One.

    There was an old man at a frontier fort in the north who understood Taoism. One day he lost his horse, which wandered into the land of the Hu tribesmen. His neighbors came to condole with him, and the man said, “How do you know that this is bad luck?”

    After a few months, the horse returned with some fine horses of the Hu breed, and the people congratulated him.

    The old man said, “How do you know that this is good luck?”

    He then became very prosperous with so many horses. The son one day broke his legs riding, and all the people came to condole with him again. The old man said, “How do you know that this is bad luck?”

    One year later, the Hu tribesmen invaded the frontier fort. All the young men fought with arrows to defend it, and nine tenths of them were killed. Because the son was a cripple, both father and son escaped unharmed.

    近塞上之人，有善术者，马无故亡而入胡。人皆吊之，其父曰：“此何遽不为福乎？”居数月，其马将胡骏马而归。人皆贺之，其父曰：“此何遽不能为祸乎？”家富良马，其子好骑，堕而折其髀。人皆吊之，其父曰：“此何遽不为福乎？”居一年，胡人大入塞，丁壮者引弦而战。近塞之人，死者十九。此独以跛之故，父子相保。故福之为祸，祸之为福，化不可及，深不可测也。

    Two.

     Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the central region of China. He didn't have a lot of money and, instead of a tractor; he used an old horse to plow his field.

　　One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, “Oh, what a horrible thing to happen。” The farmer said simply, “We'll see。” He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift.

　　Everyone's reaction now was, “What a lucky man。” And the farmer said, “We'll see.”

　　A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, “What a poor fellow!” The farmer smiled and said, “We'll see.”

　　Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, “What a fortunate man.”

　　The farmer said, “We'll see.”

　　Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on the horse and fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, “What a shame for the poor boy.”

　　The farmer said, “We'll see.”

　　Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him.

　　Everyone said, “What a fortunate young man.”

　　The farmer smiled again—and said “We'll see.”

     近塞上之人，有善术者，马无故亡而入胡。人皆吊之，其父曰：“此何遽不为福乎？”居数月，其马将胡骏马而归。人皆贺之，其父曰：“此何遽不能为祸乎？”家富良马，其子好骑，堕而折其髀。人皆吊之，其父曰：“此何遽不为福乎？”居一年，胡人大入塞，丁壮者引弦而战。近塞之人，死者十九。此独以跛之故，父子相保。故福之为祸，祸之为福，化不可及，深不可测也。

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