鐵杵磨針

When Li Bai was just a little boy, he didn't like to study, and often skipped school to roam around the streets.

One day, while Li Bai was roaming on the streets, he passed by a broken hut, and saw a gray-haired old lady was grinding an iron pestle. Curiously, Li Bai questioned her what she was doing. The old lady looked up and replied, "I want to grind this iron pestle into a needle." she then looked down and continued with her work.

"A needle?" Li Bai asked: "Are you making a sewing needle?"

"Of course!" the old lady replied.

"But, but the rod is so thick, when will it be grounded into a thin needle?"

Instead the old lady questioned Li Bai back, "If dripping water can wear away a stone, and the Foolish Old Man can move mountains, why can't I grind this pestle into a needle?"

"But, with your age?" Li Bai asked.

The old lady replied, "As long as I put a lot more effort than the others, nothing I can't accomplish."

The old lady's remarks made Li Bai feel very ashamed of himself.

Ever since that day, Li Bai never skip another day of school, and put a great effort into his studying, and he soon became one of the very famous poets of the Tang Dynasty.


[Interpretation]

Whatever you do, as long as your have perseverance, you will be successful, and the effort will pay off.
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