Folktales
As the legendary storyteller Michael Meade says, “Myths tell us a truth that can’t be told any other way.” So too, for folktales. Besides telling his personal tales, Bruce often tell the stories of old – the ones that get passed down through dozens of generations. King Arthur tales, Native American legends, epic quests. Here is a simple, short story from the Jewish tradition that reveals a sublime fact of life: “The Farmer and His Horse.”
The Farmer and His Horse
A Yiddish Folktale
Once Upon A Time there was a farmer, a simple man with only a few acres and one horse. One day, the horse ran away. When his neighbors heard about this misfortune, they ran over to commiserate.
“You lost your horse! That’s terrible!” they clamored. “What will you do? How will you plow your fields?”
“Yes, my horse ran away,” the farmer replied, “but I don’t know if it’s a bad thing or not.”
“What?” his neighbors gasped. “You don’t know if it’s a bad thing? How will you get your crops to town? How will you till the soil? You’ll be broke!”
The farmer just shrugged, and said nothing more.
-
His neighbors, aghast at his failure to grasp the obvious, slowly turned and walked away, muttering, “The tragedy must have affected his mind. He’s talking crazy.”
The next day, however, the farmer’s horse, which was a mare, returned. But surprise of all surprises, it was leading a stallion and they headed straight into the corral.
Hearing the great news, the neighbors came rushing over.
“Your horse came back!” they exclaimed, “and brought a second one, too! This is fantastic. You must be so happy,” they shouted.
“Yes, I now have two horses, but I don’t know if this is a good thing or not.”
“What! Are you nuts?” they exclaimed. “You’re doubly rich, now, when yesterday you were broke.”
The farmer merely shrugged, and so, the neighbors walked away again, utterly concerned for the mental health of their old friend.
The next day, the farmer’s son put a saddle on the new horse and jumped on. However, the stallion reacted harshly and threw the son off its back, throwing him against a fence railing.
“Father, father, help me,” the boy shouted. “I think I’ve broken my leg.”
Sadly, it was true. So, the farmer splinted the boy’s leg and helped him hobble into the farm house.
Hearing the tragic news, the neighbors ran over to the farmer.
“This is terrible!” they shouted. “Your son has a broken leg – so what will you do, now? Who will help you in the fields?”
“Yes, my son broke his leg,” the farmer replied, “but I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.”
“Oy veh,” the neighbors muttered. “This is just too mishugganah for words.” Again, they walked away.
Several days later, though, the Czar’s soldiers came to town and rounded up all the young men, forcing them to join the army. The Czar was fighting a war in a far-off land and he needed all the soldiers he could get.
Seeing all the young lads leave with muskets on their shoulders and wondering who would return, the neighbors went over to the farmer to commiserate.
“Today is such a sad day,” they said. “But you are so fortunate. The soldiers didn’t take your son because of his leg. You must be feeling very happy.”
“Yes, my son is still here because of his broken leg, but I don’t know if this is a bad thing or a good thing.”
Breathing a sigh of dejection with failing to receive any commiseration from the farmer, the neighbors stood and left.
“There’s no getting through to that man!” one said as they exited the farm house. “He just doesn’t understand,” said another.
The farmer’s life went on, and so did his son’s and the lives of his neighbors. But this story has no end, for just as life goes on and on, so does this story.
All that changes - all that can ever change - is our attitude towards the experiences of our lives.
And that attitude shapes all of our days to come.
Author’s Note:
I first heard this story a long time ago in Jonesborough, Tennessee at their annual National Storytelling Conference.