There is a story that I have heard told many times.

A very poor farmer lives in a small town on the outskirts of a large kingdom. One morning, the farmer awakens to find that a beautiful and wild stallion has wandered into his field. The farmer catches the stallion and puts it in his corral. The townspeople come to the farmer and say, “This is good, you have managed to catch a beautiful stallion.” The farmer replies, “I don't know if it is good, what I do know is that I now have a stallion.”

The next day, the king himself happens to be passing through the farmer's village. Upon seeing the stallion, the king feels he must own this beautiful animal. He sends his servant into the farmer's home to offer him a large amount of gold in exchange for the horse. But the farmer refuses to sell the animal at any price and the king rides away very angry. Seeing what has happened, the townspeople go to the farmer and say, “This is bad, you might have a beautiful horse, but you are still a poor farmer and the king is now angry with you as well.” The farmer replies, “I don't know if it is bad, what I do know is that the king is angry with me.”

That night while the farmer is sleeping, the stallion breaks free from his stall and vanishes into the surrounding forest.