How Third Wife Taught the Son
(Sānniáng Jiào Zǐ 三娘教子)

In ancient times there lived a rich merchant named XUĒ Guǎng 薛广, who had three wives. The first wife had no children. The second had a little son named XUĒ Yǐgē 薛倚哥. The third, who had originally been a serving girl, was named WÁNG Chūn’é 王春娥, and, like the Number-one wife, she had no children. They all lived together in harmony.

One time, Xuē Guǎng went out on a trading trip with a friend. But the friend betrayed him on the road and stole all his wealth, then had him sent off to the wars as an impressed soldier. The friend even bought a coffin, put stones inside to simulate the weight of a body, and brought it back with the news that on the road Xuē Guǎng had taken sick and died.

The whole family was overcome at the news. The number-one and number-two wives had no desire to remain widows, and argued that the best thing was to split the family and use their share to marry other men. Wáng, the number-three wife, believed it was only proper to send for the coffin and have their husband buried before making such a decision. The other two didn’t want to pay for this, so Wáng paid herself to have the old family servant, named XUĒ Bǎo 薛保, bring back Xuē Guǎng’s coffin for burial.

It was not long before the family divided, and the number-one and number-two wives took their money and went off to remarry. Number-two wife didn’t even want to keep her son, little XUĒ Yǐgē, and left him behind, so number-three wife Wáng Chūn’é looked after Xuē Yǐgē and eked out a living by weaving.

“When the old servant Xuē Bǎo returned, he found Third Wife furious”
(Reverse Glass Painting from the Mei Lin Collection [Rupprecht Mayer and Haitang Mayer-Liem])"

One day little Yǐgē returned home from his studies, and Third Wife Wáng asked him to recite what he had memorized. He refused, saying she wasn’t his real mother, and had no right to demand things of him.

Wáng was both furious and heartbroken at his ingratitude, and in her distress she deliberately broke her weaving shuttle, symbolizing that she would not continue to weave for him in that case.

When the old servant Xuē Bǎo returned, he found Third Wife furious, and little Yǐgē refused to explain the problem. Xuē Bǎo decided it must be that she was unhappy about having so little money and wanted to marry again. Unwilling to leave him with such an impression, Wáng Chūn’é at length told him the problem was having an ungrateful child.

“The child apologized to Third Wife and asked her to beat him.”
(Reverse Glass Painting from the Mei Lin Collection [Rupprecht Mayer and Haitang Mayer-Liem])"

Xuē Bǎo gently took little Yǐgē to Xuē Guǎng’s nearby tomb, and told him about how his real mother had abandoned him, and about the sacrifices that Third Wife had made for him.

Moved, the child apologized to Third Wife, promised he would never again treat her as he had, and asked her to beat him. She could not bring herself to do so. Instead she urged him to study hard, and she told him stories of many an ancient hero who had succeeded after great toil and bitterness.

As little Yǐgē grew, he succeeded well with his studies, and at length passed the highest civil service exams, was appointed to high office, made money, and provided well for his adoptive mother.

Meanwhile Xuē Guǎng, who had not died on the trading trip, of course, but had merely been carried off to war, and who had not died in the war either, reappeared as a great general after many adventures, and the three were reunited into a happy family.