古代寓言原是民间口头创作，文学体裁的一种。含有讽喻或明显教训意义的故事。它的结构简短。主人公可以是人，可以是动物，也可以是无生物。多借用比喻手法，使富有教训意义的主题或深刻的道理在简单的故事中体现，而还需要自己去理解，思考，这就是和西方寓言的不同之处。

《古代寓言·铁杵磨针》

李白少读书，未成，弃去。道逢老妪磨杵，白问其故。曰：“欲作针。”白感其言。遂卒业。

——《潜确类书》

Grinding an Iron Pestle into a Needle

A schoolboy was playing truant in the street when he saw an old woman grinding an iron pestle on a stone.

Being curious, he asked her what she was doing.

"I am going to grind it into a needle to sew cloth with," answered the old woman.

The child laughed. "But this is much a big pestle, how can you hope to grind it down to a needle?"

"It doesn't matter," replied the old woman. "Today I grind it, tomorrow I'll grind it again, and the day after tomorrow again. The pestle will get smaller every day, and one day it will be a needle."

The child saw the point and went to school.

Qian Que Lei Shu

（杨宪益、戴乃迭 译）

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