Most of the territory of the state of Yue was water hand, so they used boats instead of chariots.
A person of Yue came across a useless chariot with rotten spokes1 and wheels. He actually shipped this chariot home, and showed off his wide experience and knowledge.
Those who came to see the chariot believed what be said and thought that was what a chariot was really like. Then they began to copy it and made many chariots. When the people of the state of Jin pointed2 out to them that their chariots were not up to the standards, they thought that the people of Jin were just looking down up them and ignored them.
Later when the enemy army invaded them, the chariots of Yue were all broken when first brought to the battlefield and were useless. Thus, the state of Yue was hadly defeated.
越国地处水乡,不用车而是用船。
一个越国人在晋国捡到一俩辐条腐朽、车轮惨败,已经没有用的破车后,居然用船把车弄回家中,并大肆卖弄自己的广见博识。
前来看车的人相信了他的话,认为车原本就是这个样子,于是争着仿效制造,当晋国人指出越国人的车不合规范时,越国人却以为是在歧视他们,根本不加理会。
等到敌军入侵,越人的战车刚刚上阵,就残破得不堪使用,结果被敌人打得大败。