yuán猿hóu猴qǔ取yuè月
To make a futile attempt; to engage in a fruitless endeavor due to ignorance, misjudgment, or foolishness.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
According to legend, in the ancient city of Benares, there lived five hundred macaques.
One day, while they were roaming in the forest, they spotted the reflection of the moon in a well under a tree. Their king, believing the moon had fallen into the well, declared to all the monkeys, 'The moon has fallen! We must retrieve it and put it back in the sky!'
So, one by one, the monkeys formed a chain, extending themselves from a tree branch down towards the well. Eventually, the branch snapped, and they all tumbled into the well.