Saith Nanak, in the third watch man's thoughts are of woman and the pleasures of youth.

IV

In the fourth watch of night, O merchant friend, the reaper cometh to the field;

The secret hath been given to none when Death shall seize and take away his victim.

Think upon God; the secret hath been given to none when Death shall seize and take man away.

Hollow are the lamentations around. In one moment man's goods become another's.

He shall obtain those things on which he hath set his heart.[1]

Saith Nanak, O mortal, in the fourth watch the reaper hath reaped the field.[2]

When morning came, the grain-dealer's child died, and the grain-dealer and his relatives came forth weeping and wailing. Mardana asked the Guru what sudden change of fortune had come to those who yesterday had been engaged in their rejoicings

[1. It is supposed that man shall receive in the next world the things which formed the object of his last thoughts in this. He who has not fixed his thoughts on God at the last moment shall not find Him, but begin anew a course of transmigration. See Trilochan, Gûjari, vol. vi.

2. Sri Râg Pahare.]

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and saturnalia. Then the Guru uttered the following on the vicissitudes of human life:--

They to whose faces were uttered gratulations and hundreds of thousands of blessings,

Now smite their heads in grief; and their minds and bodies suffer agony.

Of the dead some are buried, others are thrown into rivers.'

The gratulations have passed away; but even so do thou, O Nanak, praise the True One.

As the Guru and Mardana pursued their way they saw a small enclosed field of gram.[3] The watchman of the field began to roast some for his dinner, while the Guru and Mardana gazed at him at a distance. As the watchman was preparing to eat, he saw them, and it occurred to him that they wanted something more dainty than gram, so he would go to his house and bring them better fare and comfortable bedding. As he stood up, the Guru, who did not wish to trouble him, asked whither he was going, and, on being informed, uttered the following verses:--

Thy pallet is a coverlet and mattress for me; thy love is my dainty dish.

Nanak is already satiated with thy good qualities; come back, O monarch.

In due time. the watchman obtained spiritual dignity in return for his, kind intentions towards the Guru.

There was at that time a shopkeeper whose mind had taken a religious bent, and who desired to meet a religious guide. He heard of Guru Nanak's arrival, and vowed that he would not eat or drink until he had had all interview with him. Having

[1. The Musalmâns burn their dead. The Hindus cremate them, or throw them into their sacred streams.