There once lived an old farmer and his son.
Their most precious belonging was a horse.
One day,
The horse ran away.
Upon hearing this news,
The farmer's neighbors rushed over to the farmer to tell him,
This will cause you troubles.
What bad luck this is.
Then he replied softly,
Bad luck?
Good luck?
Who really knows?
A few days later,
The horse returned,
Rejuvenated,
To the farmer's stable,
Accompanied by three wild horses.
Soon after,
The neighbors heard about this and visited the farmer.
You are now able to breed and sell horses.
What a great fortune this is.
But the farmer replied quietly,
Good luck?
Bad luck?
Who really knows?
While trying to train one of the wild horses,
The son was thrown off and broke his leg.
The farmer's neighbors came around again and expressed their worry.
Now you won't have any help during planting season.
This is such a bad luck.
The farmer said,
Good luck,
Bad luck.
We don't know.
Several days later,
The emperor's army passed by the farmer's village to draft the eldest son from every family into the army.
They saw the farmer's son's broken leg and immediately discarded him.
Later in the day,
The neighbors gathered at the farmer's house and exclaimed,
This is such good luck.
The farmer replied calmly before heading off to attend his chores.
Good luck,
Bad luck,
We shall see.
