塞翁失馬是指禍福在一定條件下可以互相轉(zhuǎn)化，即任何事都有兩面性。也指壞事在一定條件下可變?yōu)楹檬?。后來衍生成語“塞翁失馬，焉知非福”。

　　成語故事英文翻譯：塞翁失馬

　　從前，在中國的塞北住著一位老人。一天，他的馬不見了。鄰居們都來安慰他。但這位老人卻一點(diǎn)也不難過。他說這也許會是件好事。他說對了。幾個(gè)月后，他的馬帶著另一匹更好的馬回來了。他的鄰居又為他的收獲而祝賀?？墒牵@位老人對這件事的看法又和別人不同。他說這個(gè)好運(yùn)也許最終會成為不幸。奇怪的是，他又說對了。幾天后，他的兒子在騎那匹新的馬時(shí)摔了下來，斷了一條腿。但幸運(yùn)的是，正因?yàn)樗麅鹤釉谶@場意外后成了跛子，他沒有被選為士兵去參加戰(zhàn)爭，得以和家里人平安的生活。

　　現(xiàn)在人們用"塞翁失馬"這個(gè)成語來安慰遭受不幸的人。它表明：不幸有時(shí)也會成為好運(yùn)，而好運(yùn)有時(shí)也會變成不幸。

　　塞 frontier 安慰 comfort 難過 upset

　　祝賀 congratulate 跛子 lame 戰(zhàn)爭 war

　　塞翁失馬翻譯/英語版 The old man on the frontier lost his horse

　　Once upon a time, there lived an old man on the northern frontier of China. One day, his horse disappeared. His neighbors came to comfort him. But the old man was not upset at all. He said the loss might turn out to be a good thing. And he was right. A few months later, his horse came back with another horse that was even better. His neighbors came to congratulate him on his gain. But once again, the old man viewed the event differently. He said this "good luck" might turn out to be misfortune in the end. Strangely, he was right again. A few days later, his son fell from the new horse and broke his leg. But fortunately, since his son was lame after that accident, he was not chosen to be a soldier to fight in the following war so that he lived with family safely.

　　Nowadays people use "The old man on the frontier lost his horse" to comfort those who have some misfortune. It implies: Bad luck sometimes turns out to be good luck, and good luck can sometimes be bad.