A Frog in the Well 井底之蛙

王静云

“井底之蛙”最早出自战国思想家庄子所作的《庄子·秋水》。该成语指井底的青蛙只能看到井口那么大的一片天，比喻眼界狭隘、见识短浅的人。

A frog has been living in a dry well. He is very satisfied with his littleworld. One day， he saw a soft-shelled turtle from East Sea walking not faraway.

The frog hurriedly shouted， “Hey， turtle， please come here！ Youveprobably never seen such a spacious 1）residence before.”

The turtle probed into the well， and saw a pool of muddy water coveredwith green moss at the bottom of the shallow well， and smelled a foul 2）odor.The frog continued to boast， “I feel very comfortable to live here. I jump onthe well fence to enjoy the cool in the evening， I sleep in the hole in the wellwall at night， I can swim when I soak myself in water， and I can roll when Ijump into the mud. Those little bugs， crabs， 3）tadpoles， no one can comparewith me！”

“Turtle， why not go in for sightseeing？” The turtle felt that the frog wasso kind that he could not refuse， so he asked the frog， “Have you heard of the sea？” The frog shook his head. The turtle said， “The sea is vast and4）boundless. It cannot be described by thousands of miles， and its depthcannot be expressed by ten thousand feet. I just live in the sea. You see，compared with your dry well and shallow water， which world is more openand which is more fun？”

1） residence n. 住所

2） odor n. 气味

3） tadpole n. 蝌蚪

4） boundless adj. 无边无际的

有一只青蛙一直住在一口枯井里。它对自己生活的小天地十分满意，一天，它看见不远处有一只来自东海的鳖在散步。

青蛙連忙喊道：“嘿，鳖兄，快请过来！你大概从来没见过这么宽敞的房子。”

鳖探头往井里一瞥，只见浅浅的井底积了一摊长满青苔的泥水，还闻到一股扑鼻的臭味。青蛙继续吹嘘：“住在这儿，我舒服极了。晚上可以跳到井栏上乘凉；深夜可以钻到井壁的窟窿里睡觉；泡在水里，可以游泳；跳到泥里，可以打滚。那些小虫子、螃蟹、蝌蚪，哪一个能比得上我呢！”

“鳖，你不想进来参观吗？”鳖感到盛情难却，便问青蛙：“你听说过大海吗？”青蛙摇了摇头。鳖说：“大海无边无际。千里无法形容它的辽阔，万丈无法表明它的深度。我就生活在大海中。你看，比起你这一口枯井，哪个天地更开阔，哪个乐趣更大呢？”

Fill in the blanks：

1. The frog can jump on the __________ to enjoy the cool in the evening.

2. The turtle lives __________ .

Know More

This idiom tells people that behind an able man there are always other ablemen， so dont rest on your laurels， just keep going.

这个成语告诉人们：山外有山，人外有人，不要故步自封，而要保持进取之心。

参考答案：1. well fence 2. in the sea