Li Bai, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, did not like studying when he was young and often skipped school to wander the streets.
唐朝著名大诗人李白小时候不喜欢念书，常常逃学，到街上去闲逛。
One day, as Li Bai was wandering around, he found himself outside the city.
一天，李白又没有去上学，在街上东溜溜、西看看，不知不觉到了城外。
He was captivated by the warm sunshine, cheerful birds, and the flowers swaying in the wind, and thought to himself, “What a wonderful day; it would be so dull to stay indoors all day reading.”
暖和的阳光、欢快的小鸟、随风摇摆的花草使李白感叹不已，“这么好的天气，如果整天在屋里读书多没意思？”
As he walked, he came across an old woman with white hair sitting in front of a dilapidated cottage, grinding an iron pestle as thick as a pole.
走着走着，在一个破茅屋门口，坐着一个满头白发的老婆婆，正在磨一根棍子般粗的铁杵。
Li Bai approached her and asked, “Grandma, what are you doing?”
李白走过去，“老婆婆，您在做什么？”
“I’m grinding this iron pestle to make it into a sewing needle,” the old woman replied, looking up and smiling at Li Bai before returning to her task.
“我要把这根铁杵磨成一个绣花针。”老婆婆抬起头，对李白笑了笑，接着又低下头继续磨着。
“A sewing needle?” Li Bai asked again, “You mean a needle for sewing clothes?”
“绣花针？”李白又问：“是缝衣服用的绣花针吗？”
“Of course!”
“当然！”
“But this iron pestle is so thick; how could it ever become a delicate needle?”
“可是，铁杵这么粗，什么时候能磨成细细的绣花针呢？”
The old woman replied, “Just as dripping water can wear through stone and the Foolish Old Man can move mountains, why can’t this iron pestle be ground into a sewing needle?”
老婆婆反问李白：“滴水可以穿石，愚公可以移山，铁杵为什么不能磨成绣花针呢？”
“But you are already so old,” Li Bai remarked.
“可是，您的年纪这么大了？”
“As long as I put in more effort than others, there’s nothing I can’t achieve.”
“只要我下的功夫比别人深，没有做不到的事情。”
The old woman’s words made Li Bai feel deeply ashamed, and from then on, he never skipped school again.
老婆婆的一番话，令李白很惭愧，于是回去之后，再没有逃过学。
He devoted himself to his studies every day and eventually became a renowned poet known throughout the ages.
每天的学习也特别用功，终于成了名垂千古的诗仙。
The Chinese idiom "铁杵磨针" (tiě chǔ mó zhēn) literally means "grinding an iron pestle into a needle" and is used to metaphorically indicate that with determination and persistent effort, even the most difficult tasks can be accomplished. It originates from the Southern Song Dynasty work "Fāng Yú Shèng Lǎn" by Zhu Mu.
铁杵磨针，汉语成语，拼音是tiě chǔ mó zhēn ，比喻只要有决心，肯下工夫，多么难的事情也能做成功。出自南宋祝穆的《方舆胜览》 。
原文：磨针溪，在象耳山下。世传李太白读书山中，未成，弃去。过是溪，逢老媪方磨铁杵，问之，曰：“欲作针。”太白感其意，还卒业。
