“What dost thou wish, then?”
“Make the region of Death less delightful, less happy; if not, even those two when their springtime of love shall be ended will leave me and follow the others.”
Brahma thought for a moment and answered:
“No! Oh no! I will not decrease beauty and happiness in the region of Death, but I will do something for Life in its own realm. Henceforward people will not pass to the other shore willingly, they must be forced to it.”
When he had said this he made a thick veil out of darkness which no one could see through, and next he created two terrible beings, one of these he named Fear and the other one Pain. He commanded them then to hang that black veil at the Passage.
Thereafter Vishnu’s kingdom was as crowded with life as it had been, for though the region of Death was as calm, as serene, and as blissful as ever, people dreaded the Passage.
SMALL CHAPEL ON THE SIENKIEWICZ ESTATE