望梅止渴

wàng méi zhǐ kě

lit. to quench one's thirst by thinking of plums (idiom)

fig. to console oneself with illusions

望

wàng

15th day of month (lunar calendar)

梅

méi

old variant of 梅[mei2]

止

zhǐ

to stop

渴

kě

thirsty