揠苗助长

Pulling up Seedlings to Help Them Grow

改编：何云亭、Lin

翻译：张楚唯、何云亭、Phil

朗读：Phil

Under the scorching summer sun, a group of farmers sat in the tree shade by the paddy fields, eating what they had brought for lunch. One man, however, remained toiling in the fields.

One of the farmers noticed him and asked, "Is that Song Dalang? He’s not gonna have lunch, innit?"

"He works real slow," another farmer replied. "You know, his father had him buried in his books all day, never let him touch the farm work. Well, the old man broke his leg yesterday. The planting season can’t be delayed, and it’s all on the boy now. Look how clumsy he is!"

The farmer who spoke first watched for a while, "I can’t bear it. He screws up the whole thing! Somebody gotta tell him that!"

The two got up and shouted to Song, who was still working in the middle of the field, "Hey, you're putting them too close, boy! Crops won't grow well like this!"

"And why are you putting them at uneven depths?!"

Other farmers started to shout out their advice, too, "You gotta plant the seedlings straight. Look how crooked you did!"

"And the water is too deep, Man! Makin a reservoir?” They made no effort to hide their mockery. “Your old man’s gonna get a good bunch of fish next year! Haha! "

Song, who had always felt somewhat superior to his farming neighbors, blushed upon hearing these blunt remarks. He felt these bumpkins were just laughing at him, and thus got annoyed. "Oh, are you sure? Well, mark my words: my rice, is going to grow faster, and better, than all of yours! Just wait and see!"

The farmers shook their heads, and decided to leave him alone.

Half a month later, Song became anxious as he saw the short rice plants in his field. He had boasted so much; it would be embarrassing if he failed to deliver.

How could he make his rice grow faster? Song looked at the crooked plants, and suddenly came up with an idea — if he pulled the plants up a bit, they would instantly grow taller.

Song was amazed by his own cleverness. What a genius he was to be able to come up with such a simple solution? Excited, he started pulling up the plants. He couldn’t wait to see the surprised and envious looks of other farmers when they found out what would happen the next day.

He worked until midnight that day. And when he finally finished pulling up all the plants, and looked back at his field, he was so satisfied to see all the plants thriving under the moonlight.

Humming a tune, he returned home, planning for the next few days to just wait quietly at home for those who had laughed at him. They would come begging for forgiveness and admiring his significant contribution to agriculture!

However, the next day passed, with no one coming or knocking on his door.

And the third day, no one came, either.

On the fourth day morning, there was finally a knock on the door. A neighbor came running from the field, panting heavily as he shouted outside the door, "Song Dalang, come quickly to your field! Something … something happened!"

Song, though very excited inside, opened the door slowly and said nonchalantly, "I know my rice grows faster. There's no need to make such a fuss."

"No...no, it's not that, your seedlings...they're all dead!"

In panic, Song dashed to his field, by the side of which many farmers had already gathered, discussing in a flurry. He pushed through the crowd and became dumbfounded when he saw a field of withered seedlings.

"How is this possible?! I just pulled up all the seedlings by a third of a writing brush, to help them grow faster." He said to himself. "How … how come they are all dead?"

Hearing his murmurs, the farmers realized what had happened. One of them said, "Pullin up the seedlings is not making them grow taller, but murdering their roots instead."

“Growth takes time. If you rush the process, you break the law of nature, and you ain’t get nothing in the end.”

宋人有闵其苗之不长而揠之者，芒芒然归，谓其人曰：“今日病矣！予助苗长矣！”其子趋而往视之，苗则槁矣。天下之不助苗长者寡矣。以为无益而舍之者，不耘苗者也；助之长者，揠苗者也，非徒无益，而又害之。

---------孟子

Similar expressions in English：

More haste, less speed： If you try to do things too quickly, it will take you longer in the end.

Example:

Hey, Jim, slow down with that planting! you are rushing it, and remember, more haste, less speed. If you don’t take your time, you might end up damaging the roots and affecting the whole crop.

Fool’s haste is no speed: rushing into action without proper planning or consideration can lead to mistakes or setbacks that ultimately slow down progress.

Example:

I know you are eager to get those seeds in the ground, but remember, fool’s haste is no speed. Take a moment to check your equipment and prepare the soil properly. Rushing now could lead to problems later on that’ll set us back even further.

背景音乐：

《古风》——高玉兰