(adapted) 
Once there was a farmer whose only horse ran away. That evening the neighbors gathered to commiserate with him since this was such bad luck. "Your farm will suffer. Now you cannot plow," they said. "Surely this is a terrible thing to have happened to you."
The farmer replied, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
The next day the horse returned and brought with it six wild horses. The neighbors came to congratulate him and exclaim his good fortune. "You are richer than you were before!" they laughed. "Surely this has turned out to be a good thing for you, after all."
The farmer calmly repeated, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
Then, the following day, his son tried to saddle and ride one of the wild horses. The young man was fiercely ejected from the saddle, and he broke his leg. That meant that for some time he wouldn't be able to help with all the work on the farm. Again the neighbors came to offer their sympathy for this incident. "There is more work than only you can handle, and you may be driven to poverty," they said. "Surely this is a terrible misfortune!"
The old farmer said, "Maybe yes, maybe no.
The day after that, conscription officers came to the village to seize young men for the army, but because of his broken leg the farmer's son was immediately rejected. Once more the neighbors came and shouted, "How fortunate! Things have worked out after all. Most young men never return alive from the war. Surely this is the best of fortunes for you!"
But the old man only said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
(Picture source: http://printablecolouringpages.co.uk/?s=baby%20foal&page=1)
