A long
time ago in China, a girl named Li-Li got married and went to live with her husband
and mother-in-law.
In a
very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn’t get along with her mother-in-law
at all. Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many
of her mother-in-law’s habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.
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-in-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 poison in her body. Every other
day prepare some delicious meal 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, 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 toward 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. 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, “Mr.
Huang, please help me to stop the poison from killing my mother-in-law! She’s
changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own 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’s 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 toward her, but that
has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her.”
Moral :
Make a conscious choice to see the good qualities of the person in
relationships , act it out, if necessary
and gradually and surely let time heal relationships…
