Two Bowls of Porridge

Immediately after the Second World War, when the Foochows were still smarting from the ravages of the Japanese Occupation a mother in law and daughter in law team had to make ends meet because the old father in law had just passed away from a severe stomach ailment. The young son had gone a little unstable because of the poverty and the war.

One day the mother in law was not feeling well and she had to lie down. The daughter in law quickly finished her chores in order to cook some porridge for the mother in law.

They had only a little bit of rice left. That was why she had to cook porridge with a lot of water. This was also to last until the evening meal.

Just as she was about to fill three bowls of rice, her young husband came in and pulled one bowl of porridge away from her. Because it was very hot, he dropped the porridge on the floor and broke the bowl. He was also scalded by the domestic accident. She quickly splashed some water on his reddening skin.

Just at that time, her mother in law called her and she quickly brought one bowl of porridge for her. Her mother in law was very happy to have that bowl of porridge in her hands and she started telling the daughter in law that she could see one piece of lovely pork inside the porrridge and half a salted egg too.

The daughter in law was very saddened by this imagination but any way , she just smiled through her tears. Her mother in law thanked her for her kindness and further added that the porridge was truly delicious.

Very encouraged by her wise mother in law's creative imagination, she quickly took the other bowl of porridge to her very upset husband and asked him to eat it. She told him to be more careful next time and at the same time tried her very best to calm him.

Although there was still some porridge left in the pot, she decided that what was left should be for the evening meal. And she would go without her lunch.

She picked up the broken pieces and threw them out of the window into the stream and sat down looking at the water. Her tears flowed down her cheeks and she could taste the salt .

Just then she realised that it was very important that life must have salt. Salt was an ingredient to balance the taste in food, it was a preservative agent, and it was also an antiseptic. She also thought that she should make more salt from the nipah palm and go down to the sea to harvest the sea salt by boiling the sea water in the traditional way.

This was how the filial daughter in law save the family from further poverty. Because she was such a good person, she as well as her mother in law and husband were blessed bountifully .