give up halfway
    During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), there was a man called Yue Yangzi in State Wei.
    Yue Yangzi felt that he should go out and visit scholars to enrich his knowledge. So heset off.
    A year later, he came back home suddenly. "Why have you returned?" asked his wife insurprise, "You've only spent one year studying with scholars."
    "I come back because I missed you very much."
    Without saying anything, his wife took a pair of scissors and went to the loom at which she had worked.
    Pointing at the half done brocade, she proclaimed : "This brocade is woven from the finest silk.I wove one strand after another to produce the brocade. Now if I cut it, all myprevious work will be wasted. It's the same with your studies. You can acquire knowledge only through diligence. Now, you've given up halfway. Isn't it the same as cutting the brocade on the loom?"
    Yue Yangzi was moved by what she said. He again left home to visit scholars. Several years later he became a knowledgable man.
    半途而廢
    戰(zhàn)國時(shí)期，魏國有個(gè)叫樂羊子的人。
    樂羊子離開家到了一個(gè)很遠(yuǎn)的地方，去拜師求學(xué)。
    一年后，樂羊子突然回到家中，他的妻子很驚訝地問：“你怎么回來了？你才和那些學(xué)者學(xué)了一年呀。”
    樂羊子說：“我太想你了，所以回來看看?！?BR>    他的妻子聽了以后，二話不說，拿起把剪刀走到她的織布機(jī)前。
    她指著那塊已經(jīng)完成了一半的錦緞?wù)f：“這塊錦緞?dòng)玫氖堑慕z。我一絲絲的累積來織成這錦緞。如果我現(xiàn)在把它剪斷，就等于前功盡棄。你求學(xué)也是這樣。如果現(xiàn)在停止，和剪斷織布機(jī)上的錦緞?dòng)惺裁磪^(qū)別？”
    樂羊子被妻子的話所感動(dòng)，于是立刻離開家，繼續(xù)拜師求學(xué)。幾年后，樂羊子終于完成學(xué)業(yè)，成為一個(gè)博學(xué)的人。