The title of this Chinese fable, 揠苗助长 (yà miáo zhù zhǎng), is an idiom which means “to pull up seedlings to help them grow”. It tells the tale of an impatient farmer who learns the hard way that some things just can’t be rushed, and that trying to rush is sometimes counter-productive. Here are some examples of how you might use this idiom in a sentence:
学外语要循序渐进，不能揠苗助长，一口气背一千个单词是没用的。
Learning a foreign language takes gradual progress. You can’t force it — memorizing a thousand words in one sitting gets you nowhere.
这家公司成立才一年就急着上市，简直是揠苗助长，风险极大。
This company was only founded a year ago and is already rushing to go public — that’s pure overreach, and extremely risky.
两个人的感情需要时间培养，你天天催她表态，这不是揠苗助长吗？
A relationship needs time to develop naturally. Pressuring her for a commitment every single day — isn’t that just forcing things?
Key vocab
着急 – zháo jí – anxious; worried
办法 – bàn fǎ – method; way; solution
拔高 – bá gāo – to pull up; to raise
筋疲力尽 – jīn pí lì jìn – exhausted; worn out
得意 – dé yì – proud; pleased with oneself
枯死 – kū sǐ – to wither and die
揠苗助长
从前，有个农夫种了一块田。他每天都去田里看自己的禾苗，觉得禾苗长得太慢了，心里非常着急。
他想：”有没有什么办法能让禾苗长得快一点呢？”
想啊想，终于想出了一个”好办法“。他跑到田里，把每一棵禾苗都用手往上拔高了一截。
他从早忙到晚，累得筋疲力尽，但心里却非常高兴。回到家后，他得意地对家人说：”今天可把我累坏了！不过总算帮禾苗长高了不少，值得！”
他的儿子听了，觉得奇怪，第二天一早跑到田里一看——所有的禾苗都枯死了。
Pulling Seedlings to Help Them Grow
Once upon a time, there was a farmer who planted a field. Every day he would go to the field to check on his seedlings, but he felt they were growing too slowly and became very anxious.
He thought: “Is there any way to make the seedlings grow faster?”
He thought and thought, and finally came up with a “brilliant idea.” He ran to the field and pulled each seedling up a little bit higher with his hands.
He worked from morning until night, exhausted to the point of complete fatigue, but he felt very happy inside. After returning home, he proudly said to his family: “I’m completely worn out today! But it was worth it – I finally helped the seedlings grow much taller!”
His son heard this and thought it was strange. The next morning, he ran to the field to take a look – all the seedlings had withered and died.