Once upon a time, an old farmer planted a plot of rice. Everyday he went to the field to watch the seedlings grow. He saw the young shoots break through the soil and grow taller each day. But still, he thought they were growing too slowly.
He got impatient with the young plants. “How could the plants grow faster?” He tossed in bed during the night and could not sleep. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head! His idea could not wait until daybreak. He jumped out of bed and dashed to the field. Under the light of the moon, he began working on the rice seedlings. One by one, he pulled up the young plants by half an inch. When he finished pulling, it was already morning. Straightening his back, he said to himself, “What a wonderful idea! Look, how much taller the plants have grown in one night!” With great satisfaction, he went back home.
In a triumphant tone, he told his son what he had done. His son was shocked! By this time, the sun had risen, and the young man was heart-broken to see all the young plants dying.
People now use 揠苗助长 “yà miáo zhù zhǎng” to describe the behavior of those who are too eager to get something done… only to make it worse.
揠苗助长
yà miáo zhù zhǎng
古时候宋国有个农夫，种了稻苗后，便希望能早早收成。
gǔ shí hòu sòng guó yǒu gè nóng fū，zhǒng le dào miáo hòu，biàn xī wàng néng zǎo zǎo shōu chéng。
每天他到稻田时，发觉那些稻苗长得非常慢。他等得不耐烦，心想：“怎么样才能使稻苗长得高，长很快呢？” 想了又想，他终了想到一个“最佳方法”，就是将稻苗拨高几分。
měi tiān tā dào dào tián shí，fā jiào nà xiē dào miáo zhǎng dé fēi cháng màn。tā děng dé bú nài fán，xīn xiǎng：“zěn me yàng cái néng shǐ dào miáo zhǎng dé gāo，zhǎng hěn kuài ne？” xiǎng le yòu xiǎng，tā zhōng le xiǎng dào yī gè “zuì jiā fāng fǎ”，jiù shì jiāng dào miáo bō gāo jǐ fèn。
经过一番辛劳后，他满意地扛锄头回家休息。然后回去对家里的人表白：“今天可把我累坏了，我帮助庄稼苗长高一大截！”
jīng guò yī fān xīn láo hòu，tā mǎn yì dì káng chú tóu huí jiā xiū xī。rán hòu huí qù duì jiā lǐ de rén biǎo bái：“jīn tiān kě bǎ wǒ lèi huài le，wǒ bāng zhù zhuāng jià miáo zhǎng gāo yī dà jié！”
他儿子赶快跑到地里去一看，禾苗全都枯死了。
tā ér zǐ gǎn kuài pǎo dào dì lǐ qù yī kàn，hé miáo quán dōu kū sǐ le。
人们现在用拔苗助长形容急于求成，违法客观规律，只会把事情办坏。
rén men xiàn zài yòng bá miáo zhù zhǎng xíng róng jí yú qiú chéng，wéi fǎ kè guān guī lǜ，zhī huì bǎ shì qíng bàn huài。
We can think of many situations where this would be relevant: learning a language, starting your own business, beginning a romantic relationship…
How could you use it your own life?