Once upon a time, there was a small temple where a young monk lived. Every day, the young monk would go to the foot of the mountain to carry water. He filled the water tank to the brim so that there was enough water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. The young monk's life was simple and peaceful. He chanted scriptures and cleaned the temple every day, living a very comfortable life.
One day, a thin monk came to the temple. Seeing the young monk carrying water, the thin monk said, "Young monk, let me help you." The young monk was very glad, so the two of them went to carry water together. However, after a few days, the thin monk didn't want to carry water any more. He said to the young monk, "It's too tiring for the two of us to carry water every day. We should take turns to carry water." The young monk thought what the thin monk said was reasonable, so they began to take turns to carry water.
After a while, a fat monk came to the temple. Seeing the two monks taking turns to carry water, the fat monk said, "It's too hard for you two to carry water. Let me help you." But the fat monk was all talk and no action. He had never carried water. None of the three monks wanted to carry water. They all hoped that others would do it. As a result, the water in the tank became less and less, and finally, there was no water left in the tank.
One day, suddenly, a fire broke out in the temple. Seeing the fire, all three monks were very worried. They wanted to fetch water to put out the fire, but there was no water in the tank. Only then did they realize how dangerous it was to have no water before because of shirking responsibility from one another. So, the three monks stopped arguing and went to the foot of the mountain to carry water together. Then they worked together to put out the fire.
Since then, the three monks never shirked their responsibilities any more. Every day, they went to carry water together, and also cleaned the temple and chanted scriptures together. The temple regained its former peace and happiness.
