The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of A Villager!

A man had a beautiful horse that was so rare that even emperors had asked the man to sell it to them. They were willing to pay whatsoever the price, but he refused. One morning he found that the horse had been stolen. The whole village gathered around his house to sympathesize his loss. They said, “How unfortunate! you have lost your invaluable horse. You could have got a fortune for it, had you sold it. People were offering so much. You were stubborn and stupid. Now the horse is stolen.”

But the old man laughed. He said, “All of you talk nonsense! I can only say that the horse is no more in the stable. Let the future come and then we will see.”

After fifteen days, one morning the horse came back. It was not alone. It had brought along a dozen wild horses with it from the forest. The whole village gathered around. They said to each other, “The old man was right! His horse is back and has brought along with him twelve beautiful horses. Now he can earn all the money he wants.

They went up to the man and said, “Sorry dear sir, we would not understand the future or the ways of God, but you are great! You could forsee what would happen.”

The old man said, “Nonsense! All that I know now is that my beautiful horse has come back with twelve horses. What will happen tomorrow, nobody knows.”

The next day it so happened that the old man’s only son was trying to break in a new horse and he fell. Both his legs were broken. The whole town gathered around again and they said, “One never knows. You were right. This has proved to be a curse. It would have been better that the horse had not come back. Now your son will remain crippled all his life.”

The old man again said, “Don’t jump to conclusion! Just wait and see what happens. So only that my son has broken his legs. That’s all.”

After fifteen days all the young men of the town were forcibly taken away by the government because the country was going to war. Only this old man’s son was left, because his legs were broken and he was of no use to fight the war. Every body gathered around. They said, “Alas! Our sons are gone! At least you have your son with you. He is crippled, but he is here! Our sons are gone and the enemy is far stronger. They are all going to be killed. Who will look after us in our old age? We will have nobody. But you at least have your son and maybe he will be cured.”

But the old man said, “Say only this much. That your sons have been taken by the government, my son has been left behind. But there is no conclusion.”

State the fact! Nothing is a curse or a blessing. Think of it as it has happened. Don’t interpret it. Suddenly you will see that everything is beautiful.