《磨杵（chǔ）成针》成语英译与典故

四十二、磨杵（chǔ）成针

唐朝有位诗人叫李白，

年少时贪玩读书不认真。

一天李白逃学到野外，

路见一位婆婆在磨针。

那婆婆手持一根大铁棍，

蘸溪水大青石上磨得紧。

小李白见此情景心纳闷，

问婆婆哪年才能磨成针？

李白话儿未落音，

老太太答话笑吟吟：

“天下无难事，

只怕有心人。

莫看这根铁棒粗，

磨去一分少一分。”

说完婆婆无踪影，

李白才知遇仙人。

从那后李白记住仙人话，

上学读书最用心。

后来成为大诗人，

故事流传到如今。

Grind an Iron Rod Into a Needle

In the Tang Dynasty（618—907A.D.）there was a poet named Li Bai.In his childhood he was naughty and didn't work hard on his studies.One day he played hookey out on a road and saw a granny grind⁃ing an iron rod into a needle.The old woman was holding a thick iron rod，dipped it in the water and ground it on a huge stone.

Li Bai was quite puzzled at the very sight，and asked how long would it take her to grind it into a needle.Without waiting for Li Bai's words to trail a⁃way，the granny replied with a smile：“There's noth⁃ing too hard in the world，if you put your heart into it.Although the iron rod is a bit too thick，yet as long as you grind it，it will get less and less.”

With these words the old woman disappeared，and Li Bai then knew he had met a fairy.From that day on Li Bai kept in mind the granny's words，and worked on his studies whole⁃heartedly.Later he be⁃came a great poet，and the story is passed down to the present.