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 the3rd wife very much. He was very proud of her andalways wanted
to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in
great fear that she might run away with some other men. He too, loved
his 2nd wife. She was a very considerate person, always patient and in
fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some
problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help
him out and tide him through difficult times. Now, the merchant's 1st
wife was avery loyal partner and hasmade great contributions in
maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the
household. However, the merchant did not love thefirst wife and
although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her. One day,
the merchant fellill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die
soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4
wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"
Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowedyou with the
finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying,
will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th
wife and she walked away withoutanother word. The answercut like a
sharp knife rightinto the merchant's heart.
The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much
for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me
company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm
goingto remarry when you die!" The merchant's heartsank and turned
cold. He then asked the 2nd wife,"I always turned to you for help and
you've 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 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only
send you to yourgrave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the
merchant was devastated.
Then a voice called out :"I'll live 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, almostlike she suffered from malnutrition.
Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better
care of you while I could have!"
Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives ....... The 4th wife is our
body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look
good, it'll never live with us when we die. Our 3rd wife? Our
possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.
The 2nd wife is our family andfriends. 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. BOTTOMLINE! "The 1st wife is in fact our soul,
often neglected in our pursuit of material wealthand sensual pleasure.
Guess what? It 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 death-bed to lament."
--
- - - - - - -