The schoolchildren in a poor desert village don't have a fancy well to drink at, or a fountain. Instead, there is a large water jar standing in the schoolyard for them to quench their thirst at. When the jar cracks, it is a major calamity for the children, who have to travel a long way to get a drink from the river. The village potter tries to repair it, but to no avail. When thirsty children suffer an accident by going to the river, one of the childrens' mothers goes door to door collecting money for a new water jar, receiving sarcasm in equal measure with bits of money. Once enough money is raised, she sends her son by bus to the city to get a new jar and return with it.