The Tale of The Well Next Door

There’s an old Scottish tale of a frog living in a damp well. One day, another frog from a large pond hopped past the well. Interested in all things, this adventurous frog looked down into the dark depths and leapt inside.

Intimidated by the interloper, the first frog asked, “Who are you and where did you come from?”

The pond frog said, with a nod at the top of the well, “A large pond filled with water many times the size of this well.”

“How big is this water?” The well frog pointed to a boulder at the edge of the well. “Oh, many times the size of that boulder.”

“As big as that?” The well frog gestured at the shadow of a weeping willow tree.

“Much bigger.”

The well frog was momentarily struck, “How much bigger, then?”

“It’s many times the size of your well and it’s quite close. We could travel together to see it.”

“Why would I do that?” He regarded the pond frog suspiciously.

“You would have more water.”

The frog in the well gave a sideways look as if to say, “Oh, a wise guy, eh?” and swelling up with enough irritation to pop, said decisively, “Get out! Get out! I want nothing to do with frogs like you.”

“Why, because I can show you a bigger view, more flies to catch?” The pond frog realized that this frog was afraid to go beyond the bricked walls he had known for so long.

“Nonsense. You are trying to trick me out of my well.”

With that, the pond frog shook his head and hopped back into the sunshine.