Chinese Proverbs - 鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利

 

In the last video, "The Traditional Chinese words that confuse you 2", I asked which word should be used in this sentence.

鷸蚌相O，漁翁O利

So, in today's video, I want to explain this proverb: 鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利.

鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利

In 部首 9, we know that 鳥 means bird and 虫 means bug, worm, or some creatures that have soft bodies without arms or legs, you can check the link in the description to see the video.

So we can guess from the 部首 that this word is a kind of bird, and this one may be some mollusk.

The 鷸 snipe is a bird that lives on the coast and preys mainly on small fish, shellfish, and insects.

蚌 clam is a sea creature with a shell in two parts that can close tightly together.

相爭 fight with each other

漁翁 fisher

得利 get benefit

In 戰國時期 (Warring States period, 475–221 BC),，There are seven leading hegemonic states: 秦、楚、韓、趙、魏、齊、燕. Today's story takes place in country 趙. 

《戰國策．燕策二》

趙且伐燕，蘇代為燕謂惠王曰：「今者臣來，過易水，蚌方出曝，而鷸啄其肉，蚌合而拑其喙。鷸曰：『今日不雨，明日不雨，即有死蚌。』蚌亦謂鷸曰：『今日不出，明日不出，即有死鷸。』兩者不肯相舍，漁者得而并禽之。今趙且伐燕，燕、趙久相支，以弊大眾，臣恐強秦之為漁父也。故願王之熟計之也。」惠王曰：「善。」乃止。

One day, the king of 趙 planned to attack the state of 燕. A strategist named 蘇代 thinks that many people will die in the war, which will be a heavy loss for both countries, and the powerful country 秦 might take the opportunity to annex both countries. 蘇代 lobbied King 趙 on behalf of State 燕, hoping that the king of 趙 would not go to war.

He says: "My King, when I passed through a river on my way to your country, I saw a clam with its shell open and basking in the sun by the river. At the time, a snipe flew up and stretched out its long beak to peck at the clam meat. The frightened clam immediately closed its shells and clamped the snipe beak. 

The Snipe said, 'If there is no rain today, and no rain tomorrow, you will be scorched to death by the sun!'
Not to be outdone, the Clam mouthed off, 'If you can't pull your beak out today, can't pull it out tomorrow, you will die too.'

While they refused to let go, a fisherman passed by, grabbed them both and put them into his cage."

蘇代 finishes the story and talks to the king: "My king, if the state of 趙 attacks the state of 燕, 燕 will definitely fight back with all its strength, and the two sides will end up in a stalemate. I'm afraid that the state 秦, like the fisherman in the story, will take the opportunity to destroy 趙 and 燕! " The king of 趙 felt that his words made sense, so he canceled the plan to attack State 燕.

The English equivalent of "鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利" is "While the dogs are fighting over the bone, the third dog runs away with it. They both describe a situation in which two parties are so focused on their own conflict that they are unaware that a third party is taking advantage of their quarrel.

Similar Proverb

There is a similar proverb "兩虎相爭，必有一傷" 

It's from the same book:

《戰國策·秦策二》：“今兩虎諍人而鬥，小者必死，大者必傷。”

When two tigers fight, one is sure to get hurt. It is used to describe a situation in which two powerful forces clash, and the result must be one dead and one seriously injured.

Why do I say that they are similar? Because we usually use it with another proverb: "隔山觀虎鬥."

"隔山觀虎鬥" is to watch a fight from a far and safe distance, where no one knows that you are watching, especially the two sides that are fighting.

 It describes a situation in which someone observes a conflict or competition from a safe distance without becoming involved. The proverb implies that the observer hopes to benefit from the outcome of the conflict without risking harm.

How To Use

They can be used in a variety of situations, including political conflicts, military battles, and business rivalries.

The difference between them is the third party. One is random, and the other is observed for a while.

For example, when you go home and see your two siblings fighting over the last piece of cake. You sneak over to the table, grab the cake, and eat it.  That's 鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利

Let's see an example:

Companies A and B are in a price war.

As a customer, you can say: 鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利，賺到了。Get a good deal 

As another company in the same industry, you can say: 兩虎相爭，必有一傷；我們就隔山觀虎鬥，看看誰死誰傷。 

They are interchangeable. But 鷸蚌相爭，漁翁得利 is more commonly used.