You never know

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in a small European village. He had a
wife and seven children. His only asset of any value was a cart. One day, he swapped his cart
for a horse.

 “Oh how stupid!” all the other villagers said. “Why get a horse if you have no cart
for the horse to pull? What a stupid thing.”

 “Hmm,” said the man softly, “You never know.”

The next day, the man woke up and looked out of his bedroom window. Disaster! The
horse had escaped from his stable. Now the man had nothing and a hungry family to feed. 

“Oh how stupid!” all the villagers said.

 “We told you that you shouldn’t have swapped that cart for a horse. Look at the disaster which has happened as a result!”

 “Hmm,” said the man sadly, “You never know.”

A week later, the man was sitting at the kitchen table in despair, wondering what he
was going to do. He didn’t have any money left. He rested his head on the kitchen table...then

he heard a noise. Parrupety, parrupety, parrupety... That noise sounded like the hooves of a
horse. He looked out of the kitchen window and saw not only his own horse but nine other
horses with his horse. The horse had been lonely and had gone and found his brothers and
sisters so that they could come to live with him. Suddenly, with ten horses, the man was the
richest man in the village.

 “Oh, how amazing!” all the villagers said. “It seems like getting that horse was a great idea after all! How lucky you are!”

 “Hmm,” said the man pensively, “You never know.”

A few weeks later, the man’s eldest son, who was 15 years old, was out riding the
horse. The horse shied and threw the son onto the ground. The son’s ankle was badly broken.He would not be able to walk for months. 

“Oh how terrible!” all the villagers said. “We told you from the very beginning that the horse was a bad idea, and look what’s happened now!”

“Hmm,” said the man calmly, “You never know.”

Shortly afterward, the local ruler declared war on the next country. All the young men
of the village were rounded up and conscripted, except for the man’s son, because he was
still unable to walk on his broken ankle. “Oh, how lucky! !” all the villagers said. 

“What a good thing that horse was! Now your son will be safe.” 

“Hmm,” said the man. “You never know.”