Zuo jing guan tianOn a road leading to the shore of the East Sea was an old,out-of-use well.In the well lived a frog .The frog lived in his tiny reaim ,and knew nothing of the vast world outside.
One day the frog saw a turtle that had come from the East Sea,and the two started to chat .The frog boasted :
“look! I’m so happy here ,I can jump around the rim of this well,and when I’m tired I can rest peacefully in a hole in the side or take a nice bath in the water below ;I can stretch my boby out and float around nice and easy with just my head and mouth sticking out of the water;I can lazily stroll about in the silky mud---that’s nice ,too.”
The frog then pointed to the tadpoles and little insects in the well and said haughtily: “I am the true master of this well.None of them can compare with me .I am the most fortunate and happy inhabitant,This is the most beautiful,happy,comfortable place on the face of the earth .”
At length the frog invited turtle down into the well to have a look.
“You are warmly welcomed to come down into the well to play and enjoy this beautiful wonderland !”the frog said .
After hearing the frog’s enthusiastic speech,the turtle really wanted to take a look .But when it put its left foot forward ,it couldn’t get its right foot in for catching on the rim of the well,The turtle could only shake its head and back up .
The turtle said to the frog, “Friend,have you been to the East Sea? The sea is broad and vast.For thousands of miles you can’t see its edge ,The sky and waters meet on the horizon. The sea is incredibly deep---you can’t see the bottom for several hundred feet.When there is a great flood on the land ,the sea’s waters don’t even swell.When there is no rain and a drought is over the land ,the sea’s waters don’t shrink.Living there is a true pleasure.”
Listening to these words ,the frog in the well was struck dumb.For a long time it didn’t speak,feeling insignificant and ignorant.
The idiom “look at the sky from the bottom of a well”(or:the frog at the bottom of the well).means to have a narrow view of the world ,to have only superficial knowledge of something ,or to be short-sighted.
坐井观天在通往东海海岸的大路旁边，有一口废井，那里往着一只大青蛙。它就生活在这块小小的天地里，至于井外边有多么大，它是全不知道的。
有一天，青蛙在井边碰见一只从东海来的大海龟，它俩便聊起来了。青蛙自鸣得意地夸口说：“你看，我在这里是多么快乐呵，当我高兴的时候，就在井台边上跳来跳去；当我跳累了就在井壁砖洞中安安静静地休息或者把身子安安逸逸地飘浮在水中，只把头和嘴露出水面上来；要不就在软绵绵的烂泥里悠闲自在地散散步，也是满安适的。“
青蛙又指指井里的小蝌蚪和小虫们傲慢地说：“我是这井里的真正主人，它们都比不我。我是最幸福、最快乐的。这里是世界上最美好、最快乐、最安适的地方。 ”
最后，青蛙邀请海龟到井里来参观：“热烈欢迎你下井玩玩，观赏观赏我这个美好的乐园。”
海龟听了青蛙的介绍，很想下去参观，可是，刚一迈左脚，还没有伸进去右脚，却已经被井栏绊住了，只好摇摇头，退回来。
海龟便对青蛙说：“朋友，你去过东海吗，大海可广阔了，几千里远还看不见边际，天连水、水连天。大海可深了，深到几十丈还没见底，陆地上闹多大的水灾，海水也不会涨出多少来；陆地上怎样干旱，怎么不下雨，海水也不会减少多少。住在那里，才是真正的快乐呢。”
这只井里的青蛙听得目瞪口呆，好半天也说不出话来，它感到自己太渺小了，见识太短浅了。
后来人们根据这个童话故事引申出“坐井观天”（或“井底之蛙”）这名成语，比喻眼界狭小，见识短浅，没有远见的人。 |
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