Fables from China

Look at the sky from the bottom of a well

Long long ago, a frog lived in a well. One day, he met a turtle who came from the Eastern Sea. He boasted to the turtle: "Look, how nice my well is! If I'm in high spirits, I 'll jump on the rim of the well and see the sky. If I 'm tired, I 'll find a hole for a rest. Look at these poor crabs and tadpoles, How can they compare with me? I 'm the master here and my home is the best place in the world. Would you like to have a visit?" The turtle was fascinated by his sweet words. Then the turtle crept to the well. As soon as the turtle began to move, he stumbled over the railing. Then he complained to the frog:" What a narrow place! If you see the vast Easton Sea where I live, you'll know how happy life there can be." The frog could not imagine how vast the sea is, as he has never seen it. Later, people use it to describe the ones who have a very narrow view.

The Frog in the Shallow Well

   Have you not heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? 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. I jump in 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 the well, 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. In 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 the time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that fall. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea."     

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

The son and the Neighbor

In the state of Song lived a rich man. A heavy downpour caused the wall of his house to crumble. "If the wall is not mended," pointed out his son, "we'll have thieves coming in." The old man next door said the same thing. At night, his house was really burgled and he lost many of his valuables. The whole family of the rich man praised the cleverness of their boy but was suspicious about the old man next door. Han Feizi

Once a Month

Now there was a man who stole a chicken from his neighbour every day.

"This is not the way a man of moral principles should behave," he was told.

"Well,then I will reduce the number," he replied,"I'll steal one every month and next year I won't steal any more."Since he knew he was doing something wrong, he ought to stop at once. Why wait till next year? Mencius

Not Knowing of The Mirror

    The story goes that there was a young woman who didn't know what a mirror was. One day her husband bought one for her.While looking in the mirror she was surprised and hurriedly ran to tell her mother-in-law.

"Your son has brought a new wife home!"the woman complained.

"Really ?" the old woman asked surprisedly."Let me have a look." As soon as she faced the mirror, the old woman became perplexed and confused too."Now what's all this about?" She murmured. "The bride's mother has come too!"

Send a Clock

Never give a Clock as  present to your Chinese friend, especially old Chinese people, Because it sounds like another expression in Chinese, which is “song zhong”?C the pronunciations of them are exactly the same but Chinese characters are different so its meaning are also totally different.

?gSONG ZHONG?h means that children see their parents or grand parents off, not see them off to some place in the world but to the Kingdom of God. So Chinese people abstain from accepting a clock, especially those old people.

Giving the Seedlings a Hand

A man of the state of Song was worried about his seedlings growing too slowly. He pulled up the seedlings one buy one and came home exhausted. " I am tired out today. I helped the seedlings to grow," he said to his family. His son hurried to the fields to have a look and found that all the seedlings had shriveled up. Mencius

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Chinese fable stories provided by John Wu from Shaoguan China