Perseverance Prevails
This is a legend about Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty. As a child, Li Bai was mischievous and disliked studying. One day, while playing by a river, he saw an old woman grinding an iron rod on a large stone. Driven by curiosity, he approached and asked, "What are you doing, Granny?"
"I am grinding this iron rod," replied the old woman without stopping.
"What for?" he asked again.
"To make a sewing needle," she answered.
"What?!" exclaimed young Li Bai, puzzled. "You want to grind such a thick rod into a needle? It will take many years!"
"That does not matter," she said. "As long as I persevere, nothing in the world is impossible. I can certainly make a needle from this rod."
Deeply moved by her words, Li Bai began to apply himself diligently to his studies. He eventually became one of China's greatest poets.