This story is a very popular folk tale and has many versions. The version that I am about to tell you is one that Swami Vivekananda told the world as part of one of his speeches at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago on 15th September, 1893.

Once upon a time, there lived a frog in a nice, deep well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there. This frog, every day fed on the worms and bacilli that lived in the water of the well, and became a fat frog with a lot of energy.

Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well. Our well frog asked the sea frog, “Where are you from?”

“I am from the sea.” Answered the sea frog

“The sea!” exclaimed the well frog, “How big is that? Is it as big as my well?”, and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other.

“My friend”, said the sea frog, “how do you compare the sea with your little well?”

Then the well frog took another leap and asked, “Is your sea so big?”

The shocked sea frog exclaimed “What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!”

“Well, Well,” said the well frog, “nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing bigger than this; He then shouted, “this fellow is a liar, turn him out.”

Swami Vivekananda told this story to explain why it was that people in this world are unable to live at peace with one another. It is petty differences like these that we human beings are unable to resolve, which then causes hate and divisiveness.