◎Lu’s Spring and Autumn
A person from the State Chu wanted to cross a river of enormous breadth that had surging waves. So, he boarded a small boat and asked the boatman to take him to the other side of the river.
The boat ploughed into the waves sailing forward while the person stood at the front of the boat, enjoying the beautiful views along the river. Suddenly, a wave came at the boat, and the boat bounced. Unable to stand, the person wobbled, and his sword fell into the water. He bent down in a hurry to mark the shipboard from where his sword fell into the water. “This is where my sword has fallen into the water!” he murmured.
The boat finally arrived at the other bank. As soon as the boat pulled in, he immediately jumped into the water from the shipboard that he marked to look for his sword in the water.
The person spent more than half a day looking for his sword in the water, but in vain. He then had to come ashore in great disappointment.
He didn’t realize that the boat had left the place where the sword had fallen into the water, but the sword was not moving along with the boat. How would he find the sword from the mark? Was it not very foolish to look for the sword like this?
