Pulling Up the Seedlings
A farmer in Song wants his seedlings to grow faster, so he pulls them taller by hand, only to learn that hurry without the right method can ruin what is slowly growing.
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Chinese Classics
Stories retold from classical Chinese texts and idiom tales in the public domain, such as the Mencius.
Waiting by the Stump for a Hare
A farmer in Song finds a hare that runs into an old tree stump and dies, and hopes the same luck will happen again — until his field turns to weeds and the whole village laughs.
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Mending the Sheepfold
A shepherd's sheepfold fence breaks open, and a wolf carries off a sheep in the night; only after losing a second sheep does he finally mend the gap, and his flock is never troubled again.
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Marking the Boat to Find the Sword
A man from Chu drops his sword into a river while crossing by boat, but only carves a mark on the boat's side to remember the spot — and discovers, too late, that the boat has drifted far while the sword never moved at all.
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