Long ago, there was a man traveling from the Kingdom of Wei to the Kingdom of Chu. He took a lot of traveling money with him, hired a good carriage, harnessed it to a strong steed, hired an exquisitely skilled driver, and then began his journey. The Kingdom of Chu was to the south of the Kingdom of Wei, but this man couldn’t tell the difference when the driver rode away towards the north.
On the road, a passing traveler asked where they were going. The man loudly answered, “We’re going to the Kindom of Chu!”. The traveler told him, “If you’re going to Chu, you should go south. You’re going north, it’s the wrong direction.” The man unconcernedly replied, “No problem! My horse is very fast.” Worried for him, the traveler pulled at the horse, and warned, “You’re going the wrong way. Even if your horse was even faster than it is, you still won’t reach the Kingdom of Chu!” Still not seeing the truth, the man said, “Don’t worry, I’ve brought a lot of money with me.” Making a concerted effort to dissuade him, the traveler said, “Though you may have a lot of money, you’re still going the wrong direction, and your money will be spent in vain.” Thinking of nothing other than getting to the Kingdom of Chu, the man impatiently said, “It’s not a problem, my driver is extremely skilled!” Out of options, the traveler let go of the carriage and watched helplessly as the aimless man from Wu rode away.
The man from Wu didn’t listen to anyone’s exhortations, relying on his fast horse, his money, his driver’s skill and many other favorable conditions, and obstinately continued to go in the opposite direction. Doing this, he could only continue to get further and further away from his goal, because his overall direction was wrong.
This story tells us, no matter what the situation is, we’d better first be sure we’re going the right way, and only then can we fully employ our other advantages, otherwise those advantages will just cause us pain

從前有一個(gè)人，從魏國到楚國去。他帶上很多的盤纏，雇了上好的車，駕上駿馬，請(qǐng)了駕車技術(shù)精湛的車夫，就上路了。楚國在魏國的南面，可這個(gè)人不問青紅皂白讓駕車人趕著馬車一直向北走去。
路上有人問他的車是要往哪兒去，他大聲回答說: “去楚國！”路人告訴他說: “到楚國去應(yīng)往南方走，你這是在往北走，方向不對(duì)。那人滿不在乎地說:”沒關(guān)系，我的馬快著呢!” 路人替他著急，拉住他的馬，阻止他說, “方向錯(cuò)了，你的馬再快，也到不了楚國呀!” 那人依然毫不醒悟地說: “不要緊，我?guī)У穆焚M(fèi)多著呢!” 路人極力勸阻他說:“雖說你路費(fèi)多，可是你走的不是那個(gè)方向，你路費(fèi)多也只能白花呀!” 那個(gè)一心只想著要到楚國去的人有些不耐煩地說: “這有什么難的，我的車夫趕車的本領(lǐng)高著呢!” 路人無奈，只好松開了拉住車把子的手，眼睜睜看著那個(gè)盲目上路的魏人走了。
那個(gè)魏國人，不聽別人的指點(diǎn)勸告，仗著自己的馬快、錢多、車夫好等優(yōu)越條件，朝著相反方向一意孤行。那么，他條件越好，他就只會(huì)離要去的地方越遠(yuǎn)，因?yàn)樗拇蠓较蝈e(cuò)了。
這個(gè)故事告訴我們，無論做什么事，都要首先看準(zhǔn)方向，才能發(fā)充分揮自己的有利條件；如果方向錯(cuò)了，那么有利條件只會(huì)起到相反的作用。