曲突徙薪

Prononciation: qū tū xǐ xīn Signification littérale: Bend the chimney, move the firewood

Origine et Usage

A guest noticed that his host's chimney ran straight up beside a stack of firewood, and advised him to bend (曲) the flue (突) and move (徙) the wood (薪). The host said nothing. The house burned; the neighbours who scorched themselves putting it out were feasted in order of injury, and the man who had given the advice was not invited. The Book of Han draws the moral in a line usually quoted with the idiom: 曲突徙薪亡恩泽，焦头烂额为上客 — bending the flue and shifting the wood earns no gratitude, while the scorched and blistered are seated as honoured guests.

Exemples

Anglais: "The engineer who warned about the fault was not invited to the review"

Chinois: 当初提出隐患的工程师，事后并没有被请去参加复盘