The old man and the horse
Pebble had watched everyone else receive the answer they wanted. His answer was no. By the time he reached Master Water, he had already decided what it meant: everyone else was moving forward, and he had been left behind.
Master Water asked him to listen to a story.
An old man lived near the frontier. One day, his horse wandered away into the territory beyond the border. His neighbours came to offer sympathy. Surely this was a misfortune.
The old man wondered how they could already know that it would not lead to something fortunate.
Several months passed. Then the horse returned, bringing a fine horse with it. This time, the neighbours came to congratulate the family. The loss had become a gain.
Again, the old man was cautious. How could they know that good fortune would not lead to trouble?
His son loved riding. One day he fell from a horse and broke his thigh. The neighbours returned to comfort the family. Once more, the old man left the final judgment open.
A year later, war reached the frontier. The able-bodied men took up their bows to fight, and many died. Because the son could not walk properly, he was spared the fighting. Father and son survived together.
Pebble began to see why the story had not ended when the horse disappeared. Each event had looked complete to the neighbours. Each time, something happened next.
Perhaps being left out could turn out well for him, too. Master Water’s answer was still: maybe.
The story offered no promise that every disappointment would become a gift. Pebble still had a real disappointment to face. But he did not yet have to turn it into a verdict on the rest of his life.
Take this with you
What has happened—and what have you already decided it means for the rest of your story?
Try putting the event into one sentence, and your interpretation into another. Notice where the second sentence reaches further than what you know.
Where this story begins
The frontier horse story appears in the Huainanzi, chapter 18 (人間訓). The reversals of good and bad fortune also resonate with Daodejing 58. The story itself is not from the Daodejing.
Master Water, Pebble, the rejection frame and the closing reflection are our additions. “Maybe” is our shorthand, not a literal quotation from the ancient text. The written retelling describes the fine horse of the source; the short film simplifies this to a wild horse.