小隙沉舟（xiǎo xì chén zhōu）

小隙沉舟（xiǎo xì chén zhōu；small crack sink ship）

Once upon a time, a merchant purchased a beautiful ship from a shipbuilder. After several years of use, a member of the crew found a tiny crack in the ship’s fore, just above the water level. He reported this problem to the merchant. The merchant knew that if he took the ship in for repairs it would take at least one month. He could not wait that long because he had urgent cargo that needed to be delivered. He told himself a small crack is not that critical; repair could wait until after this shipment was delivered. The next day, the ship embarked as scheduled. The weather was favorable on the first day of travel, and the ship sailed smoothly. However, the next day the weather changed for the worst, and the ship was battered by a ferocious typhoon. The pounding waves tore at the small crack, which became larger and larger, until water stated pouring into the cabin. The ship began to sink and the crew had to abandon the ship. Because he did not fix his problem immediately the merchant lost both his cargo and the ship.

This parable cautions us that small problems should be dealt with right away in order to avoid greater losses. It is similar to the English idiom “a stitch in time saves nine”.