THE THREE MONKS

Words：Joe

Art：&靈繪童工作室

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.

從前，一座山上的廟里住著一個小和尚。

他每天都要從山下往寺廟里挑水。

他獨自挑了很多年，并怡然自樂。

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，一個瘦和尚來到了這座山。

瘦和尚對小和尚說：“你好，我能幫你嗎？”

小和尚回答：“當然，在這里挑水是件苦差事，我們可以一起挑。”

But they soon encountered trouble.

但是不久，他們就遇見了問題。

The Skinny Monk was much taller than the Young Monk.

瘦和尚比小和尚的個頭高出太多了。

It was a nuisance for them to balance the bucket.

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

平衡水桶對他們來說是個麻煩。

水總是灑出來，因此，兩個和尚也總是爭吵。

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.

幾天后，一個胖和尚來了。他喝光了寺廟里所有的水。

小和尚和瘦和尚讓胖和尚去打水。

他答應后便下了山。但他一打回來水，就又喝光了所有的水。

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

小和尚和瘦和尚對此十分惱火。

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.

三個和尚爭論了一整天，沒有人再愿意去打水了。

一天結束的時候，他們又渴又累地坐著打盹。

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，一只老鼠鉆進寺廟尋找食物。

老鼠咬斷了一只蠟燭，寺廟著起火來。

The heat from the flames woke up the monks.

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

火焰的炎熱驚醒了三個和尚。

那時，他們不再考慮該誰去打水。

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.

三個和尚合力打水撲滅了大火。

從那天起，小和尚、瘦和尚和胖和尚開始齊心協力，不再自私。