The Frog in the Well
"The Frog at the Bottom of the Well" comes from the "Autumn Floods" chapter of Zhuangzi, an ancient Chinese book of philosophy written over two thousand years ago. It tells of a frog in a well chatting with a giant turtle from the Eastern Sea — the frog thought the well was the whole world, which was quite funny. This idiom teaches us to look further and keep an open mind, and never be a frog at the bottom of a well.
Deep down in a well, there lived a little frog.
Every day the frog hopped around the well, catching bugs to eat. He was very happy.
“This well is my whole world!” thought the frog proudly. “How cozy!”
One day, a big turtle passed by the well and peeked inside.
The frog called out happily, “Mr. Turtle, come down and see how happy I am!”
“I can touch the well wall with one jump. When I swim, the water just reaches my tummy. How free I am!”
The turtle wanted to climb into the well, but the opening was too small. His legs could not fit in.
The turtle said, “Frog, have you seen the sea? The sea is so wide you cannot see its edge.”
“The sea is too deep to measure. It has not changed for thousands of years. No flood can shake it.”
The frog was stunned. The sky was bigger than just the well opening.
