FOODFORTHOUGHT

FOUR WIVES
Author Unknown
September 21, 2011

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 her off 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? 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.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join our group on Facebook and post your comments on the reflection: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142903436398

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/efoodforthought

Webpage: http://www.dailyfoodforthought.org/
Group Address: http://groups.google.com/group/dailyfoodforthought

GROUP CONTACT:
To subscribe from this group, share a reflection or feedback
on the reflection of the day, send email to: foodforthought2@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe : dailyfoodforthought-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

DISCLAIMER: FoodForThought shared this message as submitted and do not
claim to own any copyright privileges on it. All the messages are
believed to be free for circulation or public domain. All messages come
in either by email in original form or copied from the internet sites.
The work was submitted to us as an item for distribution, and it was
posted solely on the basis of its quality.

© 2011 FoodForThought