一個小男孩把手伸進裝滿棒子的瓶中，用盡全力去抓了一大把。但當他想要縮回手時，卻發現根本出不來，因為相對於他那抓滿棒子的'手來說，瓶口太小了。他既不想放棄手中的一部分棒子，又不能拿出手來，於是大哭起來。一個旁觀者看出了他的麻煩，便對他說：“孩子，不要太貪婪，只要少拿一半，你的手就能很容易地出來了。”
男孩和榛子的寓言故事告訴我們：不要總想一口吃成個大胖子。捨不得放下就不會得到你想要的，可是我們往往會和那個小男孩一樣，因為不捨得放下襬在眼前的利益，從而一無所獲，反而失去一些東西。
【男孩和榛子的故事英文版】
THE BOY AND THE FILBERTS
A Boy put his hand into a jar of Filberts，and grasped as many as his fist could possibly hold But when he tried to pull it out again，he found he couldn’t do so，for the neck ofthe Jar was too small to allow of the passage of so large a handful Unwilling to lose his nuts but unable to withdraw his hand，he burst into tears A bystander,who saw where the trouble lay，said to him，“Come，my boy，don’t be so greedy：be content with half the amount，and you’ll be able to get your hand out without difficulty.”
Do not attempt too much at once.
