You cannot speak to a well frog about the sea, because it is confined to its place; nor can you speak to a summer insect about ice, because it is confined to its season.


The well-bottom frog is not un diligent; it spends the whole day puffing out its belly and croaking, doing its utmost to jump within the limits of a small space.
But what it sees is only moss and the glimmer of water; what it knows is only rainfall and clear skies.
Even if it expended all its strength and jumped as high as it could, when it came down, it would still be in that dry well.
The frog is not un diligent; rather, its perception of the well is what has confined its world.
You cannot speak to narrow-minded people about the Way, because they are confined by their teachings.
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A frog in a well cannot be spoken to about the sea, for it is confined by its surroundings; a summer insect cannot be spoken to about ice, for it is limited by the season.

The frog at the bottom of the well is not un diligent. It drums its belly and croaks all day, leaping with all its strength within the narrow confines of that space.

Yet all it sees is moss and the glimmer of water; all it knows is rain falling and the sky clearing.

Even if it exhausts all its strength and jumps higher than ever, when it comes back down, it is still in that same dry well.

It is not that the frog does not work hard, but that the well’s limited understanding has confined its world.

A narrow-minded scholar cannot be spoken to about the Way, for he is bound by his teachings.
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