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Zen Stories
May be
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked
his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing
the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck,"
they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other
wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed.
"May be," replied the old man. The following day, his son
tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his
leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his
misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer. The day after,
military officials came to the village to draft young men into the
army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The
neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned
out. " May be ," said the
farmer.
(In other versions of this story, the farmer says something other
than "maybe" - for instance "we'll see" - or
he simply smiles without saying anything)
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