THE FOUR WIVES
There was a rich merchant who
had four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most and adorned her with rich
robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her
nothing but the best .
He also loved the third wife very much . He
was very proud of her and always wanted to show her off to his friends .
However , the merchant was always in great fear that she might run away with
some other men.
He also loved his second wife .
She was a considerate person , always patient and in fact was the merchant’s
confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his
second wife and she would always help him out and guide him through difficult
times.
Now, the merchant’s first wife
was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his
wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the
merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he
hardly took notice of her .
One day, the merchant fell ill.
Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious
life and told himself, “Now I have four wives with me. But when I die, I’ll be
alone . How lonely I’ll be!
Thus , he asked the fourth
wife, “I loved you most , endowed you with the finest clothing and showered
great care over you. Now that I’m dying , will you follow me and keep my
company?”
“Now way!” replied the fourth
wife and she walked away with another word.
The answer cut like a sharp
knife right into the merchant’s heart . The sad merchant then asked the third
wife, “I have loved you so much all my life . Now that I’m dying , will you
follow me and keep me company?”
“No!” replied the third
wife.”Life is so good over here! I’m
going to remarry when you die!” The merchant’s heart sank and turned cold.
He then asked the second wife,
“I always turned to you for help and you have always helped me out. Now I need your help again.
When I die , will you follow me and keep me company ?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t help you out this time !”
replied the second wife.”At the very most, I can only send you to your grave.”
The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.
Then a voice called out, “I’ll leave with you.
I’ll follow you no matter where you go.” The merchant looked up and there was
his first wife. She was so skinny almost as if she was suffering from
malnutrition . Greatly grieved, the merchant said ,”I should have taken much
better care of you while I could have !”
Actually , we all have four
wives in our lives
The fourth wife is our body .
No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it’ll
leave use we die.
Our third wife? Our
possessions, status and wealth . When we die they all go to others.
The second wife is our family
and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we’re alive ,
the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.
The first wife is in fact our
deeds, often neglected in our pursuit of material , wealth and sensual pleasure
.
Guess what ?
This is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go . Perhaps
it’s a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until
we’re on our deathbed to lament.
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