English Original
There once was a small kingdom around a lake. One very hot summer it did not rain and the lake dried up. People grew anxious and went to the king.
"It has not rained for so long. Our fields are barren!" said the farmers.
"There's no fish to catch. How shall we earn a living?" asked the fisherman.
"Save us from disaster, good king," urged the women, and the children cried with thirst.
The king sent his four generals to search for water in all directions. The first general went east, towards the sunrise; the second to the south, to dust and heat; the third went west, where the sun sets; and the fourth followed the North Star.
They searched day and night, high and low, but in vain.
Three generals returned empty-handed. But the general who had gone north, determined not to fail his king, finally reached a cold mountain village.
As he sat at the foot of the mountain, an old woman came by and sat next to him. The general pointed at the horizon and said, "I belong to a beautiful kingdom where it has not rained for a whole year. Can you help me find water?"
The woman motioned the general to follow her up the mountain and into a cave. "We have no water in our country either," she said. Then, pointing to the icicles in the cave, she continued, "We call this ice. Take some, and your kingdom will never go thirsty again." The general broke off a huge piece, loaded it onto his horse-cart, and rushed back home.
By the time he reached the court, the enormous icicle had melted into a small lump of ice. Nobody in the court had ever seen ice, so everybody gazed at it with wonder!
"This must be a water-seed," one of the ministers exclaimed suddenly.
The king ordered the "water-seed" to be sown immediately. While the farmers dug a hole, the lump dwindled in the sun. They swiftly placed the seed in the hole, but before they could cover it, it had vanished. The farmers grew confused and worried. They dug the earth deeper and deeper into the night, looking for the mysterious seed.
At the break of dawn, the king found the farmers fast asleep around a hole. Curiously, he peeped in and cried out in amazement, "Wake up, my worthy men! The water-seed has sprouted! There's water in the hole!"
This is how the first well was created.
中文翻译
从前，有一个环绕着湖泊的小王国。一个非常炎热的夏天，天没有下雨，湖泊干涸了。人们变得焦虑不安，去找国王。
农夫们说：“已经很久没下雨了。我们的田地都贫瘠了！”
渔夫问道：“没有鱼可捕。我们该如何谋生？”
妇女们恳求道：“英明的国王，救我们于灾难吧。”孩子们也渴得直哭。
国王派他的四位将军去四面八方寻找水源。第一位将军向东，朝着日出方向；第二位向南，去往尘土与炎热之地；第三位向西，去往日落之处；第四位则跟随北极星向北。
他们日夜搜寻，上上下下，但都徒劳无功。
三位将军空手而归。但那位北上的将军，下定决心不辜负国王，最终到达了一个寒冷的山村。
当他坐在山脚下时，一位老妇人走过来坐在他旁边。将军指着地平线说：“我来自一个美丽的王国，那里已经一整年没下雨了。你能帮我找到水吗？”
老妇人示意将军跟随她上山，进入一个洞穴。“我们国家也没有水，”她说。然后，她指着洞里的冰锥继续说道：“我们称这个为冰。拿一些回去，你的王国就再也不会缺水了。”将军掰下一大块，装到他的马车上，急忙赶回家。
当他到达宫廷时，巨大的冰锥已经融化成一小块冰。宫廷里没人见过冰，所以大家都惊奇地凝视着它！
“这一定是水种子，”一位大臣突然喊道。
国王下令立即“播种”这颗水种子。农夫们挖坑时，那块冰在阳光下缩小了。他们迅速将种子放入坑中，但还没来得及盖上土，它就消失了。农夫们感到困惑和担忧。他们整夜把地挖得越来越深，寻找那颗神秘的种子。
黎明时分，国王发现农夫们围着一个坑熟睡着。他好奇地往里窥视，惊讶地喊道：“醒来吧，我可敬的子民！水种子发芽了！坑里有水了！”
第一口井就是这样诞生的。