Modal verb 'must' expresses obligation in simple structure.
There were too many monks and too little porridge. During mealtime, the monks scrambled about, and the meager portions of porridge were pushed around chaotically, leaving everyone hungry.
Someone suggested that an elder should be responsible for distributing the porridge. However, to secure more for themselves, some monks began to flatter the distributor; furthermore, due to varying degrees of personal relationships, the amount of porridge distributed was highly uneven.
Hungry monks then proposed a rotation system. While it sounded like a good idea, the result was that the person whose turn it was would eat until they were overstuffed, while everyone else would starve.
When the Abbot returned from his travels, he decided to grant one monk the full authority to distribute the porridge, ensuring a standard process, but with one crucial rule: the distributor must eat last. From then on, the monks were finally able to eat their warm porridge equally.
This story teaches us at least three important lessons:
① Everything must be regulated by systems and mechanisms;
② Systems must constantly innovate and evolve with the times;
③ A good mechanism is not necessarily complex, and a complex mechanism is not necessarily good.
僧多粥少。开饭时，僧人们四处奔忙，原本就稀少的粥被挤得乱七八糟，每个人都面临挨饿的窘境。
有人提议由一位长辈负责分粥。然而，为了多讨得一些，一些僧人开始对负责者阿谀奉承；此外，由于平日里交情深浅不一，分粥的量也变得参差不齐。
饥饿的僧人们又提议轮流分粥。起初听起来不错，可结果却是轮到某人时吃得撑死，而其他人却饿得晕厥。
方丈巡视归来后，决定由一名僧人全权负责分粥，确保分配标准统一，但同时也规定分粥的人必须最后吃粥。从此，僧人们终于能平等地享用热粥了。
这个故事至少向我们揭示了三点道理：
①一切事务都必须通过制度和机制来进行调节；
②制度必须不断创新，与时俱进；
③好的机制未必复杂，而复杂的机制未必就是好的。