拔苗的农民

汉字太难了，我不想再学了。这三天，我每天学五个小时，但是今天，我一个字都不想看。

Chinese characters are too hard. I don't want to study anymore. These past three days I studied five hours every day, but today I don't want to look at a single character.

你已经很努力了，五个小时，三天！你为什么突然要学这么多？

You've already worked so hard, five hours, three days! Why did you suddenly decide to study that much?

下个星期要考试，我怕考得不好，所以想快点学完，但是现在，我什么都不想学了。

There's an exam next week. I was afraid I'd do badly, so I wanted to learn it fast. But now I don't want to study anything at all.

我明白，但是五个小时，三天，你也太着急了。我跟你讲一个故事吧，是孟子讲的，一个农民和苗的故事，你想听吗？

I understand, but five hours, three days, that's too much too fast. Let me tell you a story. It's one Mencius told, about a farmer and some sprouts. Do you want to hear it?

想听，这个故事和我学汉字有关系吗？

Yes. Does this story have anything to do with me learning characters?

有关系。以前有一个农民，他种了很多苗。他每天都去看，但是苗好像一直一样高，一点都不变，他很着急。

It does. Long ago there was a farmer who planted a lot of sprouts. He went to look at them every day, but they seemed to stay exactly the same height, never changing, and he got very anxious.

他是不是太着急了？种地不是应该慢慢来吗？

Wasn't he being too impatient? Isn't farming supposed to take its time?

对，但是他觉得苗一直不高，太慢了。有一天晚上，他想到了一个办法：把苗都拔高一点。

Right, but he felt the sprouts stayed too short, too slow. One night he came up with an idea: pull every sprout up a little to make it taller.

拔苗？这样苗真的会更高吗？

Pull them up? Would that actually make them taller?

农民觉得会。他很高兴，觉得苗都比以前高了。他晚上拔，白天也拔，一天拔好几次。

The farmer thought so. He was delighted, sure the sprouts were all taller than before. He pulled them at night, he pulled them during the day, several times a day.

一天拔好几次？！那他不是很累吗？

Several times a day? Wasn't that exhausting for him?

累是累，但是他觉得高兴，因为苗真的一天比一天高。他每天回家都跟家人说，我的苗，今天又高了！

Tiring, yes, but he was happy about it, because the sprouts really did look taller every day. Every day he came home and told his family, my sprouts are taller again today!

然后呢？

Then what?

有一天早上，他起床以后去看苗，发现苗都死了。

One morning he got up and went to look at the sprouts, and found they were all dead.

什么？！都死了？为什么？

What? All dead? Why?

因为苗天天被拔，最后都死了。农民很难过。

Because the sprouts had been pulled every single day, and in the end they died. The farmer was heartbroken.

这个农民也太好笑了！他自己把苗拔死的，还很难过？

This farmer is ridiculous! He killed the sprouts himself by pulling them, and now he's heartbroken about it?

对啊。孟子说，苗自己会一天比一天高，不用农民天天去拔。

Exactly. Mencius said the sprouts would have grown taller day by day on their own. The farmer didn't need to pull them every day.

所以呢？你要跟我说，我不应该每天学五个小时？

So what are you telling me? That I shouldn't study five hours a day?

对。你可以每天学一个小时，一直学，苗就不会死。但是五个小时，三天，第四天呢？

Right. You could study one hour every day, keep at it, and the sprouts wouldn't die. But five hours, three days, then what about the fourth day?

第四天，我就是那些死了的苗。

On the fourth day, I'm the sprouts that died.

对，所以，一个小时，每天都学，苗才不会死，你也一样。你明天要不要只学一个小时？

Exactly. So an hour, every day, that's how the sprouts survive, and so do you. Do you want to study just one hour tomorrow?

好，就一个小时。这样我才不会变成那个农民。我明天也要学汉字。

Okay, just one hour. That way I won't turn into that farmer. I'll study characters again tomorrow.