A man of Chu learned to steer1 the boat from a boatman.
At the beginning, he followed the boatman's instruction carefully, no matter whether it was to go ahead or back, turn left or right .
One day, he had a try to steer the boat in slow current by himself, and found that he could steer the boat with ease. So he dismissed the boatman, and steered2 the boat directly to the rip current. When the boat lost control in the vortex, the man looked around in panic, and was scared out of wits. Not only was the oar3 lost, but also the ruder was carried away by the current.
一个楚国人向船夫学习驾船。
刚开始的时候，无论是进退快慢还是左右旋转，他都非常认真的尊从船夫的指挥。
一天，楚国人自己驾船在水流平缓的地带试了一下，发现达到了得心应手的熟练程度，于是，他辞去了教他的船夫，驾着船直冲激流险滩。当船在旋涡里失去控制时，楚国人仓惶四顾，丧魂落魄。不仅手中的桨丢了，连船舵也给水的无影无踪。
