When autumn came, all the water in the large and small rivers rose higher and flowed into the Yellow River.

　　The surface of the River at once appeared much wider. On one side of the bank, one couldn't see the cattle and sheep on the opposite side. The River deity1 Hebo was therefore immensely proud and considered himself the greatest in the world.

　　Hero followed the Yellow River to the North Sea. Then he looked at himself and felt he could not see the bounds of the sea. Then he looked at himself and felt he was so tiny and insignificant2. He sighed and said to Hairuo, the deity of the North Sea. "As the saying goes, a person who has gained a little learning tends to regard himself as the wiset person under the sky. I am just that kind of person. Seeing how broad and great you are today, I have come to realize how insignificant and ignorant I am. If I didn't meet you , I'm afraid I would I would always be laughed at by people with knowledge."

　　Hairou said: "We cannot talk about the sea with a frog at the bottom of a well, for the frog is restricted by its dwelling3 place; we cannot talk about ice with a small insect is restricted by the seasons; we cabbit talk about profound learning with superficial persons, for they have too little knowledge. Now you have xiaogushi8.com come out of a small river to the North Sea, seen the greatness of it and realized your own insignificance4. Since you have taken such a modest attitude, I can then talk with you about profound learning."

　　一到秋天，大河、小河里的水都漲了起來，流入黃河，河面頓時(shí)顯得非常寬廣。

　　在河岸的這邊，一眼望不見對(duì)岸的牛羊。黃河的河伯因此得意洋洋，自以為是天下最偉大的了。

　　河伯順著黃河來到了北海，朝東一望，望不見海的盡頭，再看看自己才覺得自己很渺小。他嘆了口氣，對(duì)北海之神海若說：“俗話說得好，有了一點(diǎn)學(xué)問，就以為老子天下第一。我就是這種人。今天，我看到你這樣寬廣、這樣偉大，才發(fā)覺自己如此渺小，如此無知。如果今天沒遇見你，我恐怕永遠(yuǎn)會(huì)被有見識(shí)的人所譏笑。”

　　海若說:“我們不能同井底的青蛙談海，是因?yàn)榍嗤苁艿阶√幍南拗疲徊荒芡奶煊⒄Z(yǔ)小故事的小蟲受到季節(jié)的限制；不能同淺薄的人談?wù)摳呱畹膶W(xué)問，是因?yàn)樗麄兊闹R(shí)太少。現(xiàn)在，你走出小河，來到北海，看到海的偉大，知道了自己的渺小。有了這種謙虛的態(tài)度，我就可以和你談?wù)摳呱畹膶W(xué)問了。”