《刻舟求剑》成语英译与典故

三十三、刻舟求剑

古时候楚国有个渡江的人，

将一把名贵的宝剑背在身。

谁知他渡江时不小心，

剑落江中水流深。

这个人连忙掏出小刀儿，

在船帮儿上刻了个痕，

念叨着“我剑即从此处落”，

刻在船边记在心。

好容易船到对岸停稳后，

他才下水把剑寻。

聪明的朋友准会说，

丢剑人行为太愚蠢。

这说明做事不能太呆板，

不知变通死心眼儿笑煞人。

To Nick the Boat to Seek the Sword

In the ancient Chu State，a man one day took a ferry⁃boat，carrying a very precious sword with him.Unexpectedly the sword slipped from the boat，falling deep into the drifting current.This man promptly took out a knife，and made a nick on the deck of the boat，murmuring“I dropped my sword from here”，and memorizing the nick silently by heart.Anxiously he waited until the boat reached the other bank of the river，and got into the water to seek his lost sword.

You，reader，my dear friend，surely would say，it was a very foolish thing for the man who lost the sword to do.Yes，it tells people not to act mechani⁃cally.An inept person is more often than not，a laughing stock.