Mandarin Chinese-- Lesson 38 (a Chinese idiom-bá miáo zhù zhǎng)

     Chinese Language Learning Program

          Lesson 38 – a Chinese idiom-bá miáo zhù zhǎng

Hello, everyone. It is so nice to see you again today. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time, we talked about Meat, poultry, and sea food in mandarin Chinese. Today, we are going to talk about a Chinese idiom- bá miáo zhù zhǎng (拔苗助长).

                                       bá  miáo zhù zhǎng                                                                 拔    苗     助      长     

chūn qiū shí, sòng guó yǒu gè nóng fū, zài dì  li chā shàng     

  春    秋   时， 宋     国    有   个    农   夫，在  地 里  插     上           

le yāng miáo,  tā měi tiān dōu dào tián biān qù kàn zhè xiē

了   秧    苗，    他  每   天    都    到    田    边    去   看   这   些                    

 yāng miáo. tā zǒng jué de zhè xiē yāng miáo cháng de tài

  秧     苗。  他   总    觉   得  这   些    秧      苗       长      的  太         

màn le. “zěn me ràng tā men kuài kuài de zhǎng qǐ lái ne ？

  慢  了。“怎  么   让    它    们     快    快    的     长    起 来 呢？    

... a, yǒu le！ wǒ hé bù bǎ yāng miáo bá gāo yì xiē ne?” yú

… 啊, 有了！ 我  何  不 把    秧     苗     拔    高 一  些 呢？” 于

shì tā bǎ měi yì zhū yāng miáo dōu bá gāo le yì jié. rán hòu

 是 他 把   每  一  株     秧     苗     都   拔   高  了 一 截。然   后

tā xīn shǎng zhe cháng gāo de yāng miáo xīn li dé yì jí  le:

他  欣    赏      着      长      高     的   秧      苗    心 里 得 意极了:

“wǒ zhēn shì tiān dǐ xià zuì cōng míng de  rén le！” tā xìng 

“ 我   真     是   天   底 下  最    聪      明     的   人  了！” 他  兴   

gāo cǎi liè de huí jiā qù le. chī fàn de shí hòu, tā duì qī zǐ hé

 高    采  烈 的  回  家  去 了。吃  饭  的  时  候,   他  对  妻子 和

ér zi shuō:“gào sù nǐ men gè hǎo xiāo xī, zán men hěn kuài

儿 子  说 :“   告   诉 你   们   个   好   消   息,   咱    们    很    快  

jiù kě yǐ shōu gē le!  yīn wèi jīn tiān wǒ bāng de  li  de yāng

就 可  以  收    割 了！因    为  今  天    我    帮    地 里  的    秧      

miáo cháng gāo le yì jié, wǒ bá le yì tiān ne.  āi yā, wǒ zhēn

 苗        长      高   了一 截,我 拔了 一 天   呢。哎 呀,我    真     

    

 shì lèi huài le.”    “ya, yāng miáo cháng gāo le yí dà jié,  qù

 是  累   坏  了。”“ 呀, 秧      苗       长      高  了一 大 截,   去             

 kàn kan qù!” dāng tā men pǎo dào tián li yí kàn, yāng miáo

 看    看   去！”  当  他   们    跑    到   田   里 一 看，   秧    苗   

yǐ jīng dōu gān kū sǐ le. chéng yǔ “ bá miáo zhù zhǎng ”

已  经    都   干   枯  死了。  成    语“   拔   苗     助     长”     

shì gào sù rén men wéi fǎn shì wù de fā zhǎn guī lǜ,  jí  yú

是   告   诉   人    们    违   反   事  物  的 发   展     规  律, 急 于

qiú chéng, fǎn ér huì wù le dà shì.

 求     成，   反  而  会  误  了 大  事。

English version---- Plucking Up A CropTo Help It Grow.

In the spring and autumn period, there was a farmer who lived during the Song Dynasty (sòng cháo, 960-1279 AD). He planted crops and measured the growth of the crops every day. He thought that his crops were growing much slower than he expected. “How could I make them grow faster? Well, I have an idea. Why shouldn’t I pull them up? This will make them taller.” So he physically pulled all of the crops up, and enjoyed his great idea. “I am the smartest man in this whole world.” Then he went home happily and told his wife and son at dinner time:”Great news. We will have a harvest soon. Because I helped our crops grow taller today. I worked a whole day. I am so tired.” “Oh, the crops grew taller than before, I need to check it out.” his son said. They went to the field only to discover that all of his crops were all dead. The idiom - “bá miáo zhù zhǎng (拔苗助长)”- tells us that if we do things against the nature law, we will destroy the very conditions upon which success depends.

[bá miáo zhù zhǎng]

  拔   苗    助     长 (拔: pull up; 苗: crops; 助: help; 长: grow)

means---try to help the crops grow by pulling them upward -- spoil things by excessive enthusiasm (descriptive of a person, impatient for success, so acts as to destroy the very conditions upon which success depends); pull up a crop in the mistaken hope of helping it to grow; pull up corn/crop by the roots in the hope of making it grow faster; pull up crops to help them grow.

For example:

To educate the young generation in such a way is just like making the crops grow by pulling them up.

yòng zhè zhóng fāng fá jiào yǜ xià yī dài wú yí yù bá miáo   

  用     这      种       方   法   教  育  下 一  代  无  异 于  拔   苗            

zhù zhǎng. 

  助  长。

That is all for today. We will talk about Western Halloween in China and Chinese Ghost Festival in our next class.

xiè  xiè 

谢    谢 (Thanks!)

xià   cì   jiàn 

 下   次  见! (See you next time!)