Once upon a time, there was a swordsman from the State of Chu. He carried a sword, and was preparing to take a boat across the river. The boat had just set off, when his sword fell into the river by accident. However, the swordsman did not jump into the river immediately in search of his sword. Instead, he drew a little cross on the outside of the boat where the sword had fallen into the water. The other passengers thought it to be strange, and asked the swordsman curiously, “Why aren’t you trying to find your sword?”

The swordsman from Chu laughed and said, “Do you know why I drew the cross? It marks the place where my sword fell into the river. I only need to wait till the boat reaches the other side, before diving into the water near this cross to find my sword.”

After a while, the boat reached the other side of the river. The swordsman jumped into the river to find his sword. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not find it. 

Moral of the story: it is unwise to be stubborn and inflexible.

從前有一個楚國人，帶了一把劍，準備坐船過河。沒想到，船才開了一會兒，劍就掉進河裡了。可是他不但不急著下水找劍，反而只是在船的外面刻了一個記號。旁邊的人都覺得很奇怪，紛紛問他：「你怎麼不快點下水去找劍？」

這個楚國人笑著對大家說：「你們知道做這個記號是什麼意思嗎？它表示劍是在這個地方掉的，所以等船停下來後，我再下水去找就行了。」

過了不久，船停了下來，他才跳進河中找劍，可是不管他怎麼找，都找不到那把劍。

寓意：堅持自己的看法，不知變通。