Classic Idioms, Freely Rendered

CHAPTER 01 — Idioms That Make Me Grow

Saeongjima — Fleming's Mistake and the Miracle of Penicillin

An idiom carrying the deep insight that fortune and misfortune in human affairs change so unpredictably that there is no need to rejoice or despair over an immediate gain or loss.

The story appears in the "Renjianxun" chapter of the Huainanzi. When a horse kept by an old man on China's northern frontier ran off into barbarian country, the neighbors came to console him. The old man was unruffled: "Who knows whether this will turn out to be a blessing?" A few months later the horse came back leading a fine steed. When the neighbors congratulated him, the old man instead worried that it might bring misfortune. Sure enough, his son fell while riding that fine horse and broke his leg. A year later war broke out on the border and the young men of the village were conscripted and lost their lives — but thanks to his broken leg, the old man's son did not have to go to war.

Fleming's Mistake and the Miracle of Penicillin: In the summer of 1928, the British microbiologist Alexander Fleming made the mistake of leaving the lid off a staphylococcus culture dish when he went away on holiday. When he returned, blue mold from the air had taken over the dish and ruined the experiment.