Sword Practice at Cock-Crow
Explanation：
To get up and exercise sword skills at dawn shows iron-willed self-discipline. It is also an example of how to turn adversity into an advantage.
闻鸡起舞
解释：
凌晨听到鸡鸣就起来舞剑，形容有志者及时奋发的精神。
Story:
During the Western Jin Dynasty the young friends Zu Ti and Liu Kun were ambitious to serve their country, and so trained themselves diligently in the martial arts.
One dawn Zu Ti was suddenly woken by the crowing of the roosters. He wakened Liu Kun, saying, "Although this crowing is annoying, we can put it to good use by using it as a signal to get up and practice swordplay. "
"That’s a good idea! " Liu Kun agreed happily. Then the two went out to the yard and began to practice their sword skills.
From then on the two got up to exercise every day at dawn.
故事：
西晋时的祖逖，从小勤练武术，钻研兵法，立志要做一番大事业。
刘琨也是个有报负的年轻人，两人很快便成为好朋友。这天晚上，半夜过后，祖逖忽然被一阵鸡鸣声吵醒，他连忙把刘琨唤醒说：“这鸡鸣声把人吵醒，虽然很讨厌，但我们可以趁此机会早些起床练习武艺。”
“好啊！”刘琨欣然同意。于是两人来到院子里，专心地练起刀剑来。
从此，两人每到夜半，一听到鸡鸣，便起床练剑。
Later, their diligence paid off, when Zu Ti, already an accomplished soldier, wrote to the emperor requesting to be allowed to lead an army against the invading Huns.
当时，祖逖看到国家被匈奴军队攻陷了很多城池，非常着急，立刻上书皇帝，请求率兵北伐，收复失地。
The emperor was pleased, and appointed Zu Ti senior general. Thanks to their early self-discipline, Zu Ti and Liu Kun proved to be superb commanders, and succeeded in driving the Huns from Western Jin territory.
皇帝很高兴，封祖逖为“奋威将军”，带领军队北上。由于祖逖和刘琨作战英勇，不久便收复了很多北方的城池。
