Once upon a time, in China, there was a very famous poet named Li Bai. When he was a child, he was a very intelligent boy, but he was also very playful and didn't like to study earnestly.
One day, as usual, Li Bai sneaked out of the school again. He ran to a small stream to play and saw an old woman by the stream. The old woman was holding a very thick iron pestle and grinding it hard on a big stone.
Li Bai was very curious. He didn't understand why the old woman was grinding such a thick iron pestle. So he walked up to her and asked politely, "Granny, what are you doing? This iron pestle is so thick. What are you going to grind it into?" The old woman looked up at Li Bai, then smiled and replied, "I'm going to grind this iron pestle into a needle."
Li Bai was very surprised after hearing this. He widened his eyes and said, "Granny, this iron pestle is so thick. When can it be ground into a needle? This is almost an impossible thing." The old woman stopped what she was doing and said seriously to Li Bai, "Child, as long as I have enough patience and keep grinding, one day the iron pestle will be ground into a needle."
Li Bai was deeply touched by the old woman's words. He began to reflect on himself. He was always impatient in his study and wanted to give up whenever he encountered a little difficulty. However, the old woman could persevere in such a difficult task. Why couldn't he study hard? Since then, Li Bai was like a different person. He was no longer playful and studied hard every day. Whether it was in the cold winter or the hot summer, he never stopped studying.
After years of hard work, Li Bai finally became a very great poet. He wrote a great many beautiful poems which have been passed down to this day. And his success was largely due to the inspiration he got from the old woman's story of grinding an iron pestle into a needle. He understood that as long as one has perseverance and keeps on going, there is nothing that cannot be achieved.