all things
A long time ago in
Days passed days, and weeks passed weeks. Li-li and
her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the
situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-li had to bow to her mother-in -law and obey her every wish
All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing the poor husband great
distress. Finally, Li-li could not stand her
mother-law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do
something about it. Li-li went to see her father's
good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if
he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for
all.
Mr. Huang thought for a while, and finally said, "Li-li,
I will help you solve
your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you." Li-li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell
me to do."
Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package
of herbs. He told Li-li "You can't use a quick
acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people
to become suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will
slowly build up in her body. Every other day prepare some pork or chicken and
put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that
nobody suspects you when she dies, you must be very careful to act very
friendly towards her. Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her
like a queen."
Li-li was so
happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.
Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-li
served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr.
Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed
her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had
passed, the whole household had changed.
Li-li had practiced controlling her temper so much
that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an
argument in six months with her mother-in-law, who now seemed much kinder and
easier to get along with. The mother-in-law's attitude towards Li-li changed, and she began to love Li-li
like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like
a real mother and daughter, and Li-li's husband was
very happy to see what was happening.
One day, Li-li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for
his help again. She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the
poison from killing my
mother-in-law! She is changed into such a nice woman, and I love
her like my
mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her".
Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head, "Li-li,
there is nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave
you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and
your attitude towards her, but that has been all washed away by the love which
you gave to her".
MORAL: have you ever realized that how you treat others is exactly how they
will treat you? In
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them." Matthew 7:12 (KJV)