心勞日拙 (Xīn láo rì zhuō)

[Daimashin]

心勞日拙 (Xīn láo rì zhuō) - Make matters worse by lying.

心勞 (Xīn láo) - Think hard, 日拙 (rì zhuō) - Gets worse by the day

Once upon a time there was a father and son, they were once rich people but got broke. One day they moved to a new village because the officials confiscated their old home. Dressed in expensive clothing and carried large boxes they pretended that they were still rich people. After entering the house, it was revealed that underneath all the glamour was nothing but potatoes and straws. When his new neighbors came to visit, the father lied about how they just ate a chicken(an expensive item for the time) but in fact all they had was one potato. The neighbor being polite told them that it gets cold at night, the father again lied and boasted that they have plenty of blankets to keep them warm.

Soon after the neighbors left, the father told the son to answer "they eat chickens, and sleep with comforters." whenever someone asks. At that night, the neighbors are worried that their new found neighbors were not used to the cold weather so they came knocking again. Even though the pair was freezing to the teeth, the father initially still lied that they were completely fine and the son would keep saying that they slept with comforters. Upon further asking, the father finally admitted that they were lying all the time. Their neighbors in turn told them that, "It's okay to be poor, there's no need to keep it a secret. If you've told us the truth, we would have brought you extra blankets and food." Feeling ashamed, the father apologised to his neighbors.

心勞日拙 (Xīn láo rì zhuō) is used to describe someone that thinks of all sorts of lies to cover up something but in the end only makes the matter worse.

Example:

"你經濟上有問題就說吧. 何必要「心勞日拙」的在撒謊呢？