A Blessing in Disguise

◎涂淑梅

“塞翁失馬”出自《淮南子·人間訓》，比喻壞事在一定條件下可能轉變為好事。常與“焉知非福”連用。

Track 3

Long ago,there was an old man living near the frontier regions who had many horses.One day,one of his horses went missing.

On learning this,his friends and relatives came to1)consolehim and the man said,“Who says this may not be a blessing?”

After a few months,the lost horse returned with some fine horses.His friends and relatives came to congratulate him.But this time,the old man said,“Who says this won’t turn out to be a2)misfortune?”

The old man’s son loved the new horses,and every morning he took a ride on one of them.Since the new horses were not well3)tamed,the young man fell off one of them and became4)crippled.

Again,his friends and relatives came to console him and again the old man said,“How do you know that this is bad luck?”

One year later,the Hu tribes started a big invasion of the frontier regions.All able-bodied young men must fight against the invaders.Because the old man’s son was a cripple and was not ordered to join the army,he survived the border war.

1) consolev.安慰；慰藉

2) misfortunen.厄運；不幸

3) tamev.馴化；馴服

4) cripplev.使殘廢；使跛

很久以前，一位住在邊塞的老人養了許多馬。一天，他的馬群中忽然有一匹馬走失了。

得知這一消息，親朋好友們紛紛前來安慰。老人說：“此事焉知非福？”

過了幾個月，那匹丟失的馬回來了，還帶回一群駿馬。親朋好友們紛紛前來表示祝賀。但這一回，老人卻說：“此事焉知非禍？”

老人的兒子喜愛這群駿馬，每天早晨都騎上一匹。由于新馬未被馴服，年輕人從一匹馬上摔了下來，成了跛子。

親朋好友們又紛紛前來安慰，老人卻又說：“此事焉知非福？”

一年后，胡人部落開始大舉入侵，身體健康的青年都要應召入伍，老人的兒子因為身體殘疾而免于入伍，他在邊塞戰火中得以幸存。

True or False:

The old man’s son has not survived the border war.

Know More

There’s no use in overreacting to the events and circumstances of our everyday lives.Many times what looks like a setback,may be a gift in disguise.Therefore,good fortune follows upon disaster,disaster lurks within good fortune.

對日常生活中的事件和狀況過度反應是沒有用的。很多時候，看似挫折的事情，可能是變相的禮物。所以說，禍兮福之所倚，福兮禍之所伏。