Recently I watched James
Cameron’s Titanic. One of the twists
of the film’s story is that Jack, the protagonist, was not supposed to be on
that ship. Just before the Titanic sailed he won two tickets in a poker game
with two Swedes. When one of the Swedes realized that the other had bet and
lost their tickets to America, he punched his friend out. This appeared to be a
disaster for the Swedes, and a triumph for Jack and his Italian friend.
After boarding, Jack and his
friend ran down the corridor of the great ship’s third-class compartment, and
Jack shouted, “We’re the luckiest sons-of-bitches in the world!”
This makes me think of a Chinese
parable: One day a farmer’s only horse disappeared. When his neighbor came to
console him the farmer said, “Who knows what’s good or bad?” The next day the
farmer’s horse returned accompanied by a wild horse, and the neighbor came to
congratulate him on his good fortune. “Who knows what’s good or bad?” said the
farmer. The next day the farmer’s son broke his leg trying to ride the new
horse, and the neighbor came to console him again. “Who knows what’s good or
bad?” said the farmer. When the army passed through, conscripting men for war,
they passed over the farmer’s son because of his broken leg. When the man came
to congratulate the farmer that his son would be spared, again the farmer asked,
“Who knows what’s good or bad?”
In the movie, Jack and his
friend ended up dying, and the Swedes were now the luckiest sons-of-bitches in
the world. (There's a similar storyline in The Lord of the Rings trilogy: it appears to be really bad that Gollum survived until right at the end, when it turns out to be a very good thing.)
I thought of this Chinese
parable while reading Damien Echols’ book, Life After Death. Mr. Echols
served 18 years in prison for the infamous West Memphis
murder of three young boys, although he was innocent of the crime.
