全文 The whole story, with pinyin and English
从前，有一个农夫在田里种了一大片禾苗，他每天都盼着禾苗快点长大。
cóng qián yǒu yí gè nóng fū zài tián li zhòng le yí dà piàn hé miáo tā měi tiān dōu pàn zhe hé miáo kuài diǎn zhǎng dà
Long ago, a farmer planted a big field of rice seedlings, and every day he longed for them to grow up quickly.
可是，他天天到田边去看，总觉得禾苗一点也没有长高。
kě shì tā tiān tiān dào tián biān qù kàn zǒng jué de hé miáo yì diǎn yě méi yǒu zhǎng gāo
But every day he went to look at the field, and he always felt the seedlings hadn't grown any taller at all.
他急得像热锅上的蚂蚁，心想：有什么办法能让禾苗长得快一点呢？
tā jí de xiàng rè guō shang de mǎ yǐ xīn xiǎng yǒu shén me bàn fǎ néng ràng hé miáo zhǎng de kuài yì diǎn ne
He was as restless as an ant on a hot pan, thinking: how can I make the seedlings grow faster?
他终于想到一个“好办法”，就跳进田里，把禾苗一棵一棵地往上拔高了一点。
tā zhōng yú xiǎng dào yí gè hǎo bàn fǎ jiù tiào jìn tián li bǎ hé miáo yì kē yì kē de wǎng shàng bá gāo le yì diǎn
At last he thought of a “good idea”: he jumped into the field and pulled the seedlings up a little, one by one.
他从早忙到晚，累得满头大汗，回到家还得意地说：“今天禾苗长高了不少！”
tā cóng zǎo máng dào wǎn lèi de mǎn tóu dà hàn huí dào jiā hái dé yì de shuō jīn tiān hé miáo zhǎng gāo le bù shǎo
He was busy from morning till night and dripping with sweat. When he got home, he said proudly, “The seedlings grew a lot taller today!”
他的儿子听了，觉得很奇怪，第二天一早就跑到田里去看。
tā de ér zi tīng le jué de hěn qí guài dì èr tiān yì zǎo jiù pǎo dào tián li qù kàn
When his son heard this, he thought it was strange, and early the next morning he ran to the field to look.
只见禾苗全都垂下了头，叶子也枯黄了，原来它们的根被拔松了，喝不到水。
zhǐ jiàn hé miáo quán dōu chuí xià le tóu yè zi yě kū huáng le yuán lái tā men de gēn bèi bá sōng le hē bu dào shuǐ
He saw that all the seedlings had drooped and their leaves had turned yellow. Their roots had been pulled loose, so they couldn't get any water.
后来，人们用“拔苗助长”来比喻做事太心急，不顺着规律，反而会把事情弄糟。
hòu lái rén men yòng bá miáo zhù zhǎng lái bǐ yù zuò shì tài xīn jí bú shùn zhe guī lǜ fǎn ér huì bǎ shì qing nòng zāo
Later, people used “pulling up seedlings to help them grow” to describe being too impatient and not following how things naturally grow, which only makes things worse.