Chinese idiom – 井底之蛙 jǐng dǐ zhī wā

Once upon a time, there was a frog who lived in a small well. It was content and satisfied with its tiny world, and often boasted about its comfortable life whenever it had a chance.

One day, the frog saw a turtle walking nearby and invited it to come visit its home. The turtle peeked into the well and saw a shallow pool of stagnant water covered with green algae, accompanied by a pungent smell. So, it quickly retracted its head.

However, the frog continued to brag, saying how comfortable it was in the well. It could jump onto the well’s edge to cool off in the evening, hide in the cracks of the well walls to sleep at night, swim in the water, and roll around in the mud. It claimed that none of the insects, crabs, or tadpoles could compare to its life.

When the turtle expressed interest in exploring the well, it soon realized that its left foot hadn’t even fully entered the well when its right foot got stuck. So, the turtle had to retreat and shared with the frog stories about the vast ocean. It described the boundless sea, where the horizon is lost in the mist, and neither thousands of miles nor tens of thousands of feet could measure its expanse. Legends spoke of how, during the reign of the Emperor Yu thousands of years ago, there were nine floods in ten years, yet the sea did not grow deeper. And during the reign of King Tang over three thousand years ago, there were seven droughts in eight years, yet the sea did not diminish.

Upon hearing the turtle’s description, the frog was stunned and had no more words to say.

The story of “Frog in a Well” has evolved into a proverbial idiom, used to describe people who are narrow-minded and lack broad perspectives.