Moral behind story of the four wives

文章标题：Moral behind story of the four wives
文章作者：Geoff Tan
发表日期：2011年5月23日
发表媒体：《我报》My Paper

I AM well aware that Singapore does not encourage bigamy but, nonetheless, there is a lesson to learn from this story about a rich merchant with four wives.

The man loved his fourth wife the most and gave her only the best. He also loved his third wife, and was always showing her off to his friends.

His second wife was the confidante whom he turned to when he had problems. And his first wife was loyal to him and helped him to maintain his wealth and business, and took care of the household. However, the merchant hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill and was told that he would soon die. He thought of his life of luxury and told himself: “Now, I have four wives. But when I die, I’ll be alone. How lonely I’ll be!”

He asked the fourth wife: “I’ve loved you most and given you the finest clothing. Now that I’m dying, would you follow me and keep me company?”

She replied: “No way!” Then she walked away. That hurt him terribly.

The man asked his third wife the same thing, but she replied: “Life is so good here! I’m going to remarry when you die!” The merchant’s heart sank.

He asked the second wife: “I’ve always turned to you for help, and you’ve always helped me. When I die, would you follow me and keep me company?” She replied: “At most, I can only send you to your grave.” The merchant was devastated.

Then, his first wife spoke: “I’ll leave with you. I’ll follow you wherever you go.” She was skinny, and seemed almost as if she was suffering from malnutrition. In tears, the merchant said: “I should have taken better care of you when I could!”

What is the moral of this story? Well, let’s consider that we each have four “wives” in our lives. The fourth “wife” is our body. No matter how much time and effort we take to make it look good, it will leave us when we die.

Our third “wife” would be our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, others will take them from us. The second “wife” is our family and friends. Even if they are alive, the furthest they can stay with us is up to the grave.

The first “wife” is, in fact, our soul, the part that will be with us when we die. It is ironic that our soul is often neglected in our pursuit of material goals.

And when we eventually realise how important this first “wife” is, many of us will regret how we have neglected it for most of our lives, and wish we had paid more attention to it.

I’m sure you know now which “wife” you should look after most!


The writer is a senior vice-president of Singapore Press Holdings’ marketing division.