Once upon a time a man from the State of Chu was crossing a river by boat. But carelessly his sword fell into the water. Immediately he made a mark on the boat. He said,This is where my sword fell off.

　　When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat. Of course he couldn"t find it. He didn"t know the boat had moved but the sword had no.

【参考译文】

　　从前，一位来自出国的人正乘船过河。可是一不小心他的剑掉到了水里。此人立刻在船上做了个记号。他说，我的剑是从这儿掉的。

　　当船停下来时，他从刻记号的地方到水里找剑。当然他是找不到剑的。他不知道船在动，而剑是不动的。