Shakespeare’s famous lines: ” Sweet are the uses of adversity, which like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head”, came alive in Lichuan County, Henan Province of China when a man, who was identified only by his surname Liu and weighs 19 stone, became wedged in a well and had to be rescued by firefighters, according to a Luoyang fire service report.
The report said the man, aged 28, had been helping his parents to fill in the well by throwing wood and other rubbish inside.
He had been standing on something in order to force it into the hole when it suddenly gave way and he fell into the well but was stuck halfway by his big belly.
The family said the well had been used for years but after it dried out, they decided to fill it in so it was not dangerous, and that their son had been tasked with the job.
Firemen said when they arrived, they realized he was stuck tight and needed to tie a rope around him as well as a rescue belt in order to pull him free.
The man, who sat calmly wedged in the hole with his arms folded, was then lifted free with no obvious injuries apart from some abrasions on his skin.
[In Shakespearean time, toads were believed to have antidote against poisons in their heads].