The Three Monks

Once upon a time, tucked far away in the deep, green mountains, there was a tiny temple. And in this tiny temple lived a Little Monk.

Every single morning, the moment the sun peeked over the hills, the Little Monk would wake up. The very first thing he did was fetch water. He would grab his wooden buckets, walk down the winding mountain path to the sparkling creek below, fill them to the brim, and carefully carry them step by step back up to the temple.

He always poured the water gently into the temple’s giant water vat. Then, he would pour a little fresh water into the vase on the altar for the Bodhisattva Guanyin, light the morning incense, and begin his daily prayers, tapping his wooden temple block—tock, tock, tock.

Even though the Little Monk was always busy, he felt free and happy. Thanks to the fresh water, the temple garden was filled with sweet-smelling, beautiful flowers. At night, he proudly stood guard so the sneaky mice couldn't steal any food. Day by day, the Little Monk lived a quiet, wonderful life.

Then, one day, a Tall Monk arrived at the temple.

He was big and broad-shouldered. The moment he walked through the doors, he was incredibly thirsty. Seeing the water in the giant vat, he didn't say a word—he just scooped up half the vat and gulped it all down!

The Little Monk was a bit surprised, but he politely said, "Brother, the water vat is almost empty now. We will need to go fetch more water."

The Tall Monk nodded, but to himself, he thought, "It's not fair if I have to do all the heavy lifting myself. The Little Monk should come with me."

So, he said, "Let's go fetch water together. That's the fair way." The Little Monk thought this made sense, so he agreed. They found a long wooden pole, hung a bucket right in the middle, and carried it together, with one monk at each end.

Days went by. They didn't have a lot of water, but it was just enough to get by.

Not long after, a Round Monk arrived.

The Round Monk waddled into the temple, complaining loudly about how thirsty he was. He looked into the giant water vat and saw it was completely dry. "Why is there no water?" he whined.

The Little Monk and the Tall Monk looked at each other and shrugged. "We just drank the last of it. You’ll have to go fetch your own."

The Round Monk frowned. He thought climbing down the mountain sounded like entirely too much work, but his throat was so dry! Grumbling, he took a bucket and trudged down to the creek. He huffed and puffed with all his might to carry a full bucket back up. But the moment he returned, he was so tired and thirsty from the trip that he drank the entire bucket himself. Not a single drop was left for the others.

From that day on, a terrible thing happened: none of the three monks wanted to fetch water. The Little Monk thought, "I carried water by myself for so long! It's someone else's turn." The Tall Monk thought, "I am the biggest! It's not fair if I do all the hard work." And the Round Monk thought, "Carrying water makes me too tired. I'd rather just be thirsty."

Because nobody wanted to help, the giant water vat stayed empty. The vase on the altar dried up. The beautiful flowers in the garden wilted and turned brown. The temple became dusty, quiet, and cold.

At night, the mountain mice noticed that no one was guarding the temple anymore. They ran wild! They boldly scurried across the floors, gobbled up the offerings on the altar, and even chewed holes in the monks' holy books. But the three monks just hid in their separate rooms, refusing to come out and do anything about it.

The mice got braver and braver. Finally, one night, a clumsy mouse bumped into a candleholder on the altar. Crash! The candle tumbled down, setting the temple curtains on fire. The bright orange flames spread quickly!

When the three monks saw the glowing fire, they scrambled out of their rooms in a panic. The Little Monk grabbed a bucket, and the Tall Monk and Round Monk rushed right behind him to help draw water to fight the fire.

They ran, they splashed, and they worked as hard as they could. Finally, the flames hissed and went out. But the beautiful little temple was left blackened and incredibly messy.

Looking at their scorched home, the three monks stood in total silence.

The Little Monk looked down at his feet and whispered, "If we had just worked together to fetch water earlier, our vat wouldn't have been empty. The mice wouldn't have taken over, and this fire never would have happened."

Hearing this, the Tall Monk and the Round Monk felt their faces turn red. They hung their heads in shame. They knew he was absolutely right.

From that day forward, everything changed. The three monks made a promise to work together as a team. Every day, they shared the chores. They took turns fetching water and helped one another, making sure the giant vat was always filled to the very top.

Soon, the vase on the altar sparkled with fresh water again, and the garden bloomed with bright, happy flowers. At night, the three monks took turns guarding the temple, and the sneaky mice never dared to return.

The tiny temple in the mountains was peaceful and beautiful once more. And the three monks learned the most important lesson of all: when we share the load and work together, life is better for everyone.