The next sentence is: in the end, mantis catches cicada.

From: "Shan Hai Jing Hai Nei Nan Jing": "Bashu eats elephants and bones at the age of three." Qu Yuan's Tian Wen in Chu Ci of the Warring States Period: "What's the big deal if a snake swallows an elephant?" Luo Hongxian's poem: "The human heart is insufficient, the snake swallows the elephant, and the world will eventually catch the cicada." -Zhai Qing Hao's compilation of popular flowers, birds, fish and insects

Interpretation: "A heartless snake swallowed an elephant" describes someone's greed, just like a snake swallowing an elephant is not satisfied.

"The mantis catches the cicada, and the yellowbird is behind" means that things are complicated, people are sinister, unpredictable, and intrigue is exhausted. In the end, it will hurt everyone, just like mantis catching cicada and yellowbird catching vulture in the back.

Extended data:

Background story and source:

Legend has it that once upon a time there was a snake spirit who violated the dogma, and the Jade Emperor ordered Lei Gong to bombard it. Python snake essence has nowhere to hide, showing its original shape and becoming a small snake curled up in the dust. It happened that Mei Sheng, a poor scholar in Shouzhou City, found this snake in an outing, so he saved it and took it home to feed it. Spring goes and summer comes, and the little snake grows up gradually. And the life of Meisheng is getting harder and harder. One day, Mei Sheng was wandering in the street and saw all the people looking at the imperial list.

It turned out that the empress dowager was seriously ill and the doctor's treatment was invalid. The list tells the world that whoever can cure the illness of the empress dowager is the Beijing official. Mei Sheng thought that if I had a panacea to cure the queen mother's illness, I would be able to step into the sky. Unconsciously, I walked out of the north gate and came to the jungle in Beishan, a suburb. Suddenly, the wind blew hard and a python appeared in front of me. Mei Sheng was startled, and the boa constrictor spat out his words: "Don't be afraid, Mei Xianggong, you saved my life before, and today I want to repay you."

Mei Sheng remembered that he had saved a small snake and said, "He Yun will repay you for a small thing!" " The python said, "Today, the Queen Mother is ill. You can cure the queen mother's illness by cutting off a piece of my heart. " Mei Sheng hesitated, and the python said, "But it doesn't hurt to cut it." . Mei Sheng got into the python's belly with a knife in his hand, cut off a piece of heart and left.

Mei Sheng went to Beijing to treat the Empress Dowager, and the emperor was happy. He made Mei Sheng the prime minister and went back to his hometown in March to worship his ancestors. On the contrary, he thinks that prosperity is a thing of the past, so why not cut a heart from a python for future use and live forever? The next day, Mei Sheng went into the Beishan jungle to find a python.

At this time, the python saw through Mei Sheng's greed and thought it saved his life, so he had to bite the bullet and let him cut again. Mei Sheng got into the snake's belly and planned to cut off all the python's hearts. The python was in unbearable pain and convulsed all over. He shut his mouth hard, and Meisheng finally died. This is the origin of "the snake swallows the elephant because of the lack of human heart".

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Snakes swallow elephants when there are not enough people.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Snake Swallows Elephants Without Heart