To act against the natural order of things; to make unnatural or arbitrary alterations, often leading to worse results.
我们不应该断鹤续凫，硬是把不适合的方案强加给这个项目，那只会适得其反。
We should not try to 'shorten a crane's leg and lengthen a duck's leg' by forcing unsuitable solutions onto this project; it would only be counterproductive.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Synonym:
Story:
Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a foolish but kind-hearted person who saw groups of wild ducks and white cranes pecking and playing in the water outside the city.
He noticed that cranes had long legs while wild ducks had short ones. He thought it would be inconvenient for them to walk together like that, so he caught them, cut a section from a crane's leg, and attached it to a wild duck's leg.
As a result, neither of them could walk anymore.
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