There once was an impatient farmer who lived during the Song Dynasty (sòng cháo 宋国,960-1279 AD). Everyday the anxious farmer would measure the growth of the crops. To his dismay, his crops were growing much slower than he expected.The farmer racked his brains trying to find better ways of planting in order to get quicker results. One day he finally came up with a solution. He started to physically pull the crops out of the ground, thus making them taller. The farmer worked very hard and at day’s end was physically exhausted but mentally happy as his plan had produced the desired results.When the farmer went home, he told his son of his “brilliant” method. His son went to the field only to discover that all of his crops were all dead.

春秋时代，宋国有个急性子的农夫。庄稼长出禾苗以后，他每天都去观看。令他沮丧的是，禾苗长得太慢。农夫绞尽脑汁想让禾苗长快些。一天他终于想出方法。他跑到田里，把禾苗一颗颗往上拔，使它们长高。农夫虽然很累但他很高兴看到禾苗长高。当农夫回家时，把这个好办法告诉了他儿子。他的儿子赶忙跑到田里去看，禾苗全都枯萎了。

拔苗助长 ( bá miáo zhù zhǎng )
【翻译】 Try to help the shoots grow by pulling them upward.
【释义】 把苗拔起，以助其生长。后用来比喻违反事物的发展规律，急于求成，反而坏事。
【例句】 家长教育孩子需要耐心，要循序渐进，不能拔苗助长。
【近义词】 欲速不达、急功近利
【反义词】 循序渐进、水到渠成