The Frog in the Well

Long ago, a frog lived at the bottom of an old well. To him, the well was the whole world. He could jump on the stones, splash in the cool water, and look up at the small circle of sky above him.

The frog was very proud of his home. Whenever an insect or a small bird came near the well, he would say, "Look at my wonderful kingdom! I have water to swim in, stones to rest on, and the sky is always right above me."

One day, a sea turtle stopped beside the well. The frog called up, "Come down and see how happy I am! There cannot be a better place anywhere."

The turtle tried to climb into the well, but the opening was too narrow. So the turtle told the frog about the sea. "The sea is so wide that you cannot see the other side," he said. "It is deeper than many wells, and great waves move across it. Rivers from faraway places flow into it."

The frog became quiet. He had never imagined a place larger than his well. For the first time, he understood that the world was much bigger than what he could see from the bottom.

After that day, the frog stopped boasting. He began asking questions whenever a traveler passed by. The little well was still his home, but he no longer believed it was the whole world.

The story reminds us that when we know only a small part of the world, we should be careful not to think we know everything.
