At these words, the angel opened his arms, and Narzim felt as if he were descending gently towards the earth. "You have refused happiness at the price at which it was offered to you," said the angel, as he flew away; "but Brama is good; when you can no longer endure your misfortunes, call to me, and I shall be ever at hand to aid you."
He disappeared, and Narzim imagined in his dream that years passed rapidly before him; he seemed to have arrived at manhood, and to have acquired a friend. This friend said to him, "We will dwell in the same cottage. Missour shall be my mother; Elima shall be my sister. We will cultivate together the field of rice; the labour of our hands will render their subsistence more abundant." Afterwards it appeared to him that he went one day to the city of Delhi, to sell a little rice, a portion of the surplus of their crop; and that on his return he found neither his friend nor Elima. Missour, dying with grief, informed him that his friend, assisted by two men as wicked as himself, had carried her away by force; that she had never ceased to call her dear Narzim to her aid; that for a long time she had heard her cries; and that for herself, overwhelmed by the loss of Elima, and by the ill-treatment she had received in endeavouring to defend her, she felt that she was on the point of death. And indeed Missour expired shortly after she had said these words. Such, at least, was the dream of Narzim.
He fell into the deepest despair. "For them," he said, "I have refused both riches and pleasures, and, behold, they are both torn from me."
"Come, then," said the angel, suddenly presenting himself before him, "the sacrifice shall this time be very light. The faint hope of recovering Elima, is all that Brama desires you to abandon, in exchange for the delights that he will heap upon you."
"May I still preserve this hope then?" exclaimed Narzim.
"Brama," said the angel, "has given me no commands to take it from you, but I can do nothing to restore Elima to you."
"Mighty Depta, I will hasten to seek Elima through the whole world. The hope which you leave me is a blessing, which I cannot exchange for any other."
"Go! and when you are still more unhappy, call upon me. Brama has commanded me never to refuse you my aid."
Narzim sold his little inheritance and departed, seeking everywhere for his lost Elima, sometimes believing himself on the point of discovering her, at others despairing of ever beholding her again; and though often ready to sink overcome by grief, fatigue, and hunger, he never felt tempted to call upon the Depta, who would have required him to renounce the hope of finding her.
It seemed to him in his dream, that one evening, having sunk down at the gates of a large city, no longer able to struggle with his misfortunes, he awaited death, and did not desire to live. The angel presented himself before him, surrounded with a great light.