Once upon a time, there was a man in the Song State. He was always worried that the seedlings in his field grew too slowly. Every day, he would go to the field to check on the seedlings. Looking at those short and small seedlings, he was extremely anxious in his heart.
One day, he suddenly came up with an idea. He thought, "If I pull the seedlings upward a little, won't they grow taller?" So, he started to pull each seedling up a bit. He was busy from morning until the sun went down, and finally, he had pulled all the seedlings in the whole field. He was so tired that his back and waist ached, but looking at the seedlings that seemed to have grown taller, he was very happy in his heart.
When he returned home, he excitedly said to his family, "I'm so exhausted today, but I've done a great thing. I've made the seedlings in our field grow a lot taller!" His family was very puzzled and didn't know what he had actually done.
The family ran to the field and found that those pulled - up seedlings had all withered. Because the roots of the seedlings had been pulled out and left the soil, they could no longer absorb nutrients and water, so they couldn't survive. The family was very sad, and the man in the Song State also regretted it very much. He realized that he was too eager for quick results and, instead, had killed all the seedlings.
This story tells us that everything in the world has its own growth rules. We cannot violate these rules and be eager for quick success, otherwise, it will only be counterproductive.
