English Original
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a skilled archer. One day, while practicing on the drill ground, he drew a large crowd. His shots were so accurate that the onlookers cheered with excitement, and he became very proud of his skill. However, among the crowd, an old oil peddler only nodded indifferently, which hurt the archer's pride.
"Can you do this?" the archer asked the old man.
"No, I cannot," replied the peddler.
"What do you think of my skill, then?"
"It is just acceptable, nothing extraordinary. Your accuracy comes from persistent practice. That is all."
"What can you do, then?" the archer challenged.
The old man said nothing. He placed a gourd bottle on the ground and covered its mouth with a copper coin. Then, he scooped a ladle of oil from his large jar, held it high, and began to pour. A thin thread of oil flowed from the ladle directly through the hole in the coin and into the bottle. Everyone watched in amazement.
But the old man said, "This is nothing special. I can do it only because I have practiced it a great deal." With these words, he left.
Later, people used this story to illustrate the meaning of the phrase "Practice makes perfect."
中文翻译
北宋时期，有一位技艺高超的弓箭手。一天，他在练兵场练习时，吸引了一大群人围观。他的箭射得极其精准，引得观众兴奋地欢呼，他也因此对自己的技艺感到非常自豪。然而，人群中一位年老的卖油翁只是冷淡地点了点头，这伤害了弓箭手的自尊。
“你能做到这样吗？”弓箭手问老人。
“不，我不能。”卖油翁回答。
“那你觉得我的技艺如何？”
“尚可，但没什么特别的。你的精准来自坚持不懈的练习。仅此而已。”
“那你能做什么呢？”弓箭手挑衅道。
老人没有说话。他将一个葫芦瓶放在地上，用一枚铜钱盖住瓶口。然后，他从大油罐里舀出一长柄勺油，高高举起，开始倾倒。一道细如丝的油流从勺中落下，径直穿过铜钱方孔，流入瓶中。在场的每个人都惊讶地看着。
但老人说：“这没什么特别的。我能做到，只是因为我练习了很多次。”说完，他便离开了。
后来，人们用这个故事来阐释“熟能生巧”这个成语的含义。