A Blessing in Disguise塞翁失马

“塞翁失马”出自《淮南子·人间训》，比喻坏事在一定条件下可能转变为好事。常与“焉知非福”连用。

Long ago， there was an old man living near the frontier regions whohad many horses. One day， one of his horses went missing.

On learning this， his friends and relatives came to 1）console him andthe man said， “Who says this may not be a blessing？”

After a few months， the lost horse returned with some fine horses. Hisfriends and relatives came to congratulate him. But this time， the old mansaid， “Who says this won’t turn out to be a 2）misfortune？”

The old man’s son loved the new horses， and every morning he tooka ride on one of them. Since the new horses were not well 3）tamed， theyoung man fell off one of them and became 4）crippled.

Again， his friends and relatives came to console him and again the oldman said， “How do you know that this is bad luck？”

One year later， the Hu tribes started a big invasion of the frontierregions. All able-bodied young men must fight against the invaders.Because the old man’s son was a cripple and was not ordered to join thearmy， he survived the border war.

1） console v. 安慰；慰藉

2） misfortune n. 厄运；不幸

3） tame v. 驯化；驯服

4） cripple v. 使残废；使跛

很久以前，一位住在边塞的老人养了许多马。（剩余623字）