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English Translation

lit.: Dripping water wears through the rock
fig.: Persistent effort overcomes any difficulty.

Breaking it down

1. 水: Water
2. 滴: Drop
3. 石: Stone
4. 穿: Travel, journey

Source: Google Image Search

Story in Chinese

宋朝时，有个叫张乖崖的人，在崇阳县担任县令。当时，崇阳社会风气很差，盗窃成风，甚至县衙的钱库也经常发生钱、物失窃的事件。张乖崖决心要抓住一个机会，好好杀一杀这股歪风。有一天，他终于找到了一个机会。这天，他在衙门周围巡行，忽然看到一个管理县衙钱库的小吏，慌慌张张地从钱库中走出来。张乖崖急忙把库吏喊住，问：“喂！你这么慌慌张张干什么？”
“没什么。”那库吏回答道。
张乖崖联想到钱库经常失窃，判断库吏可能监守自盗，便让随从对库吏进行搜查。结果，在库吏的头巾里搜到一枚铜钱。张乖崖把库吏押回大堂审讯，问他一共从钱库偷了多少钱。库吏不承认另外偷过钱，张乖崖便下令拷打。
库吏不服，怒冲冲地乱叫：“偷了一枚铜钱有什么了不起，你竟然这样拷打我？你也只能打我罢了，难道你还能杀我？”
张乖崖看到库吏竟敢这样顶撞自己，也不由十分震怒，他毫不犹豫地拿起朱笔，宣判说： “一日一钱，千日千钱，绳锯木断，水滴石穿。”
判决完毕，张乖崖吩咐衙役把库吏押向刑场，斩首示众。
这个判决起到了很强的震慑作用。从此以后，崇阳县的偷盗风被刹住，社会风气也大大地好转了

Source: baike.baidu.com

Story in English

During the Song Dynasty, a magistrate named Zhang Guiya was serving Chongyang County as magistrate. Theft was common in Chongyang, and even the county government's treasury was often stolen. Zhang Guiya was determined to seize an opportunity and eliminate this behaviour. One day, he found such an opportunity. Whilst he was patrolling through the government office, he saw a small official - who managed the county government's treasury - walking out of the treasur in a hurry. Zhang Guiya rushed to stop the clerk and asked: "Hey, What are you doing in such a hurry?"
"Nothing!", the clerk replied.
Zhang Guiya thought of the frequent theft of the treasury, and concluded that it might be stolen by the very people who were supposed to guard it. His men found a copper coin in the headscarf of the clerk. When Zhang escorted the clerk for interrogation and asking him how much money he had stolen from the treasury, the clerk did not admit that he had solen money. Thus, Zhang ordered to torture him.
The clerk protested heavily and shouted "What's so great about stealing one coin, to torture me like this?! You can only beat me, but you cannot kill me can you?"
Zhang got very angry when he heard this, picked up his writing brush and wrote the sentence: "One day, one coin, a thousand days, a thousand coins. A rope can cut through a log, water can wear through a rock"
After the verdict was over, Zhang ordered servants to take the clerk to the execution ground, where he was beheaded. This verdict showed great effect and thefts in Chongyang county eventually stopped.

Translation by Celine Li

Usage

别看我们现在很不强大，只要我们坚持努力，总会水滴石穿，取得成功。