撥苗助長 To Pull up the Seedlings to Help Them Grow

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 he hit upon an idea. He had an idea not wait for daybreak. He jumped out of the bed and dashed to the field. By the moonlight, 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 one night!" With great satisfaction, he went back home. He told his son what he had done in a triumphant tone. His son was shocked. Now the sun had risen. The young man was heart-broken to see all the pulled-up young plants dying.

People now use " Ba Miao Zhu Zhang" to describe the behavior of those who are too eager to get something done only to make it worse. The idiom is a bit like the English proverb "Haste makes waste" ------to spoil things by excessive enthusiasm.

撥苗助長

從前，有個農(nóng)夫，種了稻苗后，便希望能早早收成。每天他到稻田時，發(fā)覺那些稻苗長得非常慢。

他等得不耐煩，心想：“怎么樣才能使稻苗長得高，長很快呢?

想了又想，他終了想到一個“最佳方法”，就是將稻苗撥高幾分。

經(jīng)過一番辛勞后，他滿意地扛鋤頭回家休息。心想：明天稻苗長得一定更高了。

隔天早晨.一早起身，他迫不及待地起去稻田看他的“成果”。

哪知，他跑到稻田時，卻看到所有的稻苗都枯萎了。