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

tōu jī bù chéng shí bǎ mǐ – bù hé suàn; dé bù cháng shī
偷雞不成蝕把米 – 不合算；得不償失
Attempt to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice; go for wool and come back shorn – the loss outweighs the gain

huáng shǔ láng dān yǎo bìng yā zi – d?o méi yuè jiā d?o méi
黃鼠狼單咬病鴨子 – 倒霉越加倒霉
A sick duck is bitten by a weasel. – more bad luck. This allegory describes someone who has already suffered a misfortune and then meets another disaster.

jiǎo dǐ bǎnr mǒ yóu – liū de kuài; liū la
腳底板兒抹油 – 溜得快；溜啦
Put grease onto one's soles – slip away. The character "溜" has two meanings: to slide and to sneak off. Grease on one's soles makes one liable to slip. The pun used here aims at the second meaning; that is, one tends to slip away when s/he meets with difficulties or is caught in an unfavorable situation.

cán dòu kāi huā – hēi xīn
蠶豆開花 – 黑心
Broad beans blossom. – black heart; evil mind. (The heart of a broad bean flower is black.)

bǎi mǐ sài pǎo – fēn miǎo bì zhēng
百米賽跑 – 分秒必爭
100-meter dash – seize every minute and second; every second counts; make the best use of one's time

xīn guān shàng rèn – sān bǎ huǒ
新官上任 – 三把火
A new official introduces a rash of changes; a new broom sweeps clean.

sān shí liù jì – zǒu wéi shàng jì
三十六計 – 走為上計
Of all the stratagems, the best is to quit; of all the alternatives, running away is the best.

dà xiàng de pì gǔ – tuī bù dòng
大象的屁股 – 推不動
Like an elephant whose backside no one can push – One makes great efforts to accomplish quite a difficult task but fails yet.

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