The Frogs of the Well

Once upon a time, during an unusually hot summer with no rain, ponds and lakes began to dry up. The fish in the lakes struggled helplessly and many began to die. The herons, seeking water, started heading toward the river where countless fish lived. One heron caught a plump, fresh fish in its beak and flew off, planning to perch on a tree and enjoy its meal. However, the fish was strong and flapped vigorously, freeing itself from the heron’s beak and falling downward.

By chance, it landed inside a well. Inside this well, many frogs—both big and small—had been living for a long time. The frogs were astonished to see the fish; they had never encountered such a creature before.

A bold, large frog approached the fish and asked, “Who are you? Where have you come from?”

The fish replied, “I am a creature of water. I am called a fish, and I lived in the river. The river is my home.”

The frog, curious and amazed, asked, “What is a river?”

The fish explained, “A river is very long and wide. It has deep water that flows continuously. When the water flows, waves form, and it rocks us like a swing. The river is vast and stretches far.”

The frog jumped to one edge of the well, then back to the fish, and asked, “Is the river really that wide?”

The fish said, “No, frog! This distance in your well is nothing compared to a real river. A river is much wider.”

The frog then jumped to the other edge of the well and returned to ask, “Is the river really that long?”

The fish laughed and replied, “No, no, my friend! This distance is nothing. A river stretches for miles and miles.”

The frog, with wide eyes, stared at the fish in disbelief. “You must be joking. How can any river be bigger than our well? Either you’re teasing me, or you must have dreamed about a river. How can anything be longer or wider than this well?”

The poor fish didn’t know how to respond. It quietly said to the frog, “Brother frog, the truth is this: until you leave this well and see the world outside, you will never truly believe anything. If you want to see new places and discover new things, you must get out of the well. The problem is that your well is really deep. I was able to escape from the heron’s beak, but how will I get out of this well?”

Not long after, some children came to fetch water. They had a bucket attached to a long rope. One boy lowered the bucket into the well. To everyone’s surprise, both the fish and the frogs ended up in the bucket along with the water.

One boy shouted in astonishment, “Friends! We lowered the bucket to fetch water. Where did this fish and these frogs come from?”

Another boy, seeing the fish struggling, said, “Poor fish! Let’s take it back to the river. We only needed the water anyway.”

With compassion, the children ran to the river and released the fish and frogs into the flowing water. The frog was amazed at the sight of the river. Finally, it believed the fish’s words and realized how vast and magnificent the world outside the well truly was.

The frog thought to itself, “I must go back to the other frogs in the well and tell them that what the fish said is true. I’ve seen it all with my own eyes!”

I’ve seen it all with my own eyes! thanks