從前,有個商人娶了四個老婆，他對除了大老婆之外的三個小老婆寵愛有加，以不同的方式愛著她們。臨終前，商人問四個老婆誰愿意陪伴著他，隨他而去。二老婆、三老婆和四老婆一一搖頭，誰都不愿意。在商人傷心至極之時，他那面黃肌瘦的大老婆在一旁說道：“我愿意陪你去，無論你到哪里，我都愿意跟著你。”……商人悲痛萬分，后悔莫及。
其實，我們每個人的一生中都有四個愛人相伴。讀這篇文章，感動之余，你一定能悟出點什么。
There was a rich merchant
who had four wives. He loved the fourth 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 first 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 four wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"
Thus, he asked the fourth wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the
finest clothing and showed great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you
follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the fourth 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 third 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
third 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 second 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
second 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 four wives in our lives.
The fourth 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 third wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all
go to others.
The second 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 first 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.
