一匹，回来两匹，运气真好！”
老人看着那匹骏马，却一点儿也不高兴：“这怎么就不能是一件坏事呢？”
邻居们又互相看了看。这老头儿，怎么老唱反调？
老人的儿子最爱骑马。家里来了这么好的马，他高兴得不得了，天天骑着它到处跑。可那匹骏马脾气很大，有一天，它突然跳起来，把他从马背上甩了下来。他的腿摔断了，从此走路一瘸一拐。
“太可惜了！”邻居们又都来了，“好好的一个年轻人……”
老人还是那句话：“这怎么就不能是一件好事呢？”
这一次，邻居们连互相看一眼都省了，摇了摇头就走了。
一年以后，胡人的千军万马打了过来。年轻力壮的男人都拿起弓箭，去打仗了。等仗打完，附近村子里的年轻人，十个里面死了九个。
只有老人的儿子，因为腿不好，没有去打仗。父子两个都活了下来。
这一次，没有邻居再来说“可惜”，也没有邻居再来说“恭喜”。
两千多年过去了。今天，如果你丢了钱包、没有考上大学、没赶上火车，中国朋友还是会拍拍你的肩膀，说一句：“塞翁失马，焉知非福。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 准 | zhǔn | accurate; exact |
| 可惜 | kěxī | it's a pity; unfortunately; to feel sorry about; to regret |
| 互相 | hùxiāng | each other; mutually |
| 亮 | liàng | bright; shiny; to shine; to light up |
| 从此 | cóngcǐ | from now on; from then on; henceforth |
| 好好 | háohǎo | perfectly good; in good condition |
| 死 | sǐ | to die; dead |
| 父子 | fùzǐ | father and son |
| 活 | huó | work; job |
| 赶上 | gǎnshàng | to happen to run into (an event) |
| 安慰 | ānwèi | to comfort; to console; comfort; consolation |
| 匹 | pǐ | classifier for horses, mules and bolts of cloth |
English (for the teacher)
The old man’s horse ran away. Nobody stole it and nobody let it go; it simply took off by itself and ran all the way over to the land of the Hu.
He lived out on the frontier. People said his fortunes always came true, so whenever anything came up, everyone came to ask him. But this time, everyone came to comfort him.
“What a shame!” The neighbours said, “Such a fine horse, and just like that it’s gone.”
The old man wasn’t worried in the least: “Why couldn’t this be a good thing?”
The neighbours glanced at each other. His horse is gone, and he still calls it a good thing?
A few months later, one evening, they heard a horse whinnying outside the gate. The old man’s horse had come back, and not on its own: behind it came a fine Hu horse, tall and strong, its coat black and shining.
“Congratulations!” The neighbours were back: “You lose one horse and two come home. What luck!”
The old man looked at the fine horse and wasn’t pleased at all: “Why couldn’t this be a bad thing?”
The neighbours glanced at each other again. What is it with this old man, always saying the opposite?
The old man’s son loved riding more than anything. With such a fine horse in the family, he was overjoyed and rode it all over the place every day. But that fine horse had a temper, and one day it suddenly reared up and threw him off its back. His leg was broken, and from then on he walked with a limp.
“What a shame!” The neighbours were back again: “Such a fine young man…”
The old man said the same thing again: “Why couldn’t this be a good thing?”
This time the neighbours didn’t even bother to glance at each other; they just shook their heads and left.
A year later, a vast Hu army attacked. Every able-bodied man took up his bow and arrows and went off to war. When the fighting was over, nine out of ten young men from the villages nearby were dead.
Only the old man’s son, because of his bad leg, had not gone to war. Father and son both lived.
This time, no neighbour came back to say “what a shame,” and no neighbour came back to say “congratulations.”
More than two thousand years have passed. Today, if you lose your wallet, fail to get into university or miss your train, a Chinese friend will still pat you on the shoulder and say: “When the old man on the frontier lost his horse, who could say it wasn’t a blessing?”