陳康肅公堯咨善射，當(dāng)世無雙，公亦以此自矜。嘗射于家圃，有賣油翁釋擔(dān)而立，睨之，久而不去。見其發(fā)矢十中八九，但微頷之。

　　康肅問曰：“汝亦知射乎?吾射不亦精乎?”翁曰：“無他，但手熟爾。”康肅忿然曰：“爾安敢輕吾射!”翁曰：“以我酌油知之。”乃取一葫蘆置于地，以錢覆其口，徐以杓酌油瀝之，自錢孔入，而錢不濕。因曰：“我亦無他，惟手熟爾。”康肅笑而遣之。

　　During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a skilled archer. One day he drew a big crowd while he was practicing on the drill ground. He shot so accurately that the on-lookers cheered with excitement. He became very proud of his skill. But among the crowd an old oil peddler only nodded his head indifferently. This hurt his Pride.

　　Can you do this? he asked the old oil peddler.

　　No, I can't.

　　What do you think of my skill?

　　Just OK, but nothing special. You've gained your accuracy from persistent practice. That's all.

　　What can you do, then?

　　The old man said nothing. He put a gourd bottle on the ground and covered its mouth with a copper coin. He then scooped out a ladle of oil from his big jar, held it high and began to fill the bottle.

　　Now, a thread of oil came down from the ladle into the bottle just through the hole of the coin. Everybody looking on watched with amazement. But the old man said, This is nothing special, I can do this because I have practiced it a lot. And with these words, he left.

　　Later, people use this phrase to mean Practice makes perfect .