A snipe and a clam fight for a profit(yù bàng xiāng zhēng，yú wēng dé lì)

A snipe and a clam fight for a profit

The sound is y ù B à ngxi ā ngzh ē ng, y ú w ē NGD é L ì. Snipe: long billed waterbird; clam: mollusk with shell. It's a metaphor for a dispute between the two sides and a third party taking advantage of each other.

"Snipe and clam fighting" is a fable told by Su Dai, a counselor in the Warring States period, when he lobbied King Zhao Hui. At that time, the king of Zhao wanted to attack the state of Yan. Instead of the king of Yan, Su told the king of Zhao that the war between the state of Zhao and the state of Yan was just a "fight between Snipes and clams", which would surely benefit the state of Qin. Today's fable tells us that we should be on guard against the real enemy in the complicated contradictions and struggles.

Idiom information

essential information

In Chinese character writing, the snipe and the clam fight, and in Chinese phonetics, y ù B à ngxi ā ngzh ē ng, y ú w ē NGD é L ì. [usage] as predicate and attribute; used to admonish people. [structure] the compound sentence of subject predicate combination. Snipe: long billed waterbird; clam: mollusk with shell. It's a metaphor for a dispute between the two sides and a third party taking advantage of each other. [rhyme words] not abandoning the false curtain, gratifying, fumigating the different tools, breaking the taboo, working together, talking in the street and in the street, no standing cone, three expeditions and seven breakthroughs, searching the sky and touching the earth, talking about things from time to time [source] ZhanGuoCe · yance 2

Analysis of Idioms

Fish: you can't write "fish". [meaning discrimination] "snipe and clam fight, the fisherman gains profits" and "sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight" both have the meaning of "both sides fight; both lose; let the third party get benefits"; but "snipe and clam fight, the fisherman gains profits" focuses on objectively describing the two sides fight, let the third party get benefits; "sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight" focuses on describing people's will and action.

Examples of Idioms

1. Wipe out the Japanese invaders, and laugh at the marquis. (the third of Zhu De's seven Jue with Comrade Dong Biwu)? He laughs at the competition between Snipes and mussels in the performance of Fengyun formation. " (Xuan Ting yuan crying tomb by Xiang Lingzi in Qing Dynasty)

Idioms and allusions

original text

Zhao (1) attacked Yan (2), and su (3) was called King Hui (4), "today's officials come to Yishui (5), and the clam comes out (6), while the snipe (7) pecks its meat, and the clam (8) clamps its beak. The snipe said, "if it doesn't rain today and tomorrow, there will be dead mussels." The clam is also called a snipe, saying, "if you don't come out today, if you don't come out tomorrow, there will be a dead snipe." If the two refuse to give up each other, the fishermen will be able to catch the birds. Today, Zhao attacked Yan, and Yan and Zhao attacked each other for a long time, so as to protect the public. He was afraid that he might be the fisherman of Qin. So may the king be familiar with his plan. " "Good!" said King Hui That's it. The festival is selected from the second yance of the Warring States Period

translation

The king of Zhao was going to attack the state of Yan. Su Dai advised the king of Zhao Hui on behalf of the state of Yan: "when I came here, I passed by Yishui and saw a clam basking in the sun with its shell open. There's a snipe that sticks out its beak to peck at the meat of a clam. The clam quickly closed its shell and gripped the snipe's beak tightly. The snipe said, "if it doesn't rain today, if it doesn't rain tomorrow, you will die." The clam also said to the snipe, "if you don't let go of you today, if you don't let go of you tomorrow, you will die!" Neither of them will let go. When the fisherman saw it, he took both of them together. Now the state of Zhao is going to attack the state of Yan, and the two countries are locked in a stalemate. After a long time, the strength of both sides has been greatly consumed. I am worried that the powerful state of Qin will become a "Fisherman" in the fight between snipe and clam. So (I) hope the king will think it over carefully. " After hearing this, King Hui suddenly realized and said, "it's reasonable!" He stopped attacking the state of Yan.

Word notes

Explain the meaning of words

① Zhao: the name of the country. Its capital is Handan City, Hebei Province. During the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the country's name was located in the south of Hebei Province and the east of Shanxi Province. Yan: the name of the country. Its capital is Beijing. Yin y ā n, the name of the state in the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, is located in the northern part of Hebei Province. (3) Su Dai: name, Su Qin's younger brother, was a famous lobbyist in the Warring States period, from Luoyang. (4) king Hui: that is king Hui Wen, the king of Zhao state. His name is Zhao he. (5) Yishui: in Hebei Province. Exposure: P ù to the sun. Snipe (Y ù): a water bird with tawny plumage and long bill and feet, often pecking at small fish and shellfish by the water. The beak refers to the beak of a bird. (9) Qin: the name of the country, with its capital in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. Fisherman: fisherman. 11 that is: on

Interchangeable characters

① Bird: catch the same thing, catch the same thing

Different meanings of the past and the present

Mature: mature; skilled. The ancient meaning of the text: careful, thorough; such as "so I wish the king is also familiar with the plan." To support; support. The ancient meaning of the text: confrontation; such as "Yan Zhao Long phase branch." The masses: the masses, the masses. The ancient meaning of the text: the army; such as "Yan Zhao long support, to harm the public." I'm afraid. I'm afraid. The ancient meaning of the text: worry; for example, "I fear that I will be a fisherman in the Qin Dynasty." Wish: wish; will. The ancient meaning of the text: hope; such as "so I wish the king to be familiar with it."

Polysemy

(1) adverbs such as "Zhao Ji fells Yan" and "Yugong in Beishan is ninety years old". (2) conjunctions, for the time being, such as "those who live and steal, the dead are long gone!" (Shi Hao Li) (3) conjunctions, besides, such as "how can we place earth and stone?" (Yugong moves the mountain) attack (1) verb, attack, Crusade; such as "Zhao Ji attacks Yan", "ten spring, Qi Shi attacks me". (2) verb, felling, such as "selling charcoal, felling and burning charcoal in Nanshan". (selling charcoal Weng) is an adverb, such as "if it doesn't rain today, if it doesn't rain tomorrow, there will be a dead clam." (2) an adverb, immediately; if it goes through the wuxia gorge from Baxia, it will go down to Xiangyang and Luoyang. "(3) a preposition, such as" if the Su Dynasty is Yan, it will be called Huiwang. "(2) a verb, it will become; if it is feared that the Qin Dynasty will be a fisherman." (3) a verb For example, "the good treatment of a disease does not contribute to it!" (Bian que Jian Cai Huan Gong) Ji 1 verb, plan, consider; such as "so I wish the king to be familiar with the plan" 2 verb, calculate; such as "hand from the record, count the day to return" (send Dongyang Ma Sheng Xu) 3 noun, plan, strategy; such as "a cup of turbid wine, home thousands of miles, Yan Ran not le back to no plan" (fisherman's pride) Qiang 1 Qi á ng, adjective, powerful; such as "I'm afraid of strengthening Qin Zhi" For the fisherman. (2) Qi á ng, adjective, rigid, such as "hold your head high, view it, item is strong". (childhood interest) Qi Ming, verb, strive to do; for example, "those who are obsessed with righteousness and benevolence cherish it.". In the preface to seeing Dong Shao off for a journey to Hebei in the south, the two refuse to part with each other. "He who gives up his life to take righteousness" is the same. (2) sh è, noun, house, guest house; for example, "the land is flat, the house is just like.". (the story of Peach Blossom Land) "to give up, four stiff force can't move.". (preface to seeing off Dongyang horse)

Flexible use of parts of speech

It's not raining today. It's not raining today. (2) the causative usage of adjectives the "malady" in "Yan and Zhao Jiuxiang attack each other to harm the public" is the causative usage of adjectives, that is, "make Tired "or" make After a long time, the strength of both sides has been greatly consumed. (3) the causative usage of verbs in "today's Bu Chu", the verb "Chu" is the causative usage of verbs, that is, "Shi I won't let you out today or let you go today.

Classical Chinese sentence pattern

(1) before "Guo Yi Shui", the subject "Chen" is omitted, that is "(Chen) Guo Yi Shui"; this clause can be translated as "(I) Guo Yi Shui". (2) the subject "Chen" is omitted before "may the king be familiar with the plan", that is "(Chen) may the king be familiar with the plan". (2) omit the object (1) in "the fisherman gets and catches the birds", omit the object "Zhi" after the predicate verb "de", that is, "the fisherman gets and catches the birds". (2) after "Naizhi", omit the object "Zhi" to replace the incident of "cutting Yan", that is, "Naizhi (Zhi)"; this clause can be translated as "then stopped (the action of attacking Yan)".

Inspiration from Idioms

Analysis Review

The fable "the snipe and the clam fight each other, and the fisherman gains profits" from "the strategy of Warring States · yance" tells us that the two sides fight each other, and the third party gains profits. This story shows that if there is no real enemy, it will create favorable opportunities for the strong enemy and bring disaster to both sides in the dispute. When the state of Zhao was about to attack the state of Yan, Su Dai, a famous lobbyist, came forward to admonish King Hui of Zhao for the national interests of Yan. Su Dai used the story of "fighting with Snipes and clams, making profits from fishing Urn" to euphemistically describe the great disaster that the state of Zhao might bring to Yan and Zhao. He hoped that King Hui of Zhao would weigh the pros and cons, and think twice that 's ok. In the face of Zhao Huiwang, who was ambitious and wanted to attack Yan, the Su dynasty did not directly tell the right and wrong of Zhao attacking Yan, but skillfully used fables to reason, which not only showed his extraordinary courage and insight, but also showed his superb language art.

Reveal the truth

We are all familiar with the story of snipe and clam fighting

Chinese PinYin : yù bàng xiāng zhēng，yú wēng dé lì