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)

j?ng d? de há ma – jiàn shi sh?o
井底的蛤蟆 – 見識少
Frog in a well – A person with a very limited outlook

k?ng fū z? de k?u dài – shū dāi (dài) zi
孔夫子的口袋 – 書呆（袋）子
Confucius' bag is full of books. (Confucius is the Chinese philosopher, educator and founder of Confucianism in late Spring and Autumn Period.) – Somebody is a pedant or bookworm.

tū zi dāng hé shang – jiāng jiu cái liào
禿子當(dāng)和尚 – 將就材料
Let a baldhead serve as a monk. – Make do with what is available.

yī lì l?o sh? sh? – huài le yī guō tāng
一粒老鼠屎 – 壞了一鍋湯
One bit of rat's dung in the soup spoils the whole pot. – A fly in the ointment

dòng dòu fu – nán bàn (bàn)
凍豆腐 – 難辦（拌）
Frozen bean curd is difficult to mix. – It means something is hard to deal with. ("辦," which means deal with, manage or operate, is a homophone for "拌," which means mix.)

wáng xi?o èr guò nián – yī nián bù rú yī nián
王小二過年 – 一年不如一年
Things get worse with each passing year; things go from bad to worse every year; be on the decline

ròu àn shang de m?i mài – jīn jīn jì jiào
肉案上的買賣 – 斤斤計較
Buying and selling at a butcher's shop – Haggle over every ounce; be overly calculating

shā jī gěi hóu kàn – shā yī j?ng b?i
殺雞給猴看 – 殺一儆百
Kill the chicken to frighten the monkey – Punish someone as a warning to others.

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