The Frog in the Well
There was a frog that lived in a shallow well. " Look how well off I
am here ! " he told a big turtle from the Eastern Ocean. " I can hop
along the coping of the well when I go out, and rest by a crevice in the
bricks on my return. I can wallow to my heart's content with only my
head above water, or stroll ankle deep through soft mud. No crabs or
tadpoles can compare with me. I am
master of the water and lord of this shallow well, What more can a
fellow ask ? Why don't you come here more often to have a good time ? "
Before the turtle from the Eastern Ocean could get his left foot into
the well, however, he caught his right calw on something. So he halted
and stepped back then began to describe the ocean to the frog. " It's
more than a thousand miles across and more than ten thousand feet deep.
In ancient times there were floods nine years out of ten yet the water
in the ocean never increased.
And later there were droughts seven years out of eight yet the water
in the ocean never grew less. It has remained quite constant
throughtout the ages. That is why I like to live in the Eastern
Ocean."Then the frog in the shallow well was silent and felt a little
abashed!.
Abashed
If you are abashed, you feel embarrassed and ashamed. |