Have you ever heard the famous old parable

Of the frog of the dilapidated well and how

It said to the giant turtle of the Orient sea,

"My goodness! How greatly I enjoy myself!

I leap upon the parapet of this well; I enter,

And having by means of the projections

Formed by the fragments of the broken tiles

Of the lining proceeded to the water,

I draw my legs together, keep my chin up

And strike out. . . Who could do that better!"

It continued without ceasing, "When I've got

To the mud, I dive till my feet are lost in it.

Then, turning round, I see that of the shrimps,

Crabs and tadpoles, there is not one

That can do it like me. Moreover,

When one has entire command of all the water

In the gully and hesitates to go forward,

It is the greatest pleasure to enjoy one's self here

In this dilapidated well -- why do not you, Sir,

Try to come and enter and see it for yourself?"

The giant turtle was then proceeding to go forward,

But before it had put in its left foot,

It found its right knee caught and held fast.

On this it hesitated, drew back, and told the frog

All about the Orient sea, explaining leisurely,

"A distance of a thousand miles is not sufficient

To express its extent, nor would a line

Of ten thousand cubits be equal to sound its depth.

"In old times, for nine years out of ten

The flooded land all drained into it and its water

Was not sensibly increased; and in olden days,

For seven years out of eight there was a drought,

But the rocks on the shore saw no diminution

Of the water because of it. Thus it is that no change

Is produced in its waters by any cause

Operating for a short time or a long, and that

They do not advance nor recede for any addition

Or subtraction, whether great or small;

And this is the great pleasure afforded by the sea."

When the frog of the dilapidated well heard this

It was amazed and lost itself in embarrassment.