He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and
treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her
nothing butthe best.
He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's veryproud of her and always
wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always
ingreat fear that she might run away with some other men.
He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always
patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the
merchant faced someproblems, 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 is a very loyal partner and has 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 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, endowed you with
the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm
dying, will you follow meand keep me company?"
"No way!" replied the 4thwife and she walked away without another word.
The answer cut like a sharp knife right into themerchant'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 followme and keep me
company?"
"No!" replied the 3rd 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 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 andthe
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, 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 leave us when we die.
Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they
all go to others.
The 2nd 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 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of
material wealth and 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 deathbed to lament.
No comments:
Post a Comment