Any parable is a short story. The conclusion from it is some kind of moral maxim, which the author or narrator of the parable of happiness wants to convey to the listener or reader.
Basically, the source of these legends in the European tradition is the New Testament, in which the Savior chose this form of conveying wisdom to ordinary people. But before analyzing the traditions of female happiness that are in the Gospel, it is interesting to study the entire eastern parable tradition on this topic and evaluate the similarities and differences.
As a rule, these parables were always first told and then recorded, and the works of scribes and interpreters could conceal or lose their meaning, moral message for centuries. Wise parables about happiness could lose some of the wisdom that is contained in obscure shades to us, but the main maxim has always remained unchanged.
Chinese parables about female happiness
The Chinese most often reduce their traditions of happiness to questions of harmony and wisdom. Women's happiness in China is not finding or gaining romantic affection, but a harmonious existence in the house - full bowl - with healthy sons.
The most famous Chinese parable about female happiness tells of a woman and a Feng Shui master.
The latter asked the poor person to get drunk. She threw some straw into the bowl of water. The angry master deceived the woman, offering her to move the house to a dead place, not in a successful place, in order to increase her happiness and prosperity. Imagine his surprise when he saw that her affairs had come in full order. He reminded her of the straw. The woman replied that she had forced the master to drink more slowly, and he did not get sick, having drunk icy spring water in a hurry and eagerly. He realized that for her kindness and wisdom, the Buddha bestowed happiness, and the human desire to harm went against the will of the deity.
So the Chinese maxim of female happiness is simple: do what you must, and Buddha will take into account.
Indian parables about female happiness
Indian parables about female happiness are not always stories about Sita and Rama, where only self-sacrifice is rewarded. There are legends that carry a more gentle and human ideology.
But it is interesting that almost all Indian parables, where a woman is an independent actor, belong to the period of the Great Mongols, they are Islamic, not Vedic.
So, in the tale of cow’s milk, the wise daughter of the philosopher saves his father from the violence of the padishah, who entrusted him with the impossible task - to find cow’s milk. With a successful joke about a man’s pregnancy, the girl softens the master’s anger and, as a result, thanks to her courage, ingenuity and intelligence, becomes his wife.
Fate, which steadily leads to the death of a woman almost at the beginning of every story - a parable, Sita defeats suicide and a bonfire, and the daughter of the philosopher - wits. This, at least, allows us to say that in the Islamic religious tradition the role of women is much higher than in more ancient religions, and she not only has more rights to happiness, but can also share her joy with loved ones.
Parables of Women's Happiness in "A Thousand and One Nights"
The number of legends about smart, beautiful and successful women in the collection of Arab and Iranian tales is in the hundreds. In almost every of them, smart ladies rid lovers of problems, guide people on the true path, save kingdoms. The main maxim of almost every parable about female happiness is a logical message: your happiness is in your hands. It is the fruit of your mind and inner strength.
The parables about happiness here, obviously, can be considered as a tool to increase the competitiveness of a population by creating an independent player or fighter from a woman. You can recall at least the story of Ali Baba. And this message is obvious in almost all Arabic legends.
Buddhist parables about female happiness
Buddhism, which is characteristic, in its tales does not separate men and women. We are all on the path of rebirth, and female happiness is not different from male happiness, the purpose of life is to enlighten and be reborn at a higher level. These are, rather, algorithms for achieving nirvana, and not parables about happiness, short instructions on the path of protection and development of the soul do not look like a recommendation, but an instruction.
The road to happiness in Buddhism is laden with philosophical knowledge, and not with handmade carpets, as in the Arab tradition and some Russian fairy tales. This feeling is nothing more than a state of mind. It is intangible. If you want to be happy, be it, because the Buddha said so.
Parables about female happiness in the European tradition
The European tradition of tales of female happiness grew out of the parables of King Solomon and the story of two Mary. Three thousand legends of the said ruler is a set of moral standards, with the help of which he carried out non-verbal control of the people.
If the king, the polygamist, did not pay much attention to the issues of women's independent achievement of happiness, then Jesus emphasized that he was more dear not to Mary, who cares about receiving guests, but the one who listens to his speeches. Interestingly, the later religious tradition of this promise was not heard, and continued to determine the place of women in the kitchen.
Thus, we can draw attention to the fact that respect for the rights of women to happiness and its independent achievement is in Confucianism, Islam and early Christianity. Hinduism, Judaism, and later (before Protestantism) Christianity did not consider a woman as an object of action and almost completely deprived her of the right to independent happiness. Already during the early Renaissance, the influence of the East manifested itself, first of all, in The Decameron and similar collections of short stories - the same parables about happiness. And again, smart wives and successful lovers are born.
