A scholar (学者) wanted to cross a long river by boat. So he asked a boatman to row him across the river. The journey was long and slow. The scholar was bored, so he wanted to have a talk with the boatman.
“Boatman,” he called out, “Let’s have a talk. Have you ever studied phonetics (语音学) or grammar?”
“No,” said the boatman, “I’ve no use for those tools.”
“Too bad,” said the scholar. “You’ve wasted half your life. It’s useful to know the rules.”
Later, as the boat crashed (碰撞) into a rock in the middle of the river, the boatman turned to the scholar and said, “Smart man, tell me, have you ever learned to swim?”
“No,” said the scholar, “I’ve never learned. I’ve spent most of my time in thinking.”
“In that case,” said the boatman, “you’ve wasted all your life. Alas, the boat is sinking (下沉).”
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