The Old Man Who Lost His Horse: chen,

The Old Man Who Lost His Horse: chen, coral: 9781467847766: Amazon.com: Books








See all 3 images






The Old Man Who Lost His Horse Paperback – November 15, 2011
by coral chen (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating

Print length

18 pages
Language

English
Publisher

AuthorHouse
Publication date

November 15, 2011


Customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
1 global rating



Top review from the United States


Diane Stranz
4.0 out of 5 stars This is an important story that every child should knowReviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019

This picture book is based on the Chinese proverb: 塞翁失馬焉知非福 (Saiweng Shima, Yanzhi Feifu). It is the story of “The Old Man Who Lost His Horse."

During the Han Dynasty—in the third century B.C.—an old man living on China’s border one day lost his horse. His neighbors all said what terrible luck that was, and sympathized with the old man. But Sai Weng said: “Maybe losing my horse is not a bad thing after all.”

Lo and behold, the next day the old man’s horse returned, together with a beautiful female horse alongside him. All the neighbors exclaimed: “What great luck!” But the old man responded: “Maybe this is not such good luck after all.”

The old man had a strong young son. The boy fell in love with the new horse and rode her every day. One day the new horse got spooked by a wild animal and threw the boy from her back. He broke his leg very badly and was permanently crippled.

All Sai Weng’s neighbors said: “What a tragedy, your strong son will never walk without pain again.” But the old man again said: “Maybe this is not such a bad thing after all.”

And so it went that when the New Year came, the emperor’s army passed through the border region and recruited all able young men to fight in the frontier war. Because the old man’s son was crippled he could not fight and was left in the village to farm with his father. Sai Weng said to his neighbors: “You see, it all turned out okay in the end. Being thrown from the horse and breaking his leg saved my son from fighting in the war and almost certain death. So it was in the end a lucky thing after all.”

Whenever a bad thing happens in China, someone will say “Sai Weng Shi Ma” (Remember “The Old Man Who Lost His Horse”) to remind themselves and others that apparently bad things sometimes have a silver lining.

2 people found this helpful