To Pull up the Seedlings to Help Them Grow

　　Once upon a time, there was an old farmer who planted a plot of rice. After he planted the seedlings, every day 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. Eventually he got impatient with the young plants and suddenly he hit upon an idea that one by one, he pulled up the young plants by half an inch. The next early morning, the young man couldn’t wait to check his “achievement”, but he was heart-broken to see all the pulled-up young plants dying.

　　【譯文】

　　拔苗助長

　　從前，有個農夫，種了稻苗(seedlings)后，便希望能早早收成。每天他到稻田時，都發覺那些稻苗長得非常慢。他等得很不耐煩。想了又想，他終于想到一個“最佳方法”，他將稻苗全都拔高了幾分。第二天，一早起身，他迫不及待地去稻田看他的“成果”。 哪知，卻看到所有的稻苗都枯萎了。