In the northwestern frontier region, there lived a man skilled in the arts of divination. One day, one of his horses suddenly bolted and escaped beyond the border. Distraught, he lost all appetite, and neighbors came to console him, urging him not to be too upset.
But his father disagreed, saying nonchalantly to everyone:
"Who knows if losing a horse might not turn out to be a good thing?"
The crowd was baffled by the old man's words, but since the owner of the lost items was his son, no one dared to argue further.
Months later, something unexpected happened: the escaped horse suddenly returned, bringing with it a tall, fine steed. When the neighbors heard, they came to congratulate the old man. Unexpectedly, he said coldly:
"The lost horse has returned, but how can we know this won't turn into a misfortune?"
The crowd was puzzled by the old man's words, finding him eccentric, yet they held their tongues and said no more.
Since the family acquired a fine horse, the son was always riding it. Unfortunately, he once fell from this untamed horse and broke his leg. When the neighbors came to offer their condolences, the old man's view was once again different. He said:
“How do you know that breaking a leg might not turn out to be a good thing?”
The crowd, baffled by the old man's words, silently drifted away.
A year later, the Xiongnu army launched a massive invasion from beyond the frontier, and all the able-bodied young men near the old man's home were conscripted. Most of those who went to war perished in battle, but the old man's son, because of his lame foot, was not drafted, and so both father and son survived.
Later, the idiom "The Old Man at the Fort Lost His Horse" came to mean that a temporary loss may turn into a gain, or that a bad thing can become a good one.
Source: *Huainanzi*, Chapter "Teachings on the Human World"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "塞翁失马" came to describe a temporary loss may turn into a gain, or that a bad thing can become a good one.