Man in the Well

June 26, 2026

Thus I have heard. Once upon a time Buddha was residing in the garden of Anathapindada at Jetavana in Sravasti, with a great number of bhikshus. Among them there was the great Emperor Shoko, and Buddha addressed him:

“There is a parable which I will tell you, and you bethink deeply its meaning.

“In olden times a man was travelling through a wild prairie-land where he met a ferocious elephant. In his fear he ran away, but the elephant pursued him hotly. On the way there was a deep well at the root of a tree, on which he climbed down to escape the danger; but, O horror! he saw two rats, one white, the other black, gnawing at the root alternately; and snakes on the four sides of the well threatened to bite the poor man with their poisonous fangs, while at the bottom of the well a large dragon was waiting to kill the suspended man with his sharp claws. And there was a hive in the root of the tree from which he sucked five drops of honey, and then the bees stung him. After this, the tree was burned by a fire which came from the prairie.”

When the Emperor heard this dreadful story, he asked the Buddha:

“Why did that man undergo so much suffering, and how could he suck honey notwithstanding the evil consequences?”

Then the Buddha replied:

“Great Emperor, this parable illustrates the fate of man. The wild prairie is our ignorance; the man represents the condition of all living beings; the elephant is the transiency of the world; the well is the birth and death of man; the tree root is life; the white and the black rats are day and night; their gnawing is the slow lapse of time; the snakes on the four sides are the four elements, namely earth, water, fire, and air; the honey-drops are the five sensual desires, arising from visible form, sound, smell, taste, and touch; the bee is sin; the fire is disease and old age; and the dragon is death.

~ The Man in the Well