Countless times retold, but every time worth listening to and contemplating about is …

The story of  of the farmer whose only horse ran away.  On that evening the neighbours gathered to sympathize with him, for surely this was such bad luck.  Now your farm will suffer and you will not be able to plow, the neighbours warned the farmer.  Such a terrible thing to have happened to you, they said.

The farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.”

The next day the horse returned and brought him six wild horses, and the neighbours came to congratulate him and celebrate his good fortune.  Now you are richer than before, they said.  Surely now this has turned out to be such a very good thing, for you, after all.

The farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.”

The following day, the son saddled and rode one of the wild horses.  He was thrown off the horse and broke his leg.  Now the son could not work on the farm.  Again the neighbours came to offer their sympathy for such an inconvenient truth.  They noted that there was more work than the farmer could handle and surely now he would become poor.  Such bad luck, indeed.

The farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.”

The day after that, conscription officers came to the village to take all the young men for the army, but because of his broken leg, the farmer’s son was disallowed.  When the neigbours arrived again, they said how very fortunate the farmer was, as things had worked out after all.  Knowing well that most young men never return from the war alive, this was the best fortune yet.

And the old farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.”