The Four Wives

there was a rich merchant who had four wives
he loved the fourth wife 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 her off to his friend
however,
the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other man

he too, loved his second wife
she is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant 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 showered 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 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're 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
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