This idiom means that persistent effort can achieve anything.
Sòngcháo shí yǒu gè xiànlìng jiào Zhāng Guāiyá
宋朝Sòngcháo🔊时shí🔊，有个yǒu gè🔊县令xiànlìng🔊叫jiào🔊张乖崖Zhāng Guāiyá🔊。
Yì tiān tā kànjiàn yí gè xiǎolì cóng qiánkù lǐ tōu le yì wén qián
一天Yì tiān🔊，他tā🔊看见kànjiàn🔊一个小吏yí gè xiǎolì🔊从cóng🔊钱库qiánkù🔊里lǐ🔊偷了tōu le🔊一文钱yì wén qián🔊。
Xiǎolì shuō yì wén qián suàn shénme
小吏Xiǎolì🔊说shuō🔊：一文钱yì wén qián🔊算什么suàn shénme🔊？
Zhāng Guāiyá shuō yī rì yī qián qiān rì qiān qián shéng jù mù duàn dī shuǐ chuān shí
张乖崖Zhāng Guāiyá🔊说shuō🔊：一日一钱yī rì yī qián🔊，千日千钱qiān rì qiān qián🔊，绳锯木断shéng jù mù duàn🔊，滴水穿石dī shuǐ chuān shí🔊。
English Translation:
In the Song Dynasty, there was a county magistrate named Zhang Guaiya. One day, he saw a minor clerk steal one copper coin from the treasury. The clerk said: "What does one coin matter?" Zhang Guaiya said: "One coin a day, a thousand coins in a thousand days. A rope can saw through wood, dripping water can wear through stone."