画蛇添足
(Draw a snake and add feet)
楚有祠者,赐其舍人卮酒,舍人相谓曰:“数人饮之不足,一人饮之有余。请画地为蛇,先成者饮酒。” 一人蛇先成,引酒且饮之,乃左手持卮,右手画蛇,曰:“吾能为之足。”未成,一人之蛇成夺其卮,曰:“蛇固无足,子安能为之足?”遂饮其酒。为蛇足者终亡其酒。(引自《战国策》)
Translation:
In the country of Chu
during the Warring States Period, a man gave his servants a jar of wine after
the sacrifice ceremony for his ancestors. His servants thought that the wine
was not enough for all of them and thought it would be much better if it was
for just one person. So they decided to have a competition with the wine as the
award for the winner.
Whoever drew a snake
the fastest would win the whole jar of wine. One of the servants drew a snake
really fast and finished first. Seeing that the others were still busy drawing
their snakes, he wanted to show off his artistic skill, and so added some feet to
the snake. At that moment, another servant finished drawing his snake and
snatched the jar. He began drinking and said, “How can a snake have feet? I win
and you lose.”
This idiom refers to
ruining a venture by doing an unnecessary thing.
Example:
这个菜本来很好吃,但是他加了点儿酱油,有些画蛇添足,不好吃了。
This
dish used to taste so good, but after adding some soy sauce “Hua she tian zu” -
it is not so delicious.