该句使用一般过去时描述人物的生活状态。
Two monks lived in temples on neighboring mountains. Between the two mountains flowed a stream, and every day the monks would go down at the same time to fetch water. Five years passed unknowingly. One day, the monk on the left mountain did not go out to fetch water. The monk on the right thought: “He must have overslept,” and paid no further attention. The next day, the left monk still did not go out, and the same happened on the third day. It wasn’t until a month later that the right monk began to worry, thinking, “Could my good friend be ill?” He climbed the left mountain to see his old friend. To his surprise, he found him practicing Tai Chi in front of the temple. He asked in astonishment, “You haven’t fetched water for a month, aren’t you thirsty?” The left monk pointed to a well and said, “For the past five years, after finishing my daily lessons, I took time to dig this well. Now that it finally has water, I no longer need to go down the mountain to fetch it, giving me plenty of time to practice the Tai Chi I love.”
有两个和尚各自住在邻近的两座山上的寺里。两座山中间有一条溪，两个和尚每日都是在同一时间出山去溪水抬水。不知不觉间，五年已经过去。突然有一天，左边山的和尚没有出山去打水，右边山的和尚心想：他睡过头了，便不以为意。第二天，左边的和尚仍未出山，第三天也是如此，直到再过一个月，右边山的和尚才想到：“我的好朋友可能生病了。”于是他爬上左边的山去见他的老朋友。当他见到左边的和尚已经在庙前打太极拳时，他非常惊讶地问：“你已经一个月没有出山抬水了，难道不渴吗？”左边的和尚指向一口井说：“这五年来，我每日课程结束后，都会抽时间挖这口井。如今，井里终于有水了，我不再需要出山抬水，这样我就有大量时间练我最喜欢的太极了。”