Chinese Idiom Stories 2 · chapter 2 of 6
Helping the Sprouts Grow
拔苗助长
A farmer in Song can't stand how slowly his sprouts are growing. So he spends one long, hard day helping them along, and comes home very proud of himself.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 这个故事叫“拔苗助长”。很久以前，宋国有一个农夫。
Zhège gùshi jiào “bámiáo zhùzhǎng”. Hěn jiǔ yǐqián, Sòngguó yǒu yí gè nóngfū.
This story is called “Pull Up the Sprouts to Help Them Grow.” Long, long ago, in the state of Song, there lived a farmer.
- The farmer 禾苗，禾苗，你们今天长高了没有？
Hémiáo, hémiáo, nǐmen jīntiān zhǎng gāo le méiyǒu?
Sprouts, sprouts, have you grown any taller today?
- The farmer 昨天这么高……今天，还是这么高！
Zuótiān zhème gāo… jīntiān, háishi zhème gāo!
Yesterday this tall… and today, still this tall!
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Chinese Idiom Stories 2 is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- The farmer 别人的禾苗都长高了，我的还是小小的！
Biérén de hémiáo dōu zhǎng gāo le, wǒ de háishi xiǎoxiǎo de!
Everyone else's sprouts are taller already, and mine are still tiny!
- The farmer 天天等，天天看……我不想再等了！
Tiāntiān děng, tiāntiān kàn… wǒ bù xiǎng zài děng le!
Every day I wait, every day I look… I'm done waiting!
- The farmer 有了！你们长不高，我来帮你们长！
Yǒu le! Nǐmen zhǎng bù gāo, wǒ lái bāng nǐmen zhǎng!
I've got it! If you can't grow tall on your own, I'll help you grow!
- Narrator 农夫走进地里，用手把禾苗往上拉。
Nóngfū zǒu jìn dì lǐ, yòng shǒu bǎ hémiáo wǎng shàng lā.
The farmer walked into his field and began tugging the sprouts upward with his hands.
- The farmer 一棵，两棵，三棵……高了！都高了！
Yì kē, liǎng kē, sān kē… gāo le! Dōu gāo le!
One, two, three… taller! They're all taller!
- The farmer 好累……还有五百棵！快，快！
Hǎo lèi… hái yǒu wǔbǎi kē! Kuài, kuài!
So tired… and five hundred more to go! Hurry, hurry!
- Narrator 太阳下山了，农夫才回到家里。
Tàiyáng xià shān le, nóngfū cái huí dào jiā lǐ.
Only when the sun went down did the farmer finally come home.
- The farmer 阿牛！我回来了！今天我太累了！
Ā Niú! Wǒ huílái le! Jīntiān wǒ tài lèi le!
A Niu! I'm home! I'm worn out today!
- A Niu 爸爸，您今天做什么了？
Bàba, nín jīntiān zuò shénme le?
Dad, what did you do all day?
- The farmer 我帮禾苗长高了！它们都长高了！
Wǒ bāng hémiáo zhǎng gāo le! Tāmen dōu zhǎng gāo le!
I helped the sprouts grow! Every one of them is taller now!
- A Niu 帮禾苗长高？您怎么帮？
Bāng hémiáo zhǎng gāo? Nín zěnme bāng?
Helped the sprouts grow? How?
- The farmer 我用手，把它们都往上拉了一点儿！
Wǒ yòng shǒu, bǎ tāmen dōu wǎng shàng lā le yìdiǎnr!
With my own two hands! I pulled every one of them up a little!
- A Niu 往上拉？爸爸，那不是拔禾苗吗？
Wǎng shàng lā? Bàba, nà bú shì bá hémiáo ma?
Pulled them up? Dad, isn't that pulling them right out of the ground?
- The farmer 不是拔，是帮！明天你去看，我们的禾苗最高！
Bú shì bá, shì bāng! Míngtiān nǐ qù kàn, wǒmen de hémiáo zuì gāo!
I didn't pull them out, I helped them up! Go and look tomorrow. Our sprouts will be the tallest around!
- A Niu 不等明天了，我现在就去看！
Bù děng míngtiān le, wǒ xiànzài jiù qù kàn!
I'm not waiting till tomorrow. I'm going to look right now!
- A Niu 爸爸！您快来看！
Bàba! Nín kuài lái kàn!
Dad! Come and look, quick!
- The farmer 怎么了？是不是更高了？
Zěnme le? Shì bu shì gèng gāo le?
What is it? Have they grown even taller?
- A Niu 高是高了……您看，禾苗都黄了，都倒下了！
Gāo shì gāo le… nín kàn, hémiáo dōu huáng le, dōu dǎo xià le!
Taller, sure… but look, the sprouts have all gone yellow and fallen over!
- The farmer 什么？我帮了它们一天！
Shénme? Wǒ bāng le tāmen yì tiān!
What? I spent the whole day helping them!
- A Niu 爸爸，禾苗离开了土，就喝不到水了。
Bàba, hémiáo líkāi le tǔ, jiù hē bú dào shuǐ le.
Dad, once sprouts come out of the soil, they can't drink any water.
- A Niu 禾苗要自己长，不能急。您这不是帮忙，是“拔苗助长”！
Hémiáo yào zìjǐ zhǎng, bù néng jí. Nín zhè bú shì bāngmáng, shì “bámiáo zhùzhǎng”!
Sprouts have to grow on their own. You can't rush them. That wasn't helping. That was pulling up the sprouts to help them grow!
- The farmer 拔苗助长……我太急了。
Bámiáo zhùzhǎng… wǒ tài jí le.
Pulling up the sprouts to help them grow… I was too impatient.
- The farmer 不过，别笑我！还有人比我更好笑呢！
Búguò, bié xiào wǒ! Hái yǒu rén bǐ wǒ gèng hǎoxiào ne!
But don't laugh at me! There's someone even funnier than me!
- A Niu 比您还好笑？我不信。
Bǐ nín hái hǎoxiào? Wǒ bú xìn.
Funnier than you? I don't believe it.
- The farmer 有一个人，想要别人家门上的大铃。可是，铃动了，就会响……
Yǒu yí gè rén, xiǎng yào biérén jiā mén shang de dà líng. Kěshì, líng dòng le, jiù huì xiǎng…
There's a man who wants the big bell on somebody's gate. But the moment a bell moves, it rings…
- The farmer 他说，他有一个好办法，谁都听不见！
Tā shuō, tā yǒu yí gè hǎo bànfǎ, shéi dōu tīng bú jiàn!
He says he has a clever trick, so that nobody can hear a thing!
- A Niu 谁都听不见？什么好办法？
Shéi dōu tīng bú jiàn? Shénme hǎo bànfǎ?
Nobody can hear? What kind of trick is that?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why is the farmer unhappy with his sprouts?
“别人的禾苗都长高了，我的还是小小的！”
- What does the farmer do in the field all day?
“农夫走进地里，用手把禾苗往上拉。”
- What does the farmer tell A Niu when he gets home?
“我帮禾苗长高了！它们都长高了！”
- What does A Niu find in the field?
“禾苗都黄了，都倒下了！”
- Why did the sprouts die, according to A Niu?
“禾苗离开了土，就喝不到水了。”