中文 / C1
刻舟求剑
一个楚国人乘船渡江，随身携带的剑从船上坠入水中。他立即在船上刻下一道记号，说：「这就是我的剑落水的地方。」
等到船停下来，他便从刻着记号的位置入水，想照着这个标记找回自己的剑。
但船已经移动，剑却不曾随船而行。刻痕当然还在原处，问题在于，这个「原处」只是船上的原处，并非江中的原处。随着船的位置改变，刻痕所对应的水面也早已改变。
他把船上的位置同江中的地点混为一谈。剑落水时，二者恰好相合；船一驶离，记号和剑便不再处于同一地点。因此，船上的标记虽然保留着，却已经无法指出剑落水的地方。
船行而剑不行，他却仍从刻痕所在处下水求剑。以这样的方式寻找失物，难道不令人觉得糊涂吗？
English summary · includes the ending
A man from the ancient state of Chu is crossing a river by boat. His sword falls from the boat into the water. He immediately cuts a mark on the boat and explains that this is the place where his sword fell.
When the boat stops, he enters the water beside the mark to look for the missing sword. He uses the mark as his guide, although the boat has travelled away from the place of the accident.
The problem is simple: the sword has not travelled with the boat. The mark remains in the same place on the boat, but that part of the boat is now above a different part of the river.
The tale ends by questioning such a confused way of searching. The man has carefully marked a position on something that moves, then treated it as a fixed position in the water.
Adapted for Lejrbål from the credited source.
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