Chinese Idiom

鹬蚌相争🔊

Yù Bàng Xiāng Zhēng
📚 Idioms⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This idiom means two parties fighting while a third benefits.

The Story 🔊

Yì zhī hébàng zhāngkāi ké shài tàiyáng
一只Yì zhī🔊河蚌hébàng🔊张开zhāngkāi🔊🔊晒太阳shài tàiyáng🔊
Yì zhī yùniǎo shēn zuǐ qù zhuó bàngròu
一只Yì zhī🔊鹬鸟yùniǎo🔊伸嘴shēn zuǐ🔊🔊zhuó🔊蚌肉bàngròu🔊
Hébàng hé shàng ké jiāzhù le yùniǎo de zuǐ
河蚌Hébàng🔊合上hé shàng🔊🔊夹住jiāzhù🔊le🔊鹬鸟yùniǎo🔊de🔊zuǐ🔊
Yùniǎo shuō jīntiān bù xiàyǔ míngtiān bù xiàyǔ nǐ jiù huì gānsǐ
鹬鸟Yùniǎo🔊shuō🔊今天jīntiān🔊不下雨bù xiàyǔ🔊明天míngtiān🔊不下雨bù xiàyǔ🔊🔊就会jiù huì🔊干死gānsǐ🔊
Hébàng shuō jīntiān bá bù chū míngtiān bá bù chū nǐ jiù huì èsǐ
河蚌Hébàng🔊shuō🔊今天jīntiān🔊拔不出bá bù chū🔊明天míngtiān🔊拔不出bá bù chū🔊🔊就会jiù huì🔊饿死èsǐ🔊
Yúfū zǒu guòlái bǎ tāmen dōu zhuā zǒu le
渔夫Yúfū🔊走过来zǒu guòlái🔊把它们bǎ tāmen🔊dōu🔊抓走了zhuā zǒu le🔊
English Translation:
A clam opened its shell to sunbathe. A snipe reached its beak to peck at the clam's flesh. The clam closed its shell and clamped the snipe's beak. The snipe said: "If it doesn't rain today or tomorrow, you will dry up and die." The clam said: "If you can't pull out today or tomorrow, you will starve to death." A fisherman came and caught them both.

Key Vocabulary

鹬蚌相争
yù bàng xiāng zhēng
snipe and clam fight
河蚌
hébàng
clam
鹬鸟
yùniǎo
snipe
夹住
jiāzhù
clamp
渔夫
yúfū
fisherman
干死
gānsǐ
die of dryness

The Moral

When two fight, a third wins! This idiom means two parties fighting while a third party benefits.

Cultural Insight

鹬蚌相争 comes from "Strategies of the Warring States" (战国策).