Keep Your Cards Close To Your Vest

This idiom means doing secret work and making a mess by not revealing what you're doing ,turning everyone against each other.

The Story Of Idiom

Once upon a time in a village there was a spring where the people watered their fields and gardens. This resource was the common property of the village. Since there was no other water source in the immediate vicinity, all villagers irrigated their lands alternately from this source. It was clear who would use when and how much water, and everyone followed their own order and respected the rights of their neighbors. However, as in every village, there was a cunning man in this village. This man, who was right next to the vegetable garden water source, would go and get his water from the fountain when it was his turn, but he did not consent to this and dug a secret waterway between the source and his entourage. He lined the waterway with stone and wood so that no one would notice. He also piled bales of hay. Sometimes the water would pass under this straw, the field of the shrewd eye. In the middle of summer, while everyone's fields were burning with thirst, his field was green with saplings growing. Moreover, the irrigation pool in the middle of the garden was always full. The villagers, who searched saying ''There's a trick involved in this'' soon realized that this vigilant man was keeping his cards to his vest.

The best expression of this idiom in Turkish is '' Saman Altından Su Yürütmek''''