THE THREE MONKS

Words：Joe

Art：&灵绘童工作室

Once upon a time, in a temple on the top of a hill, there lived a Young Monk.

He carried water from the bottom of the mountain to the temple every day.

The Monk did this alone for many years, and he was content.

从前，一座山上的庙里住着一个小和尚。

他每天都要从山下往寺庙里挑水。

他独自挑了很多年，并怡然自乐。

One day, a Skinny Monk arrived on the hill.

The Skinny monk said to the Young Monk, “Hello, can I be of help to you here?”

The Young Monk replied, “Of course, carrying this water is very tiring here. We should carry it together.”

一天，一个瘦和尚来到了这座山。

瘦和尚对小和尚说：“你好，我能帮你吗？”

小和尚回答：“当然，在这里挑水是件苦差事，我们可以一起挑。”

But they soon encountered trouble.

但是不久，他们就遇见了问题。

The Skinny Monk was much taller than the Young Monk.

瘦和尚比小和尚的个头高出太多了。

It was a nuisance for them to balance the bucket.

The water kept spilling, and the pair of monks kept arguing.

平衡水桶对他们来说是个麻烦。

水总是洒出来，因此，两个和尚也总是争吵。

A few days later, a Fat Monk arrived. He drank all the water in the temple.

The Young Monk and the Skinny Monk asked the Fat Monk to fetch water.

He obliged and went down. As soon as he arrived back up, he drank it all again.

几天后，一个胖和尚来了。他喝光了寺庙里所有的水。

小和尚和瘦和尚让胖和尚去打水。

他答应后便下了山。但他一打回来水，就又喝光了所有的水。

The Young Monk and the Skinny Monk were very angry about this.

小和尚和瘦和尚对此十分恼火。

The three monks argued all day, and none of them wanted to fetch the water.

At the end of the day they sat and napped, all thirsty and tired.

三个和尚争论了一整天，没有人再愿意去打水了。

一天结束的时候，他们又渴又累地坐着打盹。

During the night, a rat came creeping into the temple to find some food.

The rat bit a candle in half,and the temple was set on fire.

夜晚十分，一只老鼠钻进寺庙寻找食物。

老鼠咬断了一只蜡烛，寺庙着起火来。

The heat from the flames woke up the monks.

At that time, they didn’t care who should fetch water any more.

火焰的炎热惊醒了三个和尚。

那时，他们不再考虑该谁去打水。

They cooperated in fetching water and put out the flames together.

From that day on the Young Monk, the Skinny Monk and the Fat Monk all worked as a team, and were never selfish again.

三个和尚合力打水扑灭了大火。

从那天起，小和尚、瘦和尚和胖和尚开始齐心协力，不再自私。