There was a man in the State of Song who had an impatient disposition. Day and night he longed for the seedlings in the field to grow tall and strong quickly. But the seedlings grew very slowly,not as quickly as he hoped.

　　宋国有个人，是个急性子。他日日夜夜盼望田里的秧苗快快长高长大。可是，秧苗长得很慢，没有像他所希望的那样长得快。

　　One day, he hit upon a good idea. He sneaked to the field andpulled each seedling up a little bit from the soil. Seeing that all these edlings in the field were taller than before, he felt very pleased with himself.

　　有一天，他想出了一个好办法。他自己睁哨地跑到田里，把每一棵秧苗都从泥土里往上拔高了一些。看到田里的秧苗都比原来高了，他心里感到乐滋滋的。

　　He went home. Though all worn out, he told the members of his family happily:

　　回到家里，他虽然筋疲力尽，但是非常高兴地告诉家人说:

　　"I worked for a whole day today. How tired I am! But the seedlings in the field have grown a lot taller."

　　“今天，我干了一整天，好累啊!不过，田里的秧苗倒是长高好多了。”

　　When his son heard that the seedlings had grown taller, he hurried to the field to take a look. Oh, what a mess!Instead of growing taller, the seedlings had all started to wither.

　　他的儿子听说秧苗长高了，连忙跑到田里去看。一看，可糟啦!不是秧苗长高了，而是秧苗都开始枯萎了。

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（实习编辑：高奕飞）