Chinese allegories
歇后語(yǔ)
Two-part allegorical saying (of which the first part, always stated, is descriptive, while the second part, often unstated, carries the message)

dà h?i lāo zhēn – wú chù xún
大海撈針 – 無(wú)處尋
Fish for a needle in the ocean – one can find it nowhere; be next to impossible

shā jī yòng niú dāo – xi?o tí dà zuò
殺雞用牛刀 – 小題大做
Use a butcher's knife or cleaver to kill a chicken – break a butterfly on the wheel; use a hammer to swat a fly

c?o chuán jiè jiàn – m?n zài ér guī
草船借箭 – 滿載而歸
To borrow arrows with thatched boats (It refers to an interesting story back to the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China.) – come back with fruitful results; have a rewarding experience

mén fèng l? kàn rén – b? rén kàn bi?n le
門縫里看人 – 把人看扁了
Look at somebody through a door crack – belittle somebody

wèng zhōng zhuō biē – sh?u dào ná lái
甕中捉鱉 – 手到拿來(lái)
Catch a turtle in a jar – go after an easy prey; be sure of success; be a walkover

dōng guō xiān sheng jiù láng – h?o xīn bù dé h?o bào
東郭先生救狼 – 好心不得好報(bào)
Master Dongguo, the foolish, soft-hearted scholar, had helped to hide a wolf from a hunter, but then narrowly escaped being eaten by it. – One gets no thanks for his/her good intentions; kind-heartedness may not be met with good recompense.

l?o tài tai de gu? ji?o bù – yòu chòu yòu cháng
老太太的裹腳布 – 又臭又長(zhǎng)
An old lady's foot-bindings are long as well as smelly. (Foot binding was a custom practiced on young girls and women in feudal China.) – Something, written or said, is long-winded.

xiā māo pèng shàng s? hào zi – (pèng) qi?o le
瞎貓碰上死耗子 – （碰）巧了
A blind cat stumbled on a dead rat. – by sheer luck

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