A frog in the well

A frog lived in a disused well. One day, he bragged to a big turtle from the Eastern Sea. He said, "How free and happy I am living here ! When I fee like it, I would leap about by the side of the railing of the well. When I return to the well, I would rest in a hole in the brick wall of the well. Sometimes, I would jump into the water which is just deep enough to hold me up at the armpit with my chin just above the water. When I jump about on the mud, my feet would sink into it until they are just submerged in the soft mud. When I turn around to look at the red worms, the little crabs and the tadpoles, I find that they are not as lucky as I am. I am the sole owner of this pool of water and the well. How satisfying ! Why don't you come in and have a look ?"

Having heard what the frog had just said, the turtle could not help feeling tempted to go in and have a look. When he had put his right foot in before thrusting his left foot forward, his knee was obstructed by the railing of the well, The turtle at once took a few steps back and stood still. He then told the frog about the Eastern Sea. He said, "I am not trying to frighten you. The Sea is so vast that even a distance of a thousand miles is not enough to describe it; it is so deep that even a height of ten thousand feet will fail to give you an idea of its depth. During the reign of Yu of the Xia Dynasty, the water level of the sea did not rise very much in spite of serious floods in nine out of the ten years. In the days of Tang during the Shang Dynasty, the water level of the sea hardly dropped in spite of droughts in seven out of eight years. From these facts, it can be seen that no length of time nor any amount of rain can change the capacity of the sea. It is a real pleasure indeed to live in the Eastern Sea."

With his mouth wide open and eyes popping out in great surprise, the frog in the shallow well was over-awed by the vastness of the sea as described by the turtle. He felt very small indeed.

This story was told in the book Zhuang Zi written during the era of the Warring States. The saying, "A frog in the well" is now used to describe a person for his shallowness and superficiality in knowledge and outlook.

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