076Japanese proverb ことわざ
人間万事塞翁が馬
にんげんばんじさいおうがうまNingen banji saiō ga uma
“Everything in life is like the old man's horse.”
The meaning
A misfortune sometimes hides a chance, a chance sometimes a misfortune. The old man of the tale lost his horse, got it back, and no one could say in advance what was good or bad. Suspending judgment protects from despair and hasty triumph alike.
At the origin
A Chinese tale from the Huainanzi: at each turn — horse lost, returned, leg broken, war avoided — fortune reverses.
The characters
In practice
Facing bad news, say "who knows?" — and wait for what follows.
Editorial note
Chinese tale (Huainanzi).
The story
The Old Man and His Horse — Saiō ga uma
Themes
In the collections · Nanakorobi
Similar proverbs
- 206 人の噂も七十五日 A rumor lives but seventy-five days.
- 120 一事が万事 One thing tells all things.
- 290 やまとうたは、人の心を種として、万の言の葉とぞなれりける Japanese poetry has the human heart as its seed, from which grow myriad leaves of words.
- 067 歳月人を待たず The years wait for no one.
- 232 春や昔十五万石の城下かな Spring — long ago, a proud castle town of a hundred fifty thousand koku.