Idiom Explanation:
The old man Sai lost his horse, but it may be a blessing. The metaphor is that although one may suffer a loss for a while, one may get a benefit from it. It also means that a bad thing can become a good thing under certain conditions.
Pronunciation:
塞翁失马，焉知非福
sài wēng shī mǎ , yān zhī fēi fú
Origin book:
《淮南子·人间训》：居一年，胡人大入塞，丁壮者引弦而战，近塞之人，死者十九，此独以跛之故，父子相保。故福之为祸，祸之为福，化不可极，深不可测也。
Origin Story:
In ancient times, there was an old man living in the northern frontier, and people called him Sai. One day, one of the horses of Sai’s family went wild and ran away to the land of Hu. When his neighbors learned of this, they ran to his house to console him not to be too sad. Who knows that when he heard the people’s words, he said, “It’s just a lost horse, it’s no big deal! As I see it, it might bring me good if the horse runs away!” The neighbors were dumbfounded, and no one believed that any miracle would happen.
After some time, the horse of Sai’s family, who was not used to the life in the land of Hu, ran away and came back by himself, bringing with him a steed of the Hu people. When the neighbors knew about it, they all came to congratulate Seon again. They patted the horse and praised it. But the man did not feel happy about it, and frowned and sighed: “What is there to be happy about? I got a horse for nothing, and it might bring disaster to my family!” The neighbors didn’t think so and thought, “Sai must be old and confused, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to distinguish between good and bad things.
Sai’s son loved to ride horses, so he rode out all day long since he got the horse. Who knows that the horse is not domesticated, very disobedient to human discipline. One day, the horse overturned Sai’s son and broke his leg, leaving him with a permanent disability. The neighbors heard the unfortunate news and came to express their condolences to Seon. But Sai was not sad at all, but comforted everyone: “You need not grieve for my son, his leg is crippled, though it is unfortunate, but it may also be a blessing!”
Sure enough, a year later, the Hu people swung south and invaded the border fortress in a big way. All the young and strong men on the border were conscripted into the army and fought a fierce battle with the Hu, most of whom died on the battlefield. Sai’s son, who was crippled by a wound, did not go into the army to fight, and thus saved his life together with the aged Sai.
