Thoughts I've thunk while sippin' at a cup of tea and reading something provoking, often get dropped here for the benefit of humanity and my own hubris.
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Extracted from Parabola, Winter 2000 Issue (Volume 25, No. 4)
There was once a young man who came from a very poor family in China. When he was out for the day his horse ran away. On his return, the villagers ran to his father to express their sadness for this financial loss. "Isn't this terrible?" they wailed. The aged father shook his head from side to side and calmly stated, "Maybe good. Maybe bad."
On the following day, the lad went out to hunt for the missing
steed and to his great joy he found a herd of wild horses and
was able to bring them back to the village. The elated crowd ran
to his father and exclaimed, "Isn't this wonderful news? What
great fortune!" The sagelike elder again merely stated, "Maybe
good. Maybe bad."
The next morning the boy went out into the corral to try to
break in a horse for himself. In the process he was trampled and
made lame. When the townspeople saw his ruined leg, they ran to
his father to convey their grief. The reply was the same again,
"Maybe good. Maybe bad."
A day or so later the Chinese army came to take all the able-bodied young men away to war.
© 2000-2005, Howard Abrams • Except where otherwise noted, all original content is licensed under a Creative Commons License (see details).
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