Have you heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It once said to a turtle from the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing by the well's mouth. When I return, I rest in the holes of the broken wall. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits and buoys my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers my feet. I look around at the wriggling worms, crabs, and tadpoles, and none can compare with me. I am the lord of this trough of water and stand tall in this well. My happiness is complete. Why don't you come more often to see my domain?"
Before the turtle could even get its left foot into the well, its right knee became stuck. Hesitating, it retreated. The turtle then described the East Sea to the frog: "A distance of a thousand li cannot convey its width; a height of a thousand ren cannot convey its depth. In the time of King Yu, there were floods nine years out of ten, yet the sea's waters did not rise. In King Tang's time, droughts struck seven years out of eight, yet the sea did not shrink. The sea does not change with time, nor does its level rise or fall with the rain. The greatest joy is to live in the East Sea."
Hearing this, the frog from the shallow well was struck by the realization of his own insignificance and became deeply uneasy.