 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
> The Frog in the Well
By sedron | November 10, 2007
One day, lumbering up from the ocean, a tortoise passed by a well. Curious at the music coming from the well, the tortoise took a look and saw a frog in the well.
Tortoise: “Do you live in this well?”
Frog: “Yep. I live like a king here! When I leap into the water, it supports my weight and keeps me afloat. When I dive below the surface, I relax and let the mud massage my legs. And, in the evening, if I don’t want to stay in the well, I jump up and stretch out in a chink in the side of the well, where I sleep and dream curious dreams. In the morning, I jump down and play all around the well. I’m happy like this every day. I see crabs and tadpoles in the well, too, but I don’t think they’re as happy as I am. Well, come on in and take a look.”
Tortoise: “I can’t fit. Your well is too small.”
Frog: “But it’s so big. How can you say it’s small?
Tortoise: “If you want to talk big, the East Sea is big.”
Frog: “Bigger than my well?”
Tortoise: “The East Sea is so big that a thousand miles isn’t enough to measure the distance across, and a thousand yards isn’t enough to measure its depth. You know, there was a time long long ago when 9 years out of 10 there were continuous rain and floods, yet the East Sea didn’t get any bigger. And another time, 7 years out of 8, there was a continuous drought, and yet the East Sea didn’t get any smaller. Now that is BIG. Your well is nothing in comparison”
Frog in a disgruntled mood: “Liar!”
In summary, the frog tries to convince the turtle to join him in his wonderful well. After trying to get in and getting stuck, the turtle withdraws and tells the frog instead of how deep and wide the sea is. The frog is left dumfounded. This Chinese fable has come to represent a state of limited vision and even ignorance ? of not being able to see outside one?s own immediate environment.
The frog was limited by his well, just like people are limited by knowledge. Knowledge can make us great, but it can also make us small, so we have to go beyond mere knowledge.
公孫龍問於魏牟曰：「龍少學先王之道，長而明仁義之行；合同異，離堅白；然不然，可不可；困百家之知，窮眾口之辯：吾自以為至達已。今吾聞莊子之言，茫然異之。不知論之不及與？知之弗若與？今吾無所開吾喙，敢問其方。」公子牟隱機大息，仰天而笑曰：「子獨不聞夫埳井之蛙乎？謂東海之鱉曰：『吾樂與！吾跳梁乎井榦之上，入休乎缺甃之崖。赴水則接掖持頤，蹶泥則沒足滅跗。還虷蟹與科斗，莫吾能若也。且夫擅一壑之水，而跨跱埳井之樂，此亦至矣。夫子奚不時來入觀乎？』東海之鱉左足未入，而右膝已縶矣。於是逡巡而卻，告之海曰：『夫千里之遠，不足以舉其大；千仞之高，不足以極其深。禹之時，十年九潦，而水弗為加益；湯之時，八年七旱，而崖不為加損。夫不為頃久推移，不以多少進退者，此亦東海之大樂也。』於是埳井之蛙聞之，適適然驚，規規然自失也。且夫知不知是非之竟，而猶欲觀於莊子之言，是猶使蚊負山，商蚷馳河也，必不勝任矣。且夫知不知論極妙之言，而自適一時之利者，是非埳井之蛙與？且彼方跐黃泉而登大皇，無南無北，奭然四解，淪於不測；無東無西，始於玄冥，反於大通。子乃規規然而求之以察，索之以辯，是直用管闚天，用錐指地也，不亦小乎？子往矣！且子獨不聞夫壽陵餘子之學於邯鄲與？未得國能，又失其故行矣，直匍匐而歸耳。今子不去，將忘子之故，失子之業。」公孫龍口呿而不合，舌舉而不下，乃逸而走。
Topics: Reader's Digest |