塞翁失馬，焉知非福
It comes from《淮南子．人間》.
塞 = 邊塞 Border fortress
翁：A respectful title for an elder male.
失 = 失去 loss
馬 horse
焉知 = 怎麼知道 how can one be sure
非 = 不是 not
福 bless
Many years ago, a old man raised horses near the border.
One day, one of his horses ran away. Everyone felt sorry for him, but he thought, "Maybe this will turn out to be a good thing."
A few months later, the horse returned on its own, bringing several other fine horses with it. People came to congratulate him, but he worried and said, "Maybe something bad is going to happen because of this."
As he had expected, his son fell off one of the new horses while riding and broke his leg. Once again, he thinks: "Maybe this will be a good thing."
A year later, a war broke out. Many young men were conscripted and died on the battlefield. Because his son had a broken leg, he was unable to go to the battlefield and thus survived.
We use this idiom to say that you can't immediately judge whether an event is good or bad; things that seem bad can sometimes lead to good outcomes, and vice versa. So, it's wise not to rush to conclusions.
Similar Idiom: 因禍得福(a blessing in disguise)
It refers to someone encountering a disaster, but gaining benefits from it.
It comes from《醒世恆言．卷九．陳多壽生死夫妻》
Our male character was called 陳多壽, and our female character was called 朱多福.
They are 指腹為婚, which means they were engaged before they were born.
指腹為婚 It refers to the practice where two couples agree to betroth their unborn children while their wives are still pregnant. If the wives give birth to a boy and a girl, the agreement stipulates that these children will marry each other when they grow up.
Now, go back to our story.
多壽 contracted a severe disease at fifteen, leaving him disfigured.
While 多福's mother sought to annul the marriage, 多福 vowed to "生為陳家婦，死為陳家鬼"(As long as I live, I am his wife. Even if I die, I still belong to their family.) She said this to emphasize that whether she lives or dies, she is a member of the 陳 family. 多壽, not wanting to burden her, wrote a letter of divorce to urge her to remarry. But 多福 responded with her verse: "Though fate brings illness, our bond remains unbroken".
Time flowed on, a decade later, 多壽 lost the will to live due to chronic illness and attempted suicide by poison. Miraculously, the poison cured his illness. The couple finally has a blissful life.
How To Use
塞翁失馬
有一個人站在電視機前面碎碎念著：塞翁失馬，焉知非福。今天的損失，就是明天的收穫…哈哈哈…
There is a person standing in front of the TV, muttering: 塞翁失馬，焉知非福。Today's loss is tomorrow's gain...hahahahaha...
A：他幹嘛對著電視機喃喃自語啊？Why is he muttering to the TV?
B：從四月份到現在，股市跌了又漲、漲了ˊ又跌。刺激太大，嚇瘋了。
From April until now, the stock market has gone up and down, up and down; it's been too much stimulus that has driven him nuts.
因禍得福
他因為摔斷腿沒有辦法去旅行，卻得知要投宿的旅館發生了大火，他僥倖避開，也算是因禍得福吧。
He was unable to travel because he had broken his leg, but he learned that a fire had broken out in the hotel where he was going to stay. He luckily avoided it, which was a blessing in disguise.
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