The Impatient Farmer

The Impatient Farmer Illustration

Tap any word for its meaning

从前cóng qiányǒu农民nóng mínOnce upon a time, there was a farmer.每天měi tiāndōuhěn着急zháo jíHe was very anxious every day.希望xī wàng田里tián lǐde秧苗yāng miáo快点kuài diǎn长高zhǎng gāoHe hoped that the seedlings in the field would grow taller quickly.一天yī tiān想到xiǎng dàole一个yī gè办法bàn fǎOne day, he came up with an idea.měi秧苗yāng miáodōuwǎngshàng拔高bá gāo一点yī diǎnHe pulled each seedling up a little.第二天dì èr tiān发现fā xiàn所有suǒ yǒude秧苗yāng miáodōu枯死kū sǐleThe next day, he discovered that all the seedlings had withered and died.因为yīn wèi拔苗助长bá miáo zhù zhǎngde行为xíng wéihàile它们tā menBecause his act of pulling up the seedlings to help them grow harmed them.

农民nóng mínde儿子ér zi看到kàn dàohòuhěn难过nán guòThe farmer's son felt very sad when he saw this.告诉gào sù父亲fù qīn植物zhí wù需要xū yào时间shí jiān才能cái néng长大zhǎng dàHe told his father that plants need time to grow.农民nóng mín终于zhōng yú明白míng báiThe farmer finally understood.做事zuò shì不能bù néngtài着急zháo jíOne should not be too impatient.yào尊重zūn zhòng自然zì ránde规律guī lǜOne must respect the laws of nature.从那以后cóng nà yǐ hòu耐心地nài xīn de照顾zhào gù庄稼zhuāng jiaFrom then on, he patiently tended to his crops.秋天qiū tiān果然guǒ rán收获shōu huòle满满mǎn mǎnde粮食liáng shíIn autumn, he indeed harvested a bountiful crop.

拔苗助长bá miáo zhù zhǎng字面zì miàn意思yì sishìmiáo拔高bá gāoLiterally, '拔苗助长' means pulling the seedlings up.帮助bāng zhù生长shēng zhǎngIt means to help them grow.这个zhè ge成语chéng yǔ来自lái zì一个yī gè古代gǔ dàide故事gù shiThis idiom comes from an ancient story.故事gù shijiǎngdeshì一个yī gè农民nóng mín心急xīn jí反而fǎn érhuǐle庄稼zhuāng jiaThe story tells of a farmer whose impatience instead destroyed his crops.现在xiàn zài用来yòng lái形容xíng róng急于求成jí yú qiú chéngNowadays it is used to describe eagerness for quick success.yòng错误cuò wùde方法fāng fǎ反而fǎn ér事情shì qíng弄坏nòng huàileUsing the wrong methods backfires and spoils things.

老师lǎo shī告诉gào sù家长jiā zhǎnggěi孩子hái zibào太多tài duō补习班bǔ xí bānshì拔苗助长bá miáo zhù zhǎngThe teacher told the parents that signing their children up for too many tutoring classes is '拔苗助长'.应该yīng gāiràng他们tā men快乐kuài lè学习xué xíThey should let them learn happily.

Want to read along with audio? Every story in the Literate Chinese app is narrated by a native speaker — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin — so you can listen while you read, and tap any word to save it as a flashcard. See what's in the app.

More free stories: all chinese idioms and other Chinese reading practice · traditional characters · how graded readers work

Try reading your first story

The fastest way to make characters stick is to meet them in a story you can actually finish. Literate Chinese has 650+ graded stories matched to the words you know — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin, Simplified or Traditional. Free on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Prefer the browser? Read a free story on the web →