Chinese Idiom Stories 2 · chapter 5 of 6
The Runaway Horse
塞翁失马
When Sai Weng's horse runs away, his neighbor calls it terrible luck. The old man just smiles and says, “Who knows?” Is he wise, or just very strange?
Read what you hear
- Narrator 这个故事叫“塞翁失马”。很久以前，北边有一个老人，叫塞翁。
Zhège gùshi jiào “Sàiwēng shīmǎ”. Hěn jiǔ yǐqián, běibian yǒu yí gè lǎorén, jiào Sàiwēng.
This story is called “The Old Man of the Frontier Loses His Horse.” Long, long ago, far in the north, there lived an old man called Sai Weng.
- Sai Weng's son 爸爸，不好了！我们的马跑了！
Bàba, bù hǎo le! Wǒmen de mǎ pǎo le!
Dad, bad news! Our horse has run away!
- Sai Weng's son 它跑到北边去了，找不到了！
Tā pǎo dào běibian qù le, zhǎo bú dào le!
It ran off to the north, and we can't find it anywhere!
Chapter 5 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Chinese Idiom Stories 2 is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Mrs. Zhang 塞翁！您的马跑了？这是坏事！
Sàiwēng! Nín de mǎ pǎo le? Zhè shì huàishì!
Sai Weng! Your horse ran away? What terrible luck!
- Sai Weng 张大嫂，马跑了，是坏事吗？谁知道呢？
Zhāng dàsǎo, mǎ pǎo le, shì huàishì ma? Shéi zhīdào ne?
Mrs. Zhang, my horse ran away. Is that bad luck? Who knows?
- Mrs. Zhang 谁知道？马都没有了，还不是坏事？
Shéi zhīdào? Mǎ dōu méiyǒu le, hái bú shì huàishì?
Who knows? Your horse is gone! How is that not bad luck?
- Sai Weng 马没有了，也可能是好事啊。
Mǎ méiyǒu le, yě kěnéng shì hǎoshì a.
Losing a horse might even turn out to be good luck.
- Narrator 几个月以后，一天早上……
Jǐ gè yuè yǐhòu, yì tiān zǎoshang…
A few months later, early one morning…
- Sai Weng's son 爸爸，快出来看！我们的马回来了！
Bàba, kuài chūlái kàn! Wǒmen de mǎ huílái le!
Dad, come out and look, quick! Our horse has come back!
- Sai Weng's son 它还带回来一匹白马！又高又漂亮！
Tā hái dài huílái yì pǐ báimǎ! Yòu gāo yòu piàoliang!
And it brought a white horse home with it! So tall and so beautiful!
- Mrs. Zhang 太好了！您家有两匹马了！这是好事！
Tài hǎo le! Nín jiā yǒu liǎng pǐ mǎ le! Zhè shì hǎoshì!
Wonderful! Now you have two horses! What good luck!
- Sai Weng 是好事吗？谁知道呢？
Shì hǎoshì ma? Shéi zhīdào ne?
Is it good luck? Who knows?
- Mrs. Zhang 您怎么又说“谁知道呢”？
Nín zěnme yòu shuō “shéi zhīdào ne”?
Why do you keep saying “who knows”?
- Sai Weng's son 白马跑得真快！爸爸，您看我！
Báimǎ pǎo de zhēn kuài! Bàba, nín kàn wǒ!
The white horse is so fast! Dad, look at me!
- Sai Weng's son 我的腿！我的腿！
Wǒ de tuǐ! Wǒ de tuǐ!
Ow! My leg! My leg!
- Mrs. Zhang 不好了！您儿子的腿断了！这是坏事！
Bù hǎo le! Nín érzi de tuǐ duàn le! Zhè shì huàishì!
Oh no! Your son has broken his leg! What terrible luck!
- Sai Weng 是坏事吗？谁知道呢？
Shì huàishì ma? Shéi zhīdào ne?
Is it bad luck? Who knows?
- Mrs. Zhang 这个塞翁，真奇怪……
Zhège Sàiwēng, zhēn qíguài…
That Sai Weng is a very strange man…
- Narrator 一年以后，北边的人打过来了。年轻人都要去打仗。
Yì nián yǐhòu, běibian de rén dǎ guòlái le. Niánqīngrén dōu yào qù dǎzhàng.
A year later, an army from the north attacked. All the young men had to go off to war.
- Sai Weng's son 爸爸，我的腿不好，他们不要我去。
Bàba, wǒ de tuǐ bù hǎo, tāmen bú yào wǒ qù.
Dad, with my bad leg, they don't want me.
- Narrator 很多年轻人去了，没有回来。塞翁和儿子，都没有事。
Hěn duō niánqīngrén qù le, méiyǒu huílái. Sàiwēng hé érzi, dōu méiyǒu shì.
Many young men went and never came home. But Sai Weng and his son were both safe.
- Mrs. Zhang 塞翁，您说得对。坏事，也能变成好事。
Sàiwēng, nín shuō de duì. Huàishì, yě néng biànchéng hǎoshì.
Sai Weng, you were right. A bad thing can turn into a good thing.
- Mrs. Zhang 马跑了，谁知道是不是好事？这就是“塞翁失马”！
Mǎ pǎo le, shéi zhīdào shì bu shì hǎoshì? Zhè jiù shì “Sàiwēng shīmǎ”!
When your horse runs away, who knows if it's good luck or bad? That's “the old man of the frontier loses his horse”!
- Sai Weng 塞翁失马……好事，坏事，谁知道呢？
Sàiwēng shīmǎ… hǎoshì, huàishì, shéi zhīdào ne?
The old man loses his horse… good luck or bad luck, who can tell?
- Mrs. Zhang 对了！我还知道一个老人，比您还奇怪！
Duì le! Wǒ hái zhīdào yí gè lǎorén, bǐ nín hái qíguài!
Oh, that reminds me! I've heard of an old man who's even stranger than you!
- Mrs. Zhang 他快九十岁了，要把门前的两座大山搬走！
Tā kuài jiǔshí suì le, yào bǎ mén qián de liǎng zuò dà shān bān zǒu!
He's nearly ninety, and he wants to move the two huge mountains in front of his house!
- Sai Weng's son 搬走两座大山？一个老人？那怎么可能！
Bān zǒu liǎng zuò dà shān? Yí gè lǎorén? Nà zěnme kěnéng!
Move two huge mountains? One old man? That's impossible!
- Sai Weng 不可能吗？谁知道呢？
Bù kěnéng ma? Shéi zhīdào ne?
Impossible? Who knows?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Sai Weng say when his horse runs away?
“马没有了，也可能是好事啊。”
- What happens a few months later?
“我们的马回来了！……它还带回来一匹白马！”
- How does the son hurt his leg?
“白马跑得真快！……我的腿！”
- Why doesn't the son go to war?
“我的腿不好，他们不要我去。”
- What does Mrs. Zhang finally understand?
“坏事，也能变成好事。”