近塞上之人，有善術者，馬無故亡而入胡。人皆吊之，其父曰：“此何遽不為福乎？”居數月，其馬將胡駿馬而歸。人皆賀之，其父曰：“此何遽不能為禍乎？”家富良馬，其子好騎，墮而折其髀。人皆吊之，其父曰：“此何遽不為福乎？”居一年，胡人大入塞，丁壯者引弦而戰。近塞之人，死者十九。此獨以跛之故，父子相保。

The horse of a border resident, who was mastering horsemanship, went astray into the Hu territories without any reason. People then came to comfort him. The old man said, "Why is my loss a good thing to me?" Several months later, the horse led a group of Hu steeds back. People came to congratulate him, he responded, "Cant my gain be a disaster to me?" Because of the many good horses in the house and his sons enjoyment of riding, the young man was thrown from a horse and broke his thigh. Then people came again to console him and his son. Again, the old repeated, "Why isnt his injury a good thing to him?" After a year, the Hu tribe invaded the border, and the young men all picked up arrows and bows to fight. The battle resulted in tremendous casualties among the people in the border area. However, the young man escaped the drift due to his crippled leg, and so the father and the son saved their lives.