Complex sentence: A long time ago when the temple was a shabby hut and the Monk could barely live on the small income he gained as practising mendicant, he had a cat and cared for it like his own child, sharing his own meal with it.
Split into simpler sentences: A long time ago when the temple was a shabby hut and the Monk could barely live on the small income he gained as practising mendicant. He had a cat and cared for it like his own child, sharing his own meal with it.