One sunny afternoon, a little boat was chugging slowly across a wide, sparkling river. On the boat was a man named Mr. Mark, who was very proud of his brand-new, shiny sword. He held it up to show everyone, "Look at my wonderful sword!"

Suddenly, whoops! The boat gave a little wobble. Mr. Mark wasn't holding on tightly enough, and his shiny sword slipped right out of his hand! Kersplash! It sank down, down, down into the deep river water.

"Oh no!" cried Mr. Mark. "My beautiful sword!"

Did he jump in to get it? No. Did he ask the boatman to stop? Not quite.
Instead, Mr. Mark had an idea. A very clever idea, he thought. He quickly pulled out a small knife and, on the side of the wooden boat, right above where he thought the sword had fallen in, he carved a little "X".

"There!" he said, feeling very smart. "Now I'll know exactly where to find my sword when we get to the other side."

The other passengers looked at him with puzzled faces, but Mr. Mark just smiled.

The boat kept chugging along, moving further and further away from the spot where the sword had actually dropped into the water. Finally, the boat reached the riverbank on the other side and stopped.

"Alright!" said Mr. Mark. He pointed to the "X" he had carved on the boat. "My sword is right down there!"
He carefully climbed over the side of the boat, right next to his "X" mark, and plopped into the water. He splashed around, feeling with his feet and hands.

But was the sword there? Of course not! The sword was far behind, resting at the bottom of the river where it first fell. The boat had moved, and the "X" mark had moved with the boat.

The other passengers couldn't help but chuckle. One kind lady said, "Sir, the boat moved! Your mark moved with us, but your sword stayed where it fell in the middle of the river."

Mr. Mark scratched his head. He looked at the "X" on the boat, then at the water, then back at the middle of the river. He hadn't thought about the boat moving!

And so, Mr. Mark learned that sometimes, a mark on a moving boat isn't the best way to find something that stayed still in the water.

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