画蛇添足
Adding feet to a snake
Read, find evidence, and explain in your own words.
Read
古时候，有人把一壶酒送给几位帮忙做事的大人。酒不够大家一起喝。他们商量：在地上画蛇，谁先画完，谁就得到这壶酒。大家拿起小树枝，低下头，认真地画起来。
Long ago, someone gave a jug of wine to several adults who had helped with a task. There was not enough for everyone. They agreed that whoever finished drawing a snake first would win the jug. Each took a small stick and began drawing on the ground.
一个人画得很快。他抬头看，别人还没完成，就一手拿起酒壶，一手继续画。他得意地说：我还有时间，可以给蛇添上几只脚！他没有停下来想，比赛要画的到底是什么。
One man finished quickly. Seeing that the others were still working, he picked up the jug with one hand and kept drawing with the other. Proudly, he said he even had time to add feet. He did not stop to consider what the contest required.
脚还没有画好，另一个人已经画完了蛇。那人拿过酒壶，说：蛇本来没有脚，你添上脚，还能叫蛇吗？先画完的人没有得到酒。他多做了一件事，反而破坏了已经做好的画。
Before the feet were finished, another man completed his snake and took the jug. Snakes have no feet, he said. With feet added, is yours still a snake? The first man lost the prize. His extra work had spoiled a drawing that was already complete.
Explore the text
这篇根据《战国策·齐策二》改写。原故事中的酒是大人的奖品。添足比喻添加不需要的东西；问题不在于做得多，而在于新增的部分是否符合目标。
This adapts a story in Strategies of the Warring States, Qi II. The wine is a prize for adults in the source. Adding feet means adding something unnecessary. The question is whether an addition serves the goal, rather than how much work it takes.
Words to practise
画蛇添足成