鹬蚌相争 snipe and clam fight
Explanation
比喻双方争斗,两败俱伤,结果使第三者从中获利。
It is used to describe the situation where both sides fight and both lose, allowing a third party to profit from it.
Origin Story
从前,一条河边住着一只凶猛的鹬,一天它在河边发现一只肥美的蚌,于是它想吃掉蚌。蚌紧紧地闭着壳,鹬怎么也啄不开。鹬和蚌就这样僵持着,彼此都不肯相让。这时,一个渔翁路过这里,看见鹬和蚌相持不下,便悄悄地走近,用网把鹬和蚌一起捉住,带回家去了。鹬和蚌为了争斗,结果都成了渔翁的战利品,最后谁也没得到好处。
Once upon a time, a fierce snipe lived by a river. One day, it found a plump clam by the river, so it wanted to eat the clam. The clam tightly closed its shell, and the snipe could not open it no matter how hard it tried. The snipe and the clam were thus deadlocked, neither willing to yield. At this time, a fisherman passed by, saw the snipe and clam at a standstill, quietly approached, caught the snipe and clam together with a net, and took them home. The snipe and clam, because of their struggle, both became the fisherman's spoils of war, and in the end neither got anything good.
Usage
多用于比喻双方争斗,结果两败俱伤,使第三者从中获利。
Mainly used to describe the situation where both sides fight, and both lose, so that a third party can profit from it.
Examples
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鹬蚌相争,渔翁得利。
yù bàng xiāng zhēng, yú wēng dé lì
The war between the snipe and the clam, the fisherman profits.
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这次合作,双方互不相让,结果便宜了第三方。
zhè cì hé zuò, shuāng fāng hù bù xiāng ràng, jié guǒ piányí le dì sāng fāng
In this collaboration, both sides are unwilling to yield, and the third party benefits as a result.