鷸蚌相爭 (Yù bàng xiāng zhēng)

[Daimashin]

鷸蚌相爭 (Yù bàng xiāng zhēng) - Two parties fight only benefits the third.

Literal meaning - A snipe fights with a clam.

Once upon a time the Kingdom of Zhao had a misunderstanding with the Kingdom of Yan. Both kingdoms were ready to go to war, the adviser of Zhao heard about this and decided to persuade the King of Zhao to cancel the plan. The adviser told the King a story about how one day a snipe was hungry and went looking for food and found a clam. The snipe tried to eat the clam but the clam fought back, after hours of struggling both of them fell. During this time, a fisherman passed by and saw the two of them lying on the beach. In the end, the fisherman ate both the snipe and the clam. After hearing the story, the King of Zhao realized that it was a mistake because his battle with Yan might allow the Kingdom of Qin the opportunity to conquer them both so the King of Zhao cancelled his plan for war.

鷸蚌相爭，漁人得利 (Yù bàng xiāng zhēng, yú rén dé lì) means then two sides fighting each other will only benefit the third party.

Example:

"你又何必跟他爭的士呢，搞到「鷸蚌相爭」 給第三者先上到車."