In
Chinese, 画蛇添足 (hua4 she2 tian1 zu2). A
proverb which means to do something
utterly useless in the
nth degree, to perform a task of
no meaning that
detracts from the whole.
The
story (most Chinese proverbs have
origins in stories) goes that there was once a rich man who treated his
subordinates to a great
feast and lots of rich
wine. However, one of the subordinates was
greedy and decided that he wanted all the wine to himself. So he proposed that the person who drew the best
snake would win and get all the wine (he was a great
artist himself).
Naturally, all of them took up the
challenge, and attempted to draw the best snake. (Having all the wine to oneself was
no small prize to be overlooked.)
The great artist drew his snake quickly, and was
smug. "Who can contest my drawing?" he thought.
..o. ............
**... \......./ ........... \.........
\........../ \..........\
As he looked around, the artist realised that he had finished far earlier than any of his other
competitors, so he continued to draw.
..o. ............
**... \......./ gg..gg..gg. \.........
\gg..gg..gg/ \gg..gg.gg.\
However, when the time for the judging came, all agreed that the
great artist had lost the game, because what he had drawn was
no snake.