Good luck or bad luck?

A  long  time  ago,  an  old  man  lived  in  a  small  village  in  the  mountains  in  the  middle  of  China.  He  had  a  son  that  he  loved  very  much.  But  this  son  was  a  student  in  a  city  very  far  from  his  father's  village.  And  so  the  old  man  lived  and  worked  alone  every  day.  He  worked  for  long  hours  on  his  farm.

There  was  always  a  lot  to  do  there.  He  was  a  kind,  friendly  man,  and  all  the  people  in  the  village  liked  him.  They  knew  that  the  old  farmer  needed  the  help  of  his  son,  a  strong  young  man  who  was  not  afraid  of  hard  work.  But  the  old  farmer  never  complained.  The  villagers  often  came  over  to  the  old  man's  house  and  told  him  how  sorry  they  were  that  his  son  was  not  there  to  help  him.

When  will  your  son  come  back  home?  When  will  your  son  come  back  home?  It's  bad  luck  for  you  to  live  alone  so  far  away  from  your  only  son.  But  the  old  farmer  always  replied  in  the  same  words  bad  luck  or  good  luck?  Who  knows?

One  day  the  old  man's  son  came  back  to  the  village.  The  people  in  the  village  were  very  happy  for  the  old  man  and  they  all  came  to  his  house.  Now  that  your  son  has  come  back,  your  house  will  be  full  of  good  luck  again,  they  said.  But  the  old  farmer  only  smiled  and  replied  good  luck  or  bad  luck?  Who  knows?

People  knew  that  the  farmer  was  a  man  who  used  few  words.  They  didn't  ask  him  what  he  meant  when  he  said  things  like  this.  Life  was  hard  in  the  village  and  nearly  everybody  there  was  poor.  But  the  old  farmer  and  his  son  were  not  as  poor  as  some  others.  They  had  a  horse,  and  on  a  farm  a  horse  can  do  the  work  of  four  men.

But  one  morning,  the  farmer's  son  left  the  stable  door  open  and  the  horse  ran  away.  The  son  felt  terrible.  What  have  I  done?  Work  on  the  farm  without  a  horse  will  be  really  hard.  What  will  we  do  now?

He  asked  his  father.  And  the  people  of  the  village  again  felt  sorry  for  the  old  farmer  and  his  son.  This  is  very  bad  luck,  they  all  said.  But  again  the  old  farmer  smiled  quietly.  He  didn't  look  worried  about  the  horse.

Bad  luck  or  good  luck.  Who  knows?  He  said.  That  afternoon,  some  people  in  the  village  thought  that  they  saw  the  old  man's  horse  running  across  the  hills  near  the  farm.  So  that  evening  the  son  went  to  look  for  it.

After  a  few  hours,  he  found  their  horse  quietly  eating  grass  next  to  a  wild  horse.  The  son  was  able  to  bring  both  horses  back  to  his  father's  farm.  When  the  people  of  the  village  heard  this  news,  they  were  very  happy  for  the  farmer.  First  you  had  one  horse,  then  you  had  no  horse.  Now  you  had  no  horse.

Now  you  have  two  horses,  they  shouted  happily.  Your  good  luck  has  come  back  again.  But  the  old  farmer  just  smiled  his  quiet  smile  and  said,  good  luck  or  bad  luck,  who  knows?  The  son  liked  the  new  horse  very  much  and  he  decided  to  tame  it.  Be  careful,  son.

You've  lived  in  the  city  for  many  years.  You  don't  know  very  much  about  Taming  wild  horses,  said  the  old  farmer,  worriedly.  Don't  worry,  father,  I  know  what  I'm  doing,  replied  the  son.  When  I've  tamed  this  horse,  we'll  have  two  horses  to  help  us  on  the  farm  and  life  will  be  better.  But  the  next  day,  the  old  man's  son  fell  from  the  wild  horses  back  to  the  ground  and  broke  his  leg.

Now  this  was  a  big  problem.  A  man  with  a  bad  leg  needs  to  eat  but  cannot  work.  Once  again,  the  people  of  the  village  came  to  the  farmer's  house  to  say  how  sorry  they  were.  First  your  son  was  in  the  city  and  there  was  no  one  to  help  you.  Then  your  son  came  back  to  help  you.

Now  your  son  has  broken  his  leg  and  you  must  help  him.  Your  bad  luck  has  come  back,  they  said.  Once  again,  the  father  smiled  quietly  and  replied,  bad  luck  or  good  luck,  who  knows?  Some  of  the  villagers  were  surprised  to  hear  this.  Where  was  the  good  luck  in  breaking  your  leg?

At  that  time  in  China,  there  was  a  long  and  terrible  war  between  the  east  and  west  of  the  country.  Every  week,  hundreds  of  young  men  died  in  this  war.  One  day,  some  soldiers  arrived  in  the  village.  They  were  looking  for  more  men  to  fight  with  them.  All  the  young  men  in  the  village  had  to  become  soldiers  in  the  army  and  leave  for  the  war.

Their  families  cried  when  they  said  goodbye.  They  knew  that  many  of  these  young  men  would  be  dead  in  a  few  days.  But  the  soldiers  left  the  old  farmer's  son  behind.  What  good  to  an  army  was  a  soldier  with  a  bad  leg.  Now  the  villagers  understood  the  old  farmer's  words.

They  went  to  see  him.  Your  son  didn't  have  to  go  with  the  soldiers  because  he  broke  his  leg.  It's  true  that  your  bad  luck  changed  into  good  luck,  they  said.  Happy  that  they  understood  the  old  farmer's  wise  words,  the  old  farmer  smiled  kindly  at  them.  Good  luck  or  bad  luck,  who  knows?

He  answered.