frog in the well

[Benjamin Barrett]

I don't see "frog in the well" in the OED or Bartlett's. 

Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/one_step_forward,_two_steps_back) says that "one step forward, two steps back" comes from '"two steps forward, one step back" which originates with an anecdote about a frog in a well.'

The earliest citation on Google Books I see is "Poems, upon several subjects" in 1818 (http://ow.ly/hZlif), which says, 'Nor have we forgotten the "Frog in the Well."'

"The poetry of travelling in the United States" in 1838 (http://ow.ly/hZlkM) says: "We shall have no thoroughly instructed women while schools are so fluctuating; the progress of a girl's education in most of our cities, is like the frog's in the well."

In 1893, "The Unitarian" (volume 8) (http://ow.ly/hZlpi) carries the story of the frog in the well, though it might be a different one.

Wiktionary has the Japanese and (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BA%95%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%AE%E8%9B%99%E5%A4%A7%E6%B5%B7%E3%82%92%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9A) and the Chinese equivalents (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BA%95%E5%BA%95%E4%B9%8B%E8%9B%99).

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA
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