Once there was a little green frog who lived down inside an old well. Cool mossy walls, a little strip of water — that was his whole world. And looking up at the round patch of sky far above, he'd think, "That must be the whole sky there is!"
All day long he'd puff out his throat and sing — ribbit, ribbit! "This well is my very own kingdom! There's no finer spot in all the world!" And whenever a fly buzzed past — snap! — out shot his tongue to catch it.
Then one day — splash! — another frog came tumbling down into the well, wet and worn out. "Where have you come from, friend?" "From the sea, far, far away. Such a vast stretch of water — look whichever way you please, and there's no end to it!"
The well-frog laughed until his sides hurt. "Bigger than my well? Impossible!" The sea-frog answered him calmly. "You don't believe me? Then come and see for yourself. Let's climb up together."
Curiosity got the better of him. Up the slick, mossy wall the two friends went — hop after hop, paws slipping, but never once stopping. Bit by bit, they pushed on toward the light above.
But the moment he reached the well's edge, the frog froze. There before him — oh my! — lay a whole wide world. Green fields, a winding river, and far, far away the endless sea, shimmering in the sun. "So… so BIG!"
The sun was going down beyond that huge, wide world. The little frog sat quiet for a long moment — then laughed at himself. "To think I believed my little well was the whole world! Now I know — it's far bigger than I ever dreamed."