Beautiful Inspiring Story: Four Wives

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the forth 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'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 second 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 second 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 !"

Moral from The Beautiful Story:

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. 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.

b. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, 

they all go to others.

c. 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.

d. 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

Author:Unknown