塞翁失马--成语故事英文版

Saiwong and his lost horse

塞翁失马

Traditional Chinese life philosophy on nutrition draws heavily from Taoism theory. In an ancient China Taoism book,"Huainan Zi 淮南子", there is a famous story about "blessings" and "misfortune".

Near China's northern borders lived a man well versed in the practices of Taoism. His father was named Saiwong, which means "old man who lives near the border. One day, his horse, for no reason at all, found itself in the territory of one of the northern tribes. Everyone commiserated with him.

"Don't be so upset, it's just a horse, please take care of yourself."

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing," said his father, Saiwong.

The neighbors didn't understand what Saiwong's meant and gossip spread about this "weird old man".

After a few months, the lost horse came back, leading a fine horse from the north. Everyone congratulated him.

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a cause of misfortune," said Saiwong.

People were annoyed by this. Since Saiwong's son was well-off and kept good horses he became fond of riding, and eventually broke his thigh bone falling from a horse. It caused a massive problem at the time because

a young man was very important in terms of labour for the family. Everyone commiserated with him. But his father said:"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing."

Again, the neighbors were confused by Saiwong's logic.

One year later, the northern tribes started a big invasion of the border regions. All able-bodied young men took up arms and fought against the invaders, and as a result, around the border, nine out of ten men died. Saiwong's son did not join in the fighting because he was crippled and so both the boy and his father survived.

"Huainan Zi" uses this story to teach a theory rooted in Taoism that says that in a long run, blessings and misfortunes are next door neighbors. In the short term, people do not need to worry too much about them.