一个小男孩把手伸进装满棒子的瓶中，用尽全力去抓了一大把。但当他想要缩回手时，却发现根本出不来，因为相对于他那抓满棒子的手来说，瓶口太小了。他既不想放弃手中的一部分棒子，又不能拿出手来，于是大哭起来。一个旁观者看出了他的麻烦，便对他说：“孩子，不要太贪婪，只要少拿一半，你的手就能很容易地出来了。”
【男孩和榛子的故事寓意】
男孩和榛子的寓言故事告诉我们：不要总想一口吃成个大胖子。舍不得放下就不会得到你想要的，可是我们往往会和那个小男孩一样，因为不舍得放下摆在眼前的利益，从而一无所获，反而失去一些东西。
【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.