战国时，有一个楚国人坐船过江。
船到江中间时，这个人不小心把身上的一把剑掉进了江里。
他赶紧用手去抓，但是已经来不及了。
船上的人都觉得很可惜，但是这个人却很自信地拿出一把小刀，在船舷上刻了一个标记，并对大家说：这是我的剑落水的地方。
船到了岸边以后，这个人立刻从船舷上有标记的地方跳进水里，想把自己的剑找回来。
但是他找了半天也没找到自己的剑。
他觉得很奇怪：我的剑明明就是从这里掉进水里的，这里还有我刻的标记，怎么会找不到呢？
大家听了以后大笑起来：剑掉进了江中，不再移动，而船一直在前进，你又怎么可能在这里找到呢？
从此以后，我们用“刻舟求剑”这个成语来形容一些人不懂事情在发展变化，只能静止地看问题。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vc2VjdXJlL2xlYXJuY2hpbmVzZS80MTM1Lm1wMw&filename=ke-zhou-qiu-jian.mp3&signature=e389dd481c2610083fef778f4f1fe32e73240960729c54c38d86c41fa37b0b1b
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 战国 | Zhàn guó | the Warring States period (475-221 BC) |
| 时 | shí | o'clock / time / hour / season / period |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 楚国 | Chǔ guó | the state of Chu, one of the most important of the small states contending for power in China between 770 and 223 BC, located around present-day Hubei |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 坐 | zuò | to sit / to take a seat / to take (a bus, airplane etc) / to bear fruit |
| 船 | chuán | boat / vessel / ship |
| 过 | guò | to cross / to go over / to pass (time) / to celebrate (a holiday) / to live / to get along |
| 江 | jiāng | river |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive / to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point) / (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point) |
| 中间 | zhōng jiān | the middle; the inside |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 小心 | xiǎo xīn | to be careful / to take care |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 身上 | shēn shang | on the body / at hand |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 剑 | jiàn | double-edged sword |
| 掉 | diào | to fall / to drop / to lag behind / to lose / to go missing / to reduce / fall (in prices) / to lose (value, weight etc) / to wag / to swing / to turn / to change / to exchange / to swap / to show off / to shed (hair) |
| 进 | jìn | to go in / to enter / to put in / to submit / to take in / to admit |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 里 | lǐ | lining / interior / inside |
| 他 | tā | he; him; his |
| 赶紧 | gǎn jǐn | hurriedly / without delay |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ / (coverb) with; using |
| 手 | shǒu | hand |
| 去 | qù | (after a verb of motion) movement away from the speaker; (after certain verbs) detachment or separation |
| 抓 | zhuā | to grab / to catch / to arrest / to snatch / to scratch |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 来不及 | lái bu jí | there's not enough time (to do sth); it's too late |
| 船上 | chuán shàng | on board a ship; aboard |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ... |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 可惜 | kě xī | it is a pity / what a pity |
| 却 | què | but / yet / however / while / nevertheless / even though |
| 自信 | zì xìn | to have confidence in oneself |
| 地 | de | -ly / structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 拿 | ná | to hold / to seize / to catch / to apprehend / to take |
| 出 | chū | (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result) |
| 小 | xiǎo | small / tiny / few |
| 刀 | dāo | knife; blade; single-edged sword; cutlass / (slang) (loanword) dollar |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 船舷 | chuán xián | the sides of a ship / (fig.) the dividing line between shipboard expenses and onshore freight charges |
| 上 | shàng | (noun suffix) on; above |
| 刻 | kè | to carve / to engrave / to cut |
| 标记 | biāo jì | sign / mark / symbol / (computing) token |
| 并 | bìng | furthermore / also / simultaneously |
| 对 | duì | towards; at; for / concerning; regarding |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 落 | luò | to fall or drop / (of the sun) to set / (of a tide) to go out / to lower / to decline or sink / to lag or fall behind / to fall onto / to rest with / to get or receive / to write down |
| 水 | shuǐ | water / (after a name) ... River / (bound form) additional cost; extra income |
| 地方 | dì fang | place; location; area; space; territory / aspect; part |
| 岸 | àn | bank; shore; beach; coast |
| 边 | biān | side / edge / margin / border / boundary |
| 以后 | yǐ hòu | after / later / afterwards / following / later on / in the future |
| 立刻 | lì kè | immediately; at once; right away |
| 从 | cóng | from; through; via / (bound form) retainer; attendant / (bound form) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate / (bound form) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor |
| 跳 | tiào | to jump / to hop / to skip over / to bounce |
| 想 | xiǎng | to desire; to want (to) |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find / to look for / to call on sb / to find / to seek |
| 回 | huí | to go back / to turn around / to answer / to return |
| 来 | lái | hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker) |
| 半天 | bàn tiān | half of the day / a long time / quite a while / midair |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 奇怪 | qí guài | strange / odd |
| 明明 | míng míng | obviously / plainly / undoubtedly / definitely |
| 就 | jiù | merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | here |
| 还 | hái | in addition, also, else, even |
| 怎么 | zěn me | how? / what? / why? |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 呢 | ne | (discourse particle) used to mark a slight pause or emphasis in speech |
| 听 | tīng | to listen to; to hear |
| 大 | dà | greatly; freely; fully |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile |
| 起来 | qǐ lái | indicating the beginning and continuation of an action or a state / indicating an upward movement / indicating completion / expressing preliminary judgment |
| 中 | zhōng | within; among; in |
| 不再 | bù zài | no more; no longer |
| 移动 | yí dòng | to move |
| 而 | ér | but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates contrast) |
| 一直 | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line) / continuously; always; all the way through |
| 前进 | qián jìn | to go forward / to forge ahead / to advance |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 又 | yòu | (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 可能 | kě néng | possible / probable |
| 此 | cǐ | this; these |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our |
| 刻舟求剑 | kè zhōu qiú jiàn | lit. a notch on the side of a boat to locate a sword dropped overboard (idiom); fig. an action made pointless by changed circumstances |
| 成语 | chéng yǔ | Chinese set expression, typically of 4 characters, often alluding to a story or historical quotation; idiom; proverb; saying; adage |
| 形容 | xíng róng | to describe |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 懂 | dǒng | to understand / to comprehend |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business |
| 发展 | fā zhǎn | to develop / to grow / to expand |
| 变化 | biàn huà | (intransitive) to change; to vary |
| 只 | zhǐ | only; merely; just |
| 能 | néng | can / to be able to / might possibly |
| 静止 | jìng zhǐ | still / immobile / static / stationary |
| 看 | kàn | to see; to look at / to read / to watch / to visit; to call on / to consider; to regard as / to look after / to treat (a patient or illness) / to depend on / to feel (that) / (after a verb) to give it a try / to watch out for |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question / problem / issue / topic |