船人曰：「河水間耳，君不能自渡，能為王者之說乎？
The boatman said to him, “The river water is rough—you can’t cross to the other side on your own. Can you make policy speeches for kings?” “It is not as you suppose,” said Gan Mao.
」甘戊曰：「不然，汝不知也。
“There are things you don’t know.
物各有短長。
All things have their strong and weak points.
謹願敦厚，可事主，不施用兵。
Those who are deeply honest and sincere can serve kings but cannot be put in charge of troops.
騏驥騄駬，足及千里，置之宮室，使之補鼠，曾不如小狸。
Qi Ji and Lu Er65 can gallop a thousand li in a day, but, if they were to be put in the palace to catch rats, they wouldn’t be as good as a little civet cat.
干將為利，名聞天下，匠以治木，不如斤斧。
The sharpness of the sword Gan Jiang is famous throughout the realm, but, if a craftsman were to use it on wood, it wouldn’t be as good as an axe.
今持楫而上下隨流，吾不如子；說千乘之君、萬乘之主，子亦不如戊矣。」
In this case, I am much your inferior when it comes to grasping an oar and moving up and down the current, but you are much my inferior when it comes to arguing policy before the rulers of mighty states.” On Adaptation to Changed Circumstances