Carving Boats and Seeking Swords

During the Warring States Period, a man in the State of Chu crossed the river by boat. When the boat reached the middle of the river, a man of Chu accidentally slipped his sword into the river. He quickly reached out to grab it, but it was too late and the sword had already fallen into the river. The people on board felt very sorry for this.

But the Chu man seemed to have it in mind. He immediately took out a knife and carved a mark on the side of the ship, and said to everyone: "This is the place where the sword fell into the water, so I want to carve a mark."

No one understood why he did this, and they stopped asking him.

After the ship landed, the Chu people immediately went into the water at the place marked on the ship to retrieve the fallen sword. The people of Chu fished for a long time, but never saw the shadow of the sword. He thought it very strange, and said to himself, "Isn't this where my sword fell? I also marked it here, how can I not find it now?"

When he said this, the men laughed and said, "The ship is moving on, but your sword is under the water and will not move with the ship. How can you find your sword?"