A Blessing in Disguise


There was an old man who lives in the frontier fortress. One day, one of his beautiful horses ran away. All the people in the village came to express their sympathy for his misfortune. He laughed and said to them all, “Why can’t the loss of a horse be a blessing?”

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The image is from Designzzz.

A few months later, his stallion came home with a herd of barbarian’s horses. All the people in the village began to congratulate him. He smiled again and said to them, “Why can’t a new herd of horses be a disaster?”

Because the family has good horses, their son liked to ride. One day he fell from a horse and broke his leg. The villagers once again expressed their condolences to him, and he said to them with a smile, “Even though my son has broken his leg, why shouldn’t it be a blessing?”

About a year later, the barbarians invaded. All the men in the village were enlisted, and nine out of ten were killed. His son survived with him because of his broken leg.

So Lao Tzu said, “Good fortune follows upon disaster, disaster lurks within good fortune…” (Tao Te Ching 58)

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