Textos em Inglês: The Merchant With Four Wives

Você gosta de textos em inglês, certo? Então, leia, curta e compartilhe o texto abaixo. Ele é uma adaptação de uma história comum no mundo árabe. Trata-se de uma parábola sufi que conta a história de um comerciante (merchant) e suas quatro esposas (four wives). A versão que segue abaixo é uma simplificada por Turgay Evren e narrada por Lee Wright. Como é de praxe nas histórias desse gênero, há no final uma pequena lição de moral (bottom line) interpretada para nossa realidade.

Para deixar tudo ainda melhor, as palavras/expressões sublinhadas e com um número lado são traduzidas no final do texto. As outras marcadas com um link apontam para dicas relacionadas a cada uma dentro do Inglês na Ponta da Língua. Assim, os textos em inglês publicados ficarão muito mais interessantes de ler, ouvir, aprender  e revisar conteúdo.

THE MERCHANT WITH FOUR WIVES

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 (1).

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 (2), always patient and in fact is the merchant’s confidant (3). Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his second wife and she would always help him out and guide 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 (4) taking care of the household (5). 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 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 (6).” 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 (7) in making it look good, it’ll never leave with 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.

Bottom line (8): the first wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit (9) 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 (10) to lament.

(01) dava a ela do bom e de melhor
(02) uma pessoa muito atenciosa
(03) confidente
(04) assim como
(05) família (incluindo todos os que moram em uma casa: membros diretos da família e seus empregados)
(06) onde quer que você vá
(07) gastar abundantemente
(08) moral da história
(09) busca
(10) leito de morte

Gostou dessa maneira diferente de aprender com textos em inglês? Então, deixe seu comentário abaixo. Quero saber se você gostou e o que dá para melhorar ainda. Caso queira ler mais textos em inglês, veja a dica Textos em Inglês Para Iniciantes. Lembre-se: quanto mais textos em inglês você ler, melhor será para o desenvolvimento dos seus conhecimentos da língua inglesa.

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