greed just wiped me out..farewell friends, page-41

Sâi Wçng Lost his Horse

Sâi Wçng lived on the border and he raised horses for a living. One day he lost a horse and his neighbor felt sorry for him, but Sâi Wçng didn’t care about the horse, because he thought it wasn’t a bad thing to lose a horse. After a while the horse returned with another beautiful horse, and the neighbor congratulated him on his good luck. But Sâi Wçng thought that maybe it wasn’t a good thing to have this new horse.

His son liked the new horse a lot and often took it riding. One day his son fell off the horse and broke his leg. Because of his broken leg, he couldn’t go off to the war, as was expected of all the young men in the area. Most of them died.

This proverb is said when bad luck turns to good, or when good luck turns to bad.