A Parable for Your Troubles

For this post, I will present a parable and provide my interpretations of and feelings towards the piece. A parable, for those who do not know, is usually a simple story used to illustrate some moral or spiritual lesson. In many cases, parables are religious in nature, for this post, however, I will be looking at a non-religious parable for interpretation. The parable I have selected is as follows:

Good Luck or Bad Luck? (a Zen koan)

Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Perhaps,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “What great luck!” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Perhaps,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“Perhaps,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Perhaps,” said the farmer…

 I like this parable in particular because of its idea on perspective. I believe each story has two sides, and each side sees the story from a different perspective. This parable sort of echoes my belief. On one hand, the son's broken leg is a burden, but, under new circumstances, that burden becomes a blessing. There is always a bright side of every event, issue, or situation, and I feel as though this parable is taking a shot at trying to highlight that idea. I cannot help but feel as though the author of this parable wanted his readers to learn how to balance the good and the bad in life, and try to not fall under a dark cloud. This idea is especially relevant in a day where everything seems to be so negative and dark. So, perhaps it is time for us to start looking at all the bad things in the world, and start finding the good elements within each of them.