It said to a turtle that lived in the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly worms, crabs and tadpoles, and none of them can compare with me. Moreover, I am lord of this trough of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. My happiness is full. My dear sir, why don't you come often and look around my place?"

　　Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in thewell, its right knee got stuck. It hesitated and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea. "Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea's width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. ln the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change along with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls.

　　The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea."

　　After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well wasshocked into realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease.

　　它對從東海中來的大鱉說：“我多么快樂啊！出去玩玩，就在井口的欄桿上蹦蹦跳跳，回來休息就蹲在殘破井壁的磚窟窿里休息休息；跳進水里，水剛好托著我的胳肢窩和面頰；踩泥巴時，泥深只能淹沒我的兩腳，漫到我的腳背上。回頭看一看那些赤蟲、螃蟹與蝌蚪一類的小蟲吧，哪個能同我相比哪一天！并且，我獨占一坑水，在井上想跳就跳，想停就停，真是快樂極了！您為什么不常來我這里參觀參觀呢？”

　　海鱉左腳還沒踏進井里，右腿已被井壁卡住了。于是，它在井邊徘徊了一陣就退回來了，把大海的景像告訴青蛙，說道：“千里的確很遠，可是它不能夠形容海的遼闊；千仞的確很高，可是它不能夠控明海的深度。夏禹的時候，10年有9年水災，可是海水并不顯得增多；商湯時，8年有7年天旱，可是海水也不顯得減少。永恒的大海啊，不隨時間的長短而改變，也不因為雨量的多少而漲落。這才是住在東海里最大快樂啊！”

　　淺井的青蛙聽了這一番話，惶恐不安，兩眼圓睜睜地好像失了神。深深感到自己的渺小。