Page 82 - 高职英语口语大赛辅导及教学创新

Tutoring and Teaching Innovation for Vocational English Speaking Competition
高职英语口语大赛辅导及教学创新

same as they had the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that too.
He decided to stop at his closest neighbor’s house. As they drank tea, the farmer asked
the question that had been bothering him. “By the way, how is your rice growing?”

he asked. “I am worried about mine. It seems to have stopped growing!”“Oh, my
rice is growing green and healthy!” replied the neighbor. “I am very happy with the
progress. Nature will provide.”This conversation did not put the farmer’s mind at ease.
He quickly returned to his fields to check on his rice. It looked like it still hadn’t grown.
Not even a millimeter! He started to panic. He looked again. Was the rice even shorter

than yesterday? Perhaps there was something wrong with his rice!“What if my crop
never grows?” he thought aloud. He began pacing back and forth on the side of the
rice field. “I must find a way to help my shoots grow faster.”When he got home that

night, he told his son about the fields. “The rice does not seem to be growing,” the
farmer complained. “What should I do to help it grow?”“Dad,” replied the son,
“I think you need to wait. The rice is growing, you just don’t notice it! Have patience.
We will harvest the rice in the late summer.”Not satisfied with this answer, the
farmer said, “I don’t think so, Son. I think the rice really does need my help. I must

do something!”The next morning, the farmer awakened with an idea. “This is so
smart!”he congratulated himself. He rushed out to the rice fields. He went from shoot
to shoot, pulling them each a few inches upward.He finally finished as the sun was

setting. He was tired from the full day of work. But he was happy that he had finished
his plan. As he entered the house, he said, “Son, I did so much today! I worked very
hard and am tired. But it is worth the pain to help our rice shoots grow faster.”“What
did you do?” asked the son. He didn’t wait for an answer.He immediately ran out to
the fields. He feared his father had done something foolish. There, he found all the rice

had withered and died. He was devastated. All their hard work had gone to waste, and
there was no crop left to be saved.By telling this story, the wise man Mengzi wanted
people to understand that they should respect the laws of nature. Because the farmer

was impatient, he tried to change nature’s natural pace. But instead of helping the rice,
he accidentally destroyed it. Even though the rice grew slowly, he should have waited.
With patience, his rice would have grown eventually, and he would have enjoyed a

74