In the vast East China Sea, there was a huge turtle. It carried the Penglai Fairy Mountain on its head, floated and swam in the great sea, sometimes soaring into the sky and sometimes diving to the bottom of the sea.

 

A red ant on land heard of the huge turtle's magnificent feat¹ and was pleasantly surprised. Thereupon, it called together a big swarm² of ants to come to the seashore to have a good look to broaden their minds. They waited for over a month, but the huge turtle did not appear on the sea. When they were about to return, the sea wind suddenly sprang up and great waves surged up, shaking the land like thunder. The swarm of ants exclaimed: "Ah, now the huge turtle is about to come out."

 

A few days afterwards, the wind abated³, the waves calmed down, and the sea was tranquil⁴ again. A mountain as high as the sky could be faintly seen rising from the surface of the water and sometimes moving westward⁵. The swarm of ants stretched their heads to watch it for a while, and then expressed their opinions: "Why, what's the difference between its carrying a high mountain on its head and our carrying grains of rice on ours? We crawl along the ants' hill leisurely⁶ and freely, and return to our hole to rest. That is: Each has a role to play. Why should we waste our energy and cover several hundred li to watch it?"

 

浩瀚的东海里，有一只大鳌，它头顶着蓬莱仙山，在大海中浮游，有时飞腾跃上云霄，有时下潜沉人海底。

 

陆地上，一只红蚂蚁听说大鳌有如此壮举，非常惊喜，于是约了一大群蚂蚁来到海岸边，想好好看看，开开眼界。可是，它们等了一个多月，大鳌还没浮出海面。群蚁将要回去的时候，突然海风激荡，波涛万丈，雷鸣般地震撼着大地。这群蚂蚁喊道：“啊，这回大鳌就要出来了。”

 

几天以后，风平浪静，大海平静了下来，隐隐约约看到水平面上升起一座齐天的高山，时而还向西游动。这群蚂蚁伸头探脑看了一阵，大发议论道：“嘿嘿，它头顶高山与我们头顶米粒有什么两样呢？我们逍遥自在地在蚁山上爬行，回到洞里歇息。这叫各得其所。何必白费力气奔波数百里来看它呢？”

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