Parable 1. Damned... or Blessed?

 
 
Denying himself everything, barely making ends meet, a peasant finally saved up what he needed to buy a mare. His joy knew no bounds: At last he would be able to rent a piece of land and lift his family out of poverty. The whole family worked incessantly the year round. But in early spring, the mare ran off into the woods and disappeared, carrying off the poor man’s hopes with it.
“May the day I bought that mare be damned,” – the peasant wept bitterly. “May that day be damned...”
Yet the next year, in early spring, the mare returned, not alone, but with a colt.
“May the day I bought this noble animal be blessed,” – the peasant ran around the village in joy. “May that day be blessed...”
A little while latter, the peasant’s son decided to ride the already grown colt. But the untamed colt threw the young man out of the saddle.
“Broken arms and legs,” – the village doctor diagnosed.
“May the day I bought that beast be damned,” – the unhappy father lamented to the whole village. “May that day be damned...”
A couple of days later, terrible news came to the village: The neighboring state had started a war. All the young men were taken away, but the peasant’s son, because of his fractures, was unfit and remained at home.
“May the day when I bought the savior of my only son be blessed three times over,” – the happy father shouted to the whole village. “The Lord himself sent me this mare. May that day be blessed...”