In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a farmer who was impatient by nature.

He thought his rice shoots(嫩枝) were growing too slowly, so he decided to help them by pulling them.

有个急性子的宋国人，日夜盼望稻田里的稻子快些长大。

可是，稻子是要慢慢长的，不能照他想的那样长的那么快。

One day at dusk, he went back home dog-tired and said to his family: "I helped the rice shoots grow today.

" Hearing this, his son hurried to the field, only to find that all the plants had withered(干枯) .

有一天，他想出了一个妙计：下得田去，把每棵稻子都从土里拔高了一些。

好累啊!

辛辛苦苦干了一整天!

不过，田里的稻子倒是都长高好些了。

”他的儿子听说田里的稻子长高了好些，连忙跑到田里去看。

可是，糟糕得很，田里的稻苗的叶子，都开始枯萎了。

This idiom refers to spoiling things because of being over-anxious for results and ignoring the law of nature.

这则故事主要告诫人们：不尊重自然规律或忽视自然规律，过分的焦急，必然导致破坏事情的正常发展。

【中国成语故事中英对照 揠苗助长查看网站：[db:时间]】