ThreeMonks Format: ClothOverBoards

On top of a huge mountain, there is a small temple where a young monk lives. Every day, he goes down the mountain to a river where he fills two buckets of water. Then he carries them up the mountain top with all his strength. Two buckets of water a day is just enough for his daily use. One day, a skinny monk comes to the temple, hoping to live there. The young monk greets him happily. However, there will not be enough water to use with one more person living there. Neither the skinny monk nor the young monk wants to fetch water. Soon after, a fat monk comes to the temple, hoping to live there, too. The skinny monk and the young monk quickly push the task of fetching water to him. But none of the three monks is willing to go down the mountain to fetch water. They wait for each other. Even when they are very thirsty, none of them wants to take the job. They can only hope that it will rain soon. However, the rain does not come, but a lightning strikes the big tree in the temple and sets the temple on fire. The three monks want to put out the fire, but there is not a drop of water in the temple. This time they are in big trouble! What should they do? Do they put out the fire eventually? This story is based on a Chinese proverb. Let us follow the author's lovely brush to explore this story about teamwork, understanding and helping each other.

Andrea Castro Naranjo, a Colombian freelance illustrator, graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. She has illustrated for multiple books and also published some of her own personal works. Zhang Xiaoling, a writer and editor, has been engaged in the creation and publication of children’s literature for more than ten years. She has authored novels, short story collections, fairy tales, picture books, etc. She has won the Judging Panel’s Recommended Writing Award from the first Feng Zikai Chinese Children’s Picture Book Award.