blessing or bane

塞翁失馬

Near China‘s northern borders lived a man called Sai Weng. He raised a lot of horses.

戰(zhàn)國(guó)時(shí)期，靠近北部邊城，住著一個(gè)姓塞老人， 他養(yǎng)了許多馬。

One day， he lost one of his horses. Everyone commiserated with him.

一天，他的一匹走失了，人們聽說這件事，跑來安慰他。

“Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing，” said Sai Weng.

塞翁說：“沒準(zhǔn)會(huì)帶來什么福氣呢。”

After a few months， his horse came back， leading a fine horse from the north.

過了幾個(gè)月，丟失的馬不僅自己回了家，還帶回一匹匈奴的駿馬。

Everyone congratulated him.

所有人都來祝賀塞翁。

“Perhaps this may turn out to be a cause of misfortune，” said Sai Weng.

塞翁反而說：“這或許會(huì)帶來不幸呢。”

Since he was well-off and kept good horses， his son became fond of riding and eventually broke his leg for falling from a horse.

因?yàn)槿毯芨挥校⑶茵B(yǎng)馬養(yǎng)得很好，所以他的兒子也十分喜愛騎馬。但沒想到有一次騎馬時(shí)，他的兒子從馬上掉了下來，摔斷了腿。

Everyone commiserated with him. “Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing，” said his father.

人們于是又去安慰塞翁。但塞翁卻說：“也許這次又會(huì)帶來好運(yùn)呢。”

One year later， the northern tribes started a big invasion of the border regions.

一年以后，匈奴入侵邊境。

This man’s son did not join in the fighting because he was crippled and so he survived.

但是塞翁的兒子因?yàn)橥葦嗔吮銢]有被征入當(dāng)兵隊(duì)伍之中，而其他很多當(dāng)兵的青年都戰(zhàn)死在了沙場(chǎng)，塞翁的兒子因此保住了性命。

成語“塞翁失馬”如果用于英文表達(dá)，可以使用短語“blessing or bane ”，“blessing”的意思是“好運(yùn)”，“bane”的意思則是“厄運(yùn)，禍?zhǔn)?rdquo;，所以放在一起就可以表達(dá)“塞翁失馬”的意思。

但是，英文表達(dá)“blessing or bane ”常會(huì)用來單純的表示“是禍?zhǔn)歉?rdquo;的意思，比如：

Technology， a blessing or a bane?

高科技，是禍?zhǔn)歉?