Once upon a time, there was a man who was riding in a horse drawn carriage and traveling to go take care of some affairs; and in the carriage there was also a very big suitcase. He told the driver to of the carriage to drive non-stop and the horse ran extremely fast. Along the road, there was an old man who saw them and asked, “Sir, you seem anxious, where do you need to go?” The man in the carriage then replied in a loud voice, “I need to go to the state of Chu.” The old man heard and laughing he smiled and said, “You are going the wrong way. The state of Chu is in the south, how come you are going to to the north?” “That’s alright,” The man in the carriage then said, “Can you not see? My horse runs very fast.” “Your horse is great, but your path is incorrect.” “It’s no problem, my carriage is new, it was made just last month.” “Your carriage is brand new, but this is not the road one takes to get to Chu.” “Old Uncle, you don’t know,” and the man in the carriage pointed to the suitcase in the back and said, “In that suitcase there’s alot of money. No matter how long the road is, I am not afraid.” “You have lots of money, but do not forget, The direction which you are going is wrong. I can see, you should go back the direction which you came from.” The man in the carriage heard this and irritated said, “I have already been traveling for ten days, how can you tell me to go back from where I came?” He then pointed at the carriage driver and said, “Take a look, he is very young, and he drives very well, you needn’t worry. Goodbye!” And then he told the driver to drive forward, and the horse ran even faster.
I first saw the story in “School in Carmarthen”, which I would absolutely recommend to everyone, except it’s in Russian. I thought there should probably be an English translation of the Chinese tale, so I googled it up by keywords.
The tale is apparently the origin story behind a common Chinese idiom that literally translates as “south house north rut”, and which means acting in a way that defeats one’s purpose.
It was not said how the old man was travelling, and I doubt the horse was at a literal run. A carriage can go as fast as about 30 miles an hour on a modern road, but even in those conditions you should expect to break your carriage. On ancient roads, depending on condition, the speed limit for going “very fast” in a carriage could easily have been as low as about 10 miles per hour. If the old man was riding on an animal, or walking very fast, then he could have kept up for some time.
We at least know that the carriage wasn’t moving at its top speed because at the end of the story the horse sped up.
He told the driver to of the carriage to drive non-stop and the horse ran extremely fast. Along the road, there was an old man who saw them and asked, “Sir, you seem anxious, where do you need to go?”
Non stop and extremely fast, the story says. Well must be something lost in the translation.
Lost somewhere, I suppose. It seems clear to me that the carriage stopped. Just as it would not have carried on literally non-stop for ten days, 24 hours a day. These details are not stated; they do not need to be. And at the end, the man tells the driver to drive on. If this is an imperfection in the story, it is nothing more than a hyperbolic use of “non-stop”, as trifling as the extraneous “to” in the passage you quoted, which does not seem to have held you up.
Even in conventional English, “Non-stop” doesn’t necessarily mean without stopping at all. The express train from New Haven to Grand Central, for example, is called express because it doesn’t stop between Connecticut and New York City, though there are several stops in Connecticut and one stop in Harlem.
“Non-stop” in context could just mean that they were not stopping in any towns they passed.
--Chinese Tale
I always use the metaphor of the fast car to distinguish between intelligence and rationality.
That’s a very handy assortment of fallacies. Where did you find it?
I first saw the story in “School in Carmarthen”, which I would absolutely recommend to everyone, except it’s in Russian. I thought there should probably be an English translation of the Chinese tale, so I googled it up by keywords.
The tale is apparently the origin story behind a common Chinese idiom that literally translates as “south house north rut”, and which means acting in a way that defeats one’s purpose.
They had too much time to talk, if one of them was that fast. Can’t help, but this technicality bothers me.
It was not said how the old man was travelling, and I doubt the horse was at a literal run. A carriage can go as fast as about 30 miles an hour on a modern road, but even in those conditions you should expect to break your carriage. On ancient roads, depending on condition, the speed limit for going “very fast” in a carriage could easily have been as low as about 10 miles per hour. If the old man was riding on an animal, or walking very fast, then he could have kept up for some time.
We at least know that the carriage wasn’t moving at its top speed because at the end of the story the horse sped up.
The carriage stopped while the two conversed. Or am I misunderstanding your objection?
Non stop and extremely fast, the story says. Well must be something lost in the translation.
Lost somewhere, I suppose. It seems clear to me that the carriage stopped. Just as it would not have carried on literally non-stop for ten days, 24 hours a day. These details are not stated; they do not need to be. And at the end, the man tells the driver to drive on. If this is an imperfection in the story, it is nothing more than a hyperbolic use of “non-stop”, as trifling as the extraneous “to” in the passage you quoted, which does not seem to have held you up.
Even in conventional English, “Non-stop” doesn’t necessarily mean without stopping at all. The express train from New Haven to Grand Central, for example, is called express because it doesn’t stop between Connecticut and New York City, though there are several stops in Connecticut and one stop in Harlem.
“Non-stop” in context could just mean that they were not stopping in any towns they passed.