【哲理美文】我与生命中的四个老婆--The Four Wives (zt)

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. 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 but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always 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 is 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 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 me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into 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 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 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 like 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

所有跟帖： 

• Such a nice article！ Really enjoy it！ Thanks for sharing，文青！ -beautifulwind- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 11:32:03

• 猛一看标题，还以为是澳门赌王写的呢 -好学又好问- ♀ (65 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 11:52:43

• 好文。 -肖庄- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 12:05:59

• 谢谢妹妹美文！这个题目太 eye-catching 了. -NewVoice- ♀ (846 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 12:20:15

• 哈哈，我现在对这四个都不好，光顾小三了！ -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 12:22:05

• 好文必顶。看过Big Family 吗， Bill 有3个老婆， 真累。 -jingbeiboy- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 12:50:39

• 魔门教的？没看过，我现在the office还没看完第7季呢。 -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 12:54:52

• 不错， 是fundamentalist 摩门教。 蛮有趣的。 -jingbeiboy- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 13:07:01

• 什么是SOUL啊，太抽象了。对我来说，前三个就是SOUL的组成部分。 -cha-cha- ♀ (73 bytes) () 12/13/2011 postreply 17:44:31