南轅北轍

run in opposite directions

南轅北轍

Once a man went to the south, but his carriage was heading north.

一次一個人想往南走，但是他的馬車卻是朝北走的。

A passer-by asked him: "If you are going to the south, why is your carriage heading north?"

一個過路人問他：“如果你想往南走，為什么你的馬車卻朝北走呢?”

The man said, "My horse is good at running, my driver is highly skilled at driving a carriage, and I am rich."

這個人說：“我的馬很能跑，我的車夫善于趕車，我又很富有，所以不在乎。”

The man didn't care the direction might be wrong; the better his conditions were, the further he was far away from his destination.

這個人根本沒有考慮到行進的方向也許錯了;他的條件越好，反而會離目的地越遠。

This idiom came from this story tells that one's action was the opposite effect to one'sintention.

這個成語比喻行動和目的正好相反。

【文化鏈接】

英文中若要表達“南轅北轍”的意思，可以用短語“run in opposite directions”，也就是“朝著相反的方向跑”，翻譯美化一下就是“南轅北轍”或者“背道而馳”的意思了。

我們來一起看一個例句：

They wouldn't win at the end because they ran in opposite directions.

因為他們早已南轅北轍了,所以根本不可能贏。