Chinese Idiom：牛角挂书 (niú jiǎo guà shū)

In ancient times, there lived a boy named Li Mi, who loved to read. He never wasted a single minute, but spent all of his spare time every day reading.

One day, Li Mi had to go to a faraway place to take care of some business. Not wanting to waste any time on the way there, he took all of the books that he wanted to read and hung them on one of the horns of his ox. He then climbed up onto his ox's back, and with a book in one hand and the reins in the other, began his journey.

On the way, Li Mi was spotted by Yang Su, a very well-known scholar of the time. Not wishing to interrupt Li Mi while he was so absorbed in his reading, Yang Su instead followed behind the ox, waiting until Li Mi looked up to get a new book. Yang Su then rode up to Li Mi and greeted him, praising him highly for his attitude towards reading.

Today, we can say that a person who is son diligent in his studies that he finds a way to make use of every minute is "Hanging Books On The Ox's Horn."

 

古时候，有一个人名叫李密，非常喜欢读书。每天从早到晚从来不浪费一分钟，所有的时间都在看书。

有一次，要到远地方去办事，他担心在路上躭误时间太多。出门前想了一个可以一面赶路一面读书的好办法。自己用草编了个鞍子放在牛背上，把要看的书挂在牛角 上。就这样他可以舒服地骑在牛背上，一手拿著书，一手牵着缰绳，一边赶路一边看书。在路上刚好遇到个很有地位的人─杨素。他看到李密专心读书的样子，不想 打搅，就跟在李密后面，一直等到李密转头想换一本书时，才上前打招呼，还连连夸奖李密专心读书的态度。

今天我们可用“牛角挂书”来形容一个人找到方法来用尽他的每分每秒学习。

牛角挂书 (niú jiǎo guà shū)
【翻译】To Hang Books On The Ox's Horn.
【释义】比喻读书勤奋。
【例句】小明学习非常勤奋，牛角挂书，终于在高考中取得了令人羡慕的成绩。
【近义词】韦编三绝、凿壁偷光、悬梁刺股
【反义词】不学无术、一曝十寒