Meaning: sandpipers and mussels fought with each other, and the fisherman got the benefit.

Pronunciation: yù bàng xiāng zhēng, yú rén dé lì?

Example sentence: In capitalist societies, it happens from time to time that snipes and clams fight each other, and the fisherman gets the benefit.

Near synonyms: sandpiper and clam, fisherman's profit? [ yù bàng xiāng zhēng, yú wēng dé lì ] Snipe, a long-billed waterfowl; clam, a mollusk with a shell. It is a metaphor for a quarrel between two parties, in which both parties are defeated, allowing a third party to take advantage of the situation.

From: Western Han Dynasty - Liu Xiang, "Strategies of the Warring States - Yan Ce II": "The mussel was exposed, and the snipe pecked at its flesh, and the mussel closed and clamped its beak. The snipe said: 'Today it does not rain, tomorrow it does not rain, that is, there is a dead clam.' The clam also said: 'If it does not rain today and tomorrow, there will be dead snipes.' The two refused to part with each other, so the fisherman got them and fowled at them.

Translation: The mussel came out to bask in the sun, and the snipe pecked at its flesh with its beak, and was caught by the mussel. The snipe said if it doesn't rain you'll dry up and die, and the clam said if you can't draw your beak out you'll starve to death. When the two were fighting, they were caught in one piece by the fisherman.

Chinese idiom allusion:

As the state of Zhao was preparing to crush the state of Yan, Su Dai went to persuade King Hui of Zhao for Yan, saying, "On my present visit, I passed through the Yishui River, and saw a mussel coming out of the water to sunbathe in the sun, and a sandpiper flew in to peck at its flesh, and the mussel closed at once, and clamped down on the sandpiper's beak.

The snipe said: 'If it does not rain today and tomorrow, there will be dead mussels.' The mussel also said to the snipe: 'If you can't get it out of your mouth today, if you can't get it out of your mouth tomorrow, there will be dead snipe.' Neither of them would let go of the other, and a fisherman caught them both together.

Now Zhao is about to attack Yan, and if Yan and Zhao are not able to hold each other for a long time, the people will be exhausted and ill, and I am afraid that the mighty Qin is going to be the fisherman who catches the snipe without working. So I hope that the great king will seriously consider the matter of sending troops." King Huiwen of Zhao said, "All right." So he stopped sending troops to attack Yan.