Once upon a time, there was a mountain where stood a temple(寺庙). And a young monk(和尚) lived in the temple. Every morning the little monk went alone to the well(井) below the mountain and carried water by himself.

One day, a tall, thin monk came to the temple. While he drank up all the water, the little monk was quite unhappy. The little monk asked the thin monk to carry water. The thin monk thought that he would suffer losses(吃亏) if he carried water alone(单独，独自). He asked the little monk to carry water with him.

The two men hung the bucket(水桶) in the middle of the pole, lifted it and walked up to the mountain. Neither of them intended(打算) to do more. This went on for a while and everything was all right.

Later, another monk came to the temple. He was short and fat. He found the water tank(水箱) empty and wanted the other two to collect water. The two monks got unhappy and neither of them was willing to do it. The fat monk had to go down to the mountain and took two buckets of water by himself. And he drank it up without a stop(停止). But the other two had nothing to drink.

The three monks quarrelled(争吵) with each other in the temple, and everyone refused(拒绝) to get water. Therefore, the water tank was empty every day.

One night, several mice in the temple came out to steal grain, and they knocked everything on the table upside down.

A mouse accidentally(意外的) knocked over the candlestick(蜡烛台) and started a fire. The three monks struggled to put out the fire together, and when the fire was extinguished(熄灭), they also woke up. From then on, the three monks worked together, and there was more and more water.