We Shall See

Long ago, in a land where the mountains are the highest in the world, there lived and old farmer and his son. The boy was the child of his old age. The boy's mother had died in childbirth and the father greatly loved the boy for he looked like his mother.

The farmer and the son had a beautiful white stallion. The boy spent his days helping his father on their farm and training the great steed. After a few years the horse ran swifter and smoother than any other stallion.

But, one day the father and son awoke to find the great steed missing.

The son was brokenhearted. Neighbors gathered around the father and son and lamented their great loss. But the father gazed calmly past the villagers to the surrounding high peaks.

"We shall see," the farmer said. "We shall see if this is good or if this is bad."

After a week, the magnificent horse returned, followed by an equally fine, wild mare. Father and son soon tamed the new animal. This time, their neighbors praised the old man's remarkable luck - he was now the wealthiest man in the area. He owned the two finest horses anyone had ever seen.

But the farmer smiled at the words of the villagers. "Of course I am please," said the farmer. "But who knows if this is lucky or unlucky? We shall see."

And so it happened one day; while racing their splendid horses across the fields, the son fell from the great stallion and broke both his legs.

While the boy's injuries were cleaned and splinted by the doctor, the villagers bemoaned the family's terrible misfortune.

But, the father, as calm as ever, took comfort in his son and said, "His legs will heal in time. I cannot know if these injuries will turn out to be something good or something bad. We shall see."

The next week a battalion of soldiers marched into the village. To the north a great war had started . The king and his generals needed all the kingdom's young men immediately. Mothers and fathers gathered food and warm clothing for their boys. With great sorrow and many tears, the parents of the village watched their boys march off to war.

Alas, one boy in the village was left behind.

The captain who had lead the soldiers into the village could see the farmer's son was many months from being able to march into war.

The villagers envied the farmer and his son their good fortune.

The old farmer looked out across his fields at the two fine horse grazing in the rich grass. He looked at the beautiful sky as the sun drew close to the horizon for its setting. He watch the sunlight play on the snow on the high and distant peaks.

He smiled and said nothing at all.