一篇篇流传千年的传统故事，有如一朵朵盛开的奇葩，凝结古人智慧，魅力无穷。

捏土造人的女娲、开弓射日的后羿、身老志坚的愚公、代父从军的木兰、英勇救母的沉香、千里寻夫的孟姜女、迁居断杼的孟母、缺乏团结的三个和尚……

他们就像万花筒里倏忽闪现的缤纷图景，在孩童稚嫩的心灵上留下一片瑰丽与神奇。

中英双语《中国传统故事美绘本》精选了中国多个传统故事，根据流传的原貌提炼加工后编写而成。

开启孩子们的心灵，就是开启智慧的宝盒。小小孩童长大成人时，也许还会记起这些故事带给自己的生命智慧和生活哲理。

下

这天，一个胖和尚来到小庙。

One day, a fat monk came to the temple.



他又累又渴，也进庙歇息一下，讨点水喝。

Tired out and thirsty, he came in to have a rest and ask for some drinking water.

一到水缸前，胖和尚就咕咚咕咚大喝起来，眨眼工夫，一缸水都被他喝完了。

Upon reaching the barrel, he began to drink like a fish. In the blink of an eye, he finished all the water in it.



小和尚和瘦和尚很生气 :“你喝了我们的水，得去挑水还给我们！”

The young monk and the thin one flew into a rage.“Now that you’ve used up the water, you must carry some for us,”they told the fatty.



胖和尚二话不说，就下山挑了两桶水回来。可是他挑水太累，又口渴了，忍不住把刚倒进水缸的水又一口气喝完了。

Without uttering a single word, the fat monk went to the river and carried back two buckets of water. However, tired out and thirsty from the work, he instantly drank all the water he’d just poured into the barrel.

三个和尚你看看我，我看看你，这可怎么办？

The three monks looked at each other having no idea what to do.

小和尚、瘦和尚对胖和尚说 :“你还得去挑！”

“You must go again,”the young monk and the thin one told the fatty.
 
胖和尚不服气 :“不行！凭什么老是我一个人挑！”三个人吵来吵去，最后谁也不理谁。

But the fatty disagreed,“No way! I’m not your water carrier!” The three fell into a quarrel and by the end would not cast a single eye on each other.



眼看天黑了，水缸里还是一滴水也没有。三人宁愿忍着口渴，也不愿下山挑水。

It would soon get dark. And still there was not a single drop of water in the barrel. None of the three would go fetching water, even though they were all thirsty.

就这样，转眼两天过去了，三个和尚实在口渴得受不了了。

Two days passed. The three monks were all thirsty to death.

傍晚，天上突然打了一个响雷。啊！要下雨了！三人喜出望外，飞快地拿着碗、瓢、桶奔到门外，准备接雨水喝。

At dusk, there suddenly sounded a snap of thunder. Rain was coming! Overjoyed, the monks picked up bowls, ladles and buckets, and ran out of the temple, hoping to collect some rainwater to quench their thirst.

没想到，一阵风吹过，头顶的乌云飘走了，老天爷还是没下雨。

To their disappointment, a strong wind rose and blew away the dark clouds over them. No rain came at all.



三个和尚只好舔舔干裂的嘴唇重新坐下来。他们渴得头昏眼花，念经都没了力气，更别说打扫香案、管理菜园了。

Hopeless, the monks went back and sat down licking their cracked lips. Thirst made them dizzy, and deprived them of the energy to chant sutras. Nor were they energetic enough to clean the praying hall or work the vegetable plot.



又到了晚上，昏黄的油灯下，三个和尚正在无精打采地打坐，一只老鼠蹑手蹑脚地溜进来，吱吱叫了两声，和尚们谁也懒得管。

Night came again. The three monks sat listlessly in meditation, around a dimly-lit oil lamp. A rat sneaked into their room, squeaking. But none of them bothered to drive it away.

老鼠见和尚们不打它，胆子便大起来，大摇大摆地向油灯跑去，想偷灯油吃。

Having met with no reaction from the monks, the rat became more daring. It swaggered toward the lamp, ready to steal a mouthful of oil from it.



 
不料撞倒了油灯，火苗点燃了香案上的台布，火越窜越大。

Accidentally, it knocked down the lamp and set fire to the cloth that covered the incense-burning table. Fueled by the oil, the fire began to rapidly spread throughout the temple.

着火了！着火了！和尚们大吃一惊，赶紧去救火，可是水缸里哪有水啊！没办法，只能跑到山下取水。

Fire! Fire! The astonished monks rushed to fight it. But there was no water in the barrel. What could they do? The only way was to fetch water from the river at the foot of the mountain.

三人拿起水桶，飞快地往山下跑，谁也顾不上偷懒了。

Each picking up a bucket, they ran down the mountain. Nobody dared be lazy, even for a second.



瘦和尚见小和尚跑得慢，一把抢过他手里的水桶，以更快的速度打来了水。胖和尚则一口气提起两桶水跑上山。

Seeing the young monk was running a little slowly, the thin monk helped him, taking over his load so they could move faster. Meanwhile the fat monk carried two buckets with him.

火终于扑灭了，小庙保住了。

In the end, they put out the fire, and the temple was saved.

三个和尚累得气喘吁吁，坐在地上，你看着我，我看着你，哈哈大笑起来，原来，大家为了救火，脸都熏黑了，只露出两只大眼睛。

Out of breath from fighting the fire, the three monks plopped onto the ground. They looked at one another and burst into laughter. During the fire their faces had become blackened with smoke, and now all they could see was each other’s blinking eyes. 



有了这次教训，三个和尚再也不敢偷懒了。

The accident had certainly taught them all a lesson. From now on they would no longer loaf on their duties.

他们每天念经、打坐、打扫庙堂、种植菜园、轮流挑水，互相帮助，水缸里再也没有缺过水。

Every day, they would chant sutras, sit in meditation, clean the rooms of the temple, and work together on the vegetable plot. They would also be sure to help each other and take turns to fetch water from the river. The barrel has always been full of water ever since.