run in opposite directions

南辕北辙

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

一次一个人想往南走，但是他的马车却是朝北走的。

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

一个过路人问他：“如果你想往南走，为什么你的马车却朝北走呢?”

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

这个人说：“我的马很能跑，我的车夫善于赶车，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.

这个人根本没有考虑到行进的方向也许错了;他的条件越好，反而会离目的地越远。

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

这个成语比喻行动和目的正好相反。

【文化链接】

英文中若要表达“南辕北辙”的意思，可以用短语“run in opposite directions”，也就是“朝着相反的方向跑”，翻译美化一下就是“南辕北辙”或者“背道而驰”的意思了。

我们来一起看一个例句：

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

因为他们早已南辕北辙了,所以根本不可能赢。