Date Collected: 5/17/14
Genre: Proverb
Informant Data: Samuel was born in Canada and moved to Hong Kong in elementary school. He then grew up there until college, where he attended Dartmouth. Samuel is a native speaker of Chinese, and learned of this proverb from reciting an "insane" number of proverbs when he was in school. However, he only remembers this proverb well. Sam's parents are both from Hong Kong. This proverb was collected in an interview when Samuel visited campus over Green Key weekend.
Text/Texture
Chinese: 拔苗助长 (Bá miáo zhù zhǎng)
Literal Translation: Pulled seedling, help grow
Literal Translation: Pulled seedling, help grow
Free Translation: Pull on the seedling, and it grows
Meaning/Interpretation: In ancient times, a farmer who raised rice crops wanted his crop to grow faster, so he pulled on the plant. The plant raised out of the ground as a consequence, to the farmer’s delight—however, the plant actually died. Thus, the lesson is to let things happen naturally and not force them to happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment