00:00A long time ago an old man lived in a small village in the mountains in the middle of China.
00:09He had a son whom he loved very much but his son was studying in a city far from the village.
00:19So the old man lived and worked alone. Every day he worked long hours on his farm.
00:30There was always so much to do. He was a kind, friendly man and all the people in the village liked him.
00:40They knew the old farmer needed the help of his son, a strong young man who was not afraid of hard work.
00:51But the old farmer never complained.
00:54The villagers often came over to the old man's house and said,
01:01When will your son come back home? It's bad luck for you to live alone, so far away from your only child.
01:11The old man always replied with the same words.
01:16Bad luck or good luck? Who knows? One day the old man's son returned to the village.
01:26The people were happy for the old farmer and came to visit him.
01:31Now that your son is back, your house will be full of good luck again, they said.
01:37But the old farmer just smiled and said, Good luck or bad luck, who knows?
01:46The villagers knew that the farmer was a man of few words.
01:52So they didn't ask him what he meant.
01:56Life in the village was hard and most people were poor.
01:59But the farmer and his son were not as poor as the others.
02:06They held a horse and on a farm a horse could do the work of four men.
02:12But one morning the farmer's son forgot to close the stable door.
02:18The horse ran away. The son felt terrible.
02:22What have I done? Working on the farm without a horse will be really hard.
02:30What will we do now? He asked his father.
02:35The people of the village felt sorry for them again.
02:39This is very bad luck, they said.
02:44But the old farmer smiled quietly.
02:48Bad luck or good luck? Who knows? He replied.
02:52That afternoon some villagers said they saw the old man's horse running across the hills.
03:04That evening the son went to look for it.
03:10After a few hours he found their horse eating grass next to a wild horse.
03:17The son was able to bring both horses back to the farm.
03:24When the people heard the news, they were excited.
03:30First you had one horse.
03:35Then no horse.
03:38Now you have two horses.
03:41You have two horses.
03:44Your good luck has returned.
03:48But the farmer just smiled again and said,
03:54Good luck or bad luck? Who knows?
03:58The son liked the new horse very much and wanted to tame it.
04:05The farmer warned him.
04:07Be careful, son.
04:09You have lived in the city for many years.
04:12You don't know much about taming wild horses.
04:14Don't worry, father, the son replied.
04:18I know what I'm doing.
04:20Once I tame this horse, life will be easier.
04:25But the next day,
04:27the son fell from the wild horse's back and broke his leg.
04:32Now this was a serious problem.
04:36A man with a broken leg needs food but cannot work.
04:40The villagers came to the farmer's house again.
04:43First your son was far away.
04:45Then he came back.
04:47Now he's broken his leg, and you must help him.
04:51Your bad luck has returned.
04:53But once again, the father smiled and replied,
04:58Bad luck or good luck? Who knows?
05:02Some of the villagers were surprised.
05:05How can breaking your leg be good luck? They wondered.
05:09That time, a terrible war was happening in China.
05:14Every week, hundreds of young men were dying in battle.
05:18One day, soldiers came to the village.
05:24They were looking for more men to fight in the war.
05:29All the young men in the village had to join the army.
05:34Their families cried when they said goodbye,
05:38knowing that many of them would never return.
05:43But the soldiers did not take the farmer's son.
05:47What use is a man with a broken leg to the army? They said.
05:54The villagers finally understood the farmer's words.
06:00They went to see him and said,
06:02Your son didn't have to go to war because he broke his leg.
06:09Your bad luck became good luck after all.
06:12The old man smiled kindly and replied one last time.
06:20Good luck or bad luck? Who knows?
06:24Sometimes, things that seem bad at first, turn out to be good in the end.
06:31And vice versa.
06:33Life is full of changes and we never truly know what the future holds.
06:40Stay calm, be kind and trust the journey.
Comments