Spoiling the Half-Finished Cloth
Explanation：
Lacking the stamina to finish what one has embarked upon.
Story:
In the Eastern Han Dynasty there lived a man of weak will power, named Yue Yangzi. Fortunately he had a kind, clever wife who instilled ambition into him.
One day Yue Yangzi came upon an ingot of gold by the roadside. He picked it up and took it home. To his surprise his wife was far from pleased, admonishing him："This lump of gold belongs to somebody else .Take it back to where you found it at once. We should enrich ourselves only through our own hard work. "
Later a friend advised Yue Yangzi to attend a school some distance from his home .His wife agreed happily, and so Yue Yangzi went away to school.
半途而废
解释：
比喻没有毅力或缺乏条件把事情做完。
故事：
东汉时，有个名叫乐羊子的人，没有远大志向。他有一个贤慧聪明的妻子，经常勉励他上进。
有一天，乐羊子拾到一块黄金，他欢喜地拿给妻子看。妻子非常生气地说：“这块金子是别人掉在路上的，我们应该靠劳动挣钱啊！”乐羊子连忙拿起黄金，跑回原处，等待失主前来认领。有一位朋友劝乐羊子应该去求学。乐羊子回家跟妻子商议，妻子很高兴，鼓励他前去。
But before a year had passed he felt homesick, and asked his teacher for leave to return home for a visit. Seeing her husband return before he had finished his studies, Yue Yang’s wife was disappointed. She then took up a pair of scissors and cut the piece of cloth she had been working on in two. When the astonished Yue Yangzi asked her why she had done so, his wife answered, "You are just like this piece of cloth. By giving up your studies before you have reached the end of the course you have wasted your efforts. "
乐羊子在外面读了一年书，总是想家，于是向老师请了假回家探望。当妻子得知乐羊子并没完成学业时，非常伤心，拿起剪刀，把自己辛辛苦苦织的布剪成两截。乐羊子大惊，问妻子这是为什么？妻子说：“你求学应该是靠日积月累、刻苦钻研才能学成，现在你中途回来，不是和这块布一样半途而废了吗？”
Yue Yangzi was greatly moved and chagrined by his wife’s words, so he immediately went back to his studies and did not return home until seven years had passed, by which time he had become an accomplished scholar.
乐羊子听了，深深受到感动，明白了妻子的苦心。从此，他发愤求学，整整过了七年，直到学业完成，才回家探望妻子。
