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Snake

A long time ago, the Snake and the Frog were friends. The Snake had four legs while the Frog had nothing but a belly to keep him moving on the ground. The Snake liked let to eat more than work, while in contrast, the Frog worked very hard, He would help people catch pests all the time, so people liked the Frog very much and held bad feelings against the Snake.
As soon as the Snake found out about people’s resentment towards him, it began to bite people and saw them as enemies, which made the world miserable. The Emperor of Heaven summoned the Snake to the Heavenly Palace and tried to persuade it to let go of its hatred and embrace the people, but it would not listen, The Emperor of Heaven became furious and ordered the soldiers in Heaven to cut off the Snake’s legs. The Snake then lost its four legs. The Emperor of Heaven knew that the Frog deserved a reward for being nice to people, so he gave the four legs of the Snake to the Frog.
Later on the Snake learnt from its mistake and became a better animal. It started to eat pests for people as well. The Snake dragged its long body along the ground and did good things for people in secret, It also followed the Dragon to learn how to control water. When the Snake died ,it donated its body to the human beings for medicinal research, and cured lots of patients. The Emperor of Heaven saw that the Snake had changed and had turned out to be a devoted animal. So when he selected the twelve zodiac animals .he ranked the Snake after the Dragon, The Snake then became one of the twelve zodiac animals.
After the Snake was made one of the twelve zodiac animals. it stopped hurting people. As soon as it had evil intentions to bite, it would remove a layer of skin to make a fresh start. Although the Snake changed its behavior for the better, it still hated that the Frog had its four legs. So every time the Snake sees the Frog. it will try and bite it .
很久以前，蛇和青蛙是朋友，蛇有四条腿，青蛙却没有腿，只能靠肚子蠕动爬行。蛇好吃懒做，青蛙却十分勤快，时常帮助人们捕捉害虫。因此，人们自然喜欢青蛙讨厌蛇。
蛇发现人们讨厌它，就开始仇视人，见人就咬，弄得人间很不安宁。玉帝因此将蛇传入天宫，劝它弃恶从善，但蛇却并无悔改之意。玉帝大怒，令天兵砍去蛇的腿。从此，蛇就失去了四条腿。玉帝见青蛙有功于人，就将蛇的四条腿赐给了青蛙。
后来蛇知错就改，决心重新改造自己，也开始吃害虫，并拖着长长的身躯，默默地为人类做好事，它还跟着龙学治水。蛇死后，也将自己的躯体献给人类，作为药物救治了很多病人。玉帝见蛇知错能改，奋发向上，在册封十二生肖时，把它排在了龙的后面，成为了人类的生肖。
蛇当上生肖以后，自然不主动伤人了。一旦恶念萌发，它便将恶念化成一层皮蜕下，以示重新做人。尽管如此，它还是对青蛙拥有它的四条腿这件事怀恨在心，无法释怀。也因此，直到今天，蛇还是见青蛙就咬。

EXAMPLE:
例句：在自然景色中加入了一些人造景色，画蛇添足，反而不美了。
zài zì rán jǐng sè zhōng jiā rù le yī xiē rén zào jǐng sè ，huà shé tiān zú ，fǎn ér bù měi le.
Adding artificial works t the natural landscape would be like drawing a snake with four legs, which will turn the natural scenery into anything but beauty.

画蛇添足huà shé tiān zú
Meaning :Somebody who draws a snake with four legs, which is neither appropriate nor useful.
比喻人做了多余的事，非但无益，而且不合适。

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