There once was a man from the North who wanted to travel to Chu. He rode a chariot, traveling on a road heading north. His friend, quite surprised, asked him: "Chu is in the South. You should be traveling south. Why are you heading north?"
"Never mind," the Northerner replied obstinately. "My horse is a good steed. It runs very fast."
His friend said: "No matter how fast it runs, you can never reach Chu by going north."
The Northerner said: "I have prepared enough travel expenses."
His friend said: "Sufficient travel expenses can help you neither."
The Northerner was still more obstinate: "I have a strong and capable groom at my service."
His friend said: "No groom, how capable and strong he may be, can be of any use to you if you stick to going northward."
The traveler did not listen to his friend, so he never reached Chu.
The idiom derived from this story indicates that one's action was the opposite effect to one's intention.
nán yuán b?i zhé
南轅北轍
?????? 有個北方人想到楚國去。他坐著馬車，沿著一條通向北方的大道奔馳。一個朋友覺得很奇怪，問他：“楚國是在南方，你應該向南方前進才對，你怎么往北走呢？”
?????? “沒關系”，那個北方人固執地回答，“我的馬是匹駿馬，它跑得很快。”
?????? 他朋友說：“你的馬無論跑多快，你向北方走總是到不了楚國的。”
?????? 那北方人說：“我已經準備了足夠的旅費。”
?????? 他朋友說：“充分的旅費也無濟于事。”
?????? 那北方人還是固執己見：“我有個很健壯能干的馬夫幫我。”
?????? 他朋友說：“如果你堅持向北方走，雖然有能干強壯的馬夫，也是沒用的。”
?????? 那北方人沒有聽他朋友的勸告，所以他也始終沒有到達楚國。
?????? 后來，人們就把這個故事概括為“南轅北轍”，比喻一個人的行動和他的目的正好相反。
xīn líng sh?u qi?o
心靈手巧
have a lively mind and a quick hand; be clever and deft
