The Old Man of the Steppes Finds a Horse
Once upon a time, there was a wise old man who lived in the steppes. He
owned many horses. One evening, after a long day of working in the fields,
he came home to discover that one of his horses–a mare, had run off. His
family and his neighbours searched the surrounding area. When they finally
gave up, they sent him their condolences, “We are sorry that this
unfortunate incident happened to you.” The old man of the steppes remarked
calmly, “The loss of my mare is not necessarily a bad thing. All will be
shown for its true worth in time.”
The next morning, the old man of the steppes looked up in the horizon and
saw two horses coming towards his house. The first horse was his mare that
had run off, and the other was a stallion following the mare. Even from a
distance, he could see that this stallion was a war horse of great stature
and worth. He quickly inquired at the county office whether anyone had
reported the loss of their stallion. The county magistrate advised him to
keep the horse until someone had reported it missing. That evening, the old
man’s family and his neighbours celebrated the return of his mare as well as
his newly acquired stallion. At the celebration, he was called upon to make
a speech. The old man of the steppes stood up and remarked calmly, “The
acquisition of this stallion is not necessarily a good thing. all will be
shown for its true worth in time.”
A week later, the old man’s son took the stallion out for a ride. Not being
skilled in manoeuvering a great war horse, the boy suffered a terrible fall.
As a result, his leg was broken. The old man’s family and his neighbours
crowded around the boy and commented, “This is an awful thing that has
happened. This stallion has brought bad luck to the family.” The old man of
the steppes stood by the boy and remarked calmly, “This accident is not
necessarily a bad thing. All will be shown for its true worth in time.”
Sometime later, the kingdom was involved in a cruel and unjust war with a
neighbouring kingdom. All the young men of the kingdom were called upon to
enlist in the army. The old man’s neighbours lamented as all their sons were
called off to fight in the war. It was impossible to escape the draft as the
enlisting officers moved from county to county and house to house in search
of all the young men. Inevitably, they finally came upon the old man’s
house.
Seeing the stallion in the yard, they remarked to themselves, “This must be
the home of a great warrior. But why has this coward not gone off to war? We
must seize him at once.” When they searched the house, they found only the
old man of the steppes, his wife and their crippled son. The enlisting
officers then remarked, “This young man would have been a fine soldier if it
were not for his broken leg. We cannot take him with us.” And thus, their
son was exempted from fighting in the war. The old man’s neighbours,
observing with amazement the declared, “What wisdom this old man has, that
he can foresee both good and bad incidences for what they are truly worth!”