There was an old man in a village. He was very poor, but even the King was jealous of him… He had such a legendary white horse that the King offered almost all of his treasure to get this horse, but the man never sold it.
He always said, “This is not a horse for me but a friend. Can you sell your friend?” One morning, the horse was gone. The villagers gathered around the old man, “You old senile! It was obvious that they would not leave that horse with you. If you had sold it to the King, you would have lived like a lord until the end of your life. Now you have neither money nor a horse.
The old man said, “Don’t rush for judgments.” You can just say, “The horse is missing”, because that’s the truth. Beyond that are your comments and judgment. Is my horse being lost a misfortune or a chance? We don’t know that yet. Because this is just the beginning. Nobody knows what will come next. ”
The villagers laughed hard at the old man. About 15 days later, the horse suddenly came back one night… It turned out that it had not been stolen but it had left for the mountains. And it brought back the 12 wild horses in the valley with it. The villagers who saw this gathered and apologized from the old man. “Hey, old chap,” they said, “You were right. The disappearance of your horse was not a misfortune but a godsend for you; now you have a herd of horses.” “Once again you are rushing to come to conclusions.” the old man said. “You can just say that the horse is back. This is the only known fact. We do not yet know what will happen next. This is just the beginning. How could you have an opinion about a book by just reading the first word in the first sentence?”
The villagers did not openly make fun of the old man this time but “This guy is a real idiot.” they thought… In about a week, the only son of the old man fell from the horse and broke his feet while he was trying to manage the wild horses. The son who was the only source of income in the house would have to stay in bed for a long time. The villagers came back to the old man and said, “You were right again.” “Because of these horses, your only son will not be able to use his leg for a long time. However, there is no one else to take care of you. Now you will be poorer and more miserable than before.” “You have been caught up in early decision-making disease.” the old man replied. “My son broke his leg. That’s true. Anything beyond that is your opinion. God knows if it is true. Life comes in such small pieces and you are never told what will happen next. ”
A few weeks later, the enemies attacked with a massive army. With one last hope, the king called all the young people who can fight to the army. The officers who came to the village enrolled in all young people, except for the old man’s broken-legged son. Bereavement surrounded the village. Because there was no way to win the war, and everyone knew that the young people who were going would either die or be captured. The villagers came to the old man again…They said, “It has been proved that you are right again”. “Your son has a broken leg but at least he is with you. But perhaps ours will never come back to the village. It was not unfortunate that your son’s leg was broken, but it was luck … “You keep on rushing to early conclusions,” said the old man. “However, nobody knows what will happen. There is only one reality. My son is with me, yours are in the military… But only God knows which is fortune and which is just bad luck. ”
Lao Tzu completed his story as follows:
“Don’t make hasty decisions. Avoid looking at a small piece of life and making decisions about the whole. Decision is what makes your mind stop. When you make a decision, the mind stops thinking and therefore developing. However, the mind always forces people to decide. This is because development is dangerous and makes people uneasy. The trip never ends. As one road ends, a new one begins. As one door closes, another opens. You reach a goal and you see that a higher target is right there. “