is hand, directed me to approach the place where he sat.

"I drew near with that reverence which is due to a superior nature; and
as my heart was entirely subdued by the captivating strains I had heard,
I fell down at his feet and wept. The Genius smiled upon me with a look
of compassion and affability that familiarized him to my imagination,
and at once dispelled all the fears and apprehensions with which I
approached him. He lifted me from the ground, and taking me by the hand,
'Mirzah,' said he, 'I have heard thee in thy soliloquies; follow me.'

"He then led me to the highest pinnacle of the rock, and placing me on
the top of it, 'Cast thy eyes eastward,' said he, 'and tell me what thou
seest.' 'I see,' said I, 'a huge valley, and a prodigious tide of water
rolling through it.' 'The valley that thou seest,' said he, 'is the Vale
of Misery, and the Tide of Water that thou seest is part of the great
Tide of Eternity,' 'What is the reason,' said I, 'that the tide I see
rises out of a thick mist at one end, and again loses itself in a thick
mist at the other?' 'What thou seest,' said he, 'is that portion of
eternity which is called Time, measured out by the sun, and reaching
from the beginning of the world to its consummation.'

"'Examine now,' said he, 'this sea that is bounded with darkness at both
ends, and tell me what thou discoverest in it.' 'I see a bridge,' said
I, 'standing in the midst of the tide.' 'The bridge thou seest,' said
he, 'is Human Life; consider it attentively.' Upon a more leisurely
survey of it, I found that it consisted of threescore and ten entire
arches, with several broken arches, which, added to those that were
entire, made up the number about an hundred. As I was counting the
arches, the Genius told me that this bridge had consisted at first of a
thousand arches; but that a great flood swept away the rest and left the
bridge in the ruinous condition I now beheld it.

"'But tell me further,' said he, 'what thou discoverest on it.' 'I see
multitudes of people passing over it,' said I, 'and a black cloud
hanging on each end of it.' As I looked more attentively, I saw several
of the passengers dropping through the bridge, into the great tide that
flowed underneath it; and, upon further examination, perceived that
there were innumerable trap-doors that lay concealed in the bridge,
which the passengers no sooner trod upon, but they fell through them
into the tide and immediately disappeared.