“Away with thy book!” cried the worshipper of Kalí; “I desire not thy jewels, nor will I listen to thee.”
At that moment there was heard a loud noise of drumming and shouting; a great multitude was about to pour forth from the city to worship the idol. And with the multitude Mulá Mal went forth: he had despised the message of his Father; he had lost the treasure which had been freely offered to him,—even Pardon, Purity, and Heaven.
Narayan Das sighed deeply. “Alas!” he cried, “woe is me that the ear should be closed to the voice of friendship, and that the eye should be turned away from the gift of a Father’s love! But if my message be rejected by the first brother, it may find a place in the heart of the second.”
By mere inquiries Narayan Das found the house of the second son, Biharí Lal.
Biharí Lal was a more sensible man than Mulá Mal, and he did not think scorn of the messenger, nor of the message, as his brother had done.
“Surely,” he said to himself, “no light cause would have made this good man leave his country, travel so great a distance, and go through so many dangers to bring good tidings to me. Perhaps in the place of which he tells me this treasure may really be hidden. Would it not be wisdom in me at least to read the letter which he says that my Father has written, and to try whether the jewels Pardon, Purity, and Heaven may not be found at the foot of the Cross?”
Narayan Das saw with joy that Biharí Lal was not as the deaf adder that will not hear the voice of the charmer. He was not as the blind man who sits hungry beneath the date-tree, and who knows not that its clusters of fruit are within his reach.
“Oh haste, my lord!” cried the messenger; “for if you delay, who knows whether you may not lose for ever the ruby, the pearl, and the diamond which are freely offered to you by your Father!”
But Biharí Lal made reply: “I cannot and I will not set forth at once, nor have I time at present even to read the letter of my Father. Bales of merchandise have just arrived from Persia; I must examine their contents. I have many friends in the city, and I have invited them all to a banquet. Business takes up my time, and what is left from business is filled up by amusement. Go your way now, O messenger! perhaps when I have nothing else to do I may seek from you guidance to the place where I may find the ruby, the pearl, and the diamond, in their setting of gold.”