搬起石头砸自己的脚 bān qǐ shí tou zá zì jǐ de jiǎo Lift a rock and hit one's own foot

Explanation

比喻本来想害人，结果反而害了自己。

To describe a situation where one tries to harm another but ends up harming oneself.

Origin Story

从前，有个叫阿牛的年轻人，他非常嫉妒村里铁匠老李的生意兴隆。一天，阿牛见老李家的院子里堆满了未锻造的铁料，心生一计，便偷偷地潜入老李家，将这些铁料统统搬到山沟里，准备毁掉。他费了九牛二虎之力，终于把所有的铁料都搬到了山沟里。正准备下山，却听到山沟里传来一阵阵的巨响。阿牛吓得赶紧跑下山，只见山沟里冒起了滚滚浓烟，原来那些铁料在搬运过程中，因摩擦生热，已经全部烧成了铁水，而阿牛也被这突如其来的变故吓坏了。最后，阿牛不仅没有害到老李，反而损坏了自己的身体和声誉，真是搬起石头砸了自己的脚。

cóng qián, yǒu ge jiào ā niú de nián qīng rén, tā fēicháng jídù cūn lǐ tiě jiàng lǎo lǐ de shēng yì xīnglóng. yī tiān, ā niú jiàn lǎo lǐ jiā de yuàn zi lǐ duī mǎn le wèi duànzào de tiě liào, xīn shēng yī jì, biàn tōutōu de qián rù lǎo lǐ jiā, jiāng zhèxiē tiě liào tǒng tǒng bān dào shān gōu lǐ, zhǔnbèi huǐ diào. tā fèi le jiǔ niú èr hǔ zhī lì, zhōngyú bǎ suǒyǒu de tiě liào dōu bān dào le shān gōu lǐ. zhèng zhǔnbèi xià shān, què tīngdào shān gōu lǐ chuán lái yī zhèn zhèn de jù xiǎng. ā niú xià de gǎn jǐn pǎo xià shān, zhǐ jiàn shān gōu lǐ mào qǐ le gǔn gǔn nóng yān, yuánlái nàxiē tiě liào zài bān yùn guòchéng zhōng, yīn mócā shēng rè, yǐjīng quánbù shāo chéng le tiě shuǐ, ér ā niú yě bèi zhè tū rú qí lái de biàngu huà xiàhuài le. zuìhòu, ā niú bù jǐn méiyǒu hài dào lǎo lǐ, fǎn'ér sǔn huài le zìjǐ de shēntǐ hé shēngyù, zhēnshi bān qǐ shítou zá le zìjǐ de jiǎo.

Once upon a time, there was a young man named An Niu who was very jealous of the prosperous business of the blacksmith Lao Li in the village. One day, An Niu saw that Lao Li's yard was filled with unprocessed iron materials and came up with a plan. He secretly sneaked into Lao Li's house and moved all these materials to a mountain gully, intending to destroy them. After great effort, he managed to transport all the iron to the gully. Just as he was about to go down the mountain, he heard a loud rumbling from the gully. An Niu ran down the mountain in fright and saw smoke billowing from the gully. The iron had heated up and melted due to friction during transportation. An Niu was frightened by this sudden event. In the end, not only did An Niu fail to harm Lao Li, but he also damaged his own body and reputation, thus, he lifted a stone only to drop it on his own foot.

Usage

常用来比喻本来想害别人，结果却害了自己。

cháng yòng lái bǐ yù běnlái xiǎng hài biérén, jiéguǒ què hài le zìjǐ

Used to express that one intended to harm someone else but ended up harming oneself.

Examples

• 他自作自受，搬起石头砸了自己的脚。

  tā zìzuòzìshòu, bān qǐ shítou zá le zìjǐ de jiǎo

  He brought it upon himself; he lifted a rock only to drop it on his own foot.

• 不要搬起石头砸自己的脚，要三思而后行。

  bú yào bān qǐ shítou zá zìjǐ de jiǎo, yào sān sī ér hòu xíng

  Don't shoot yourself in the foot; think before you act.

Related Idioms

• 自食其果

• 自作自受

Opposite Idioms

• 聪明反被聪明误

• 害人终害己