The Inevitability of Misery

Misery (personified as Béda or Kruchina) is an inescapable companion in human life, clinging to Niafer and Manuel alike, and the narrative suggests that all human endeavors are shadowed by suffering and impermanence.

Freydis knows that age, sorrow, and death will ambush her now that she is mortal, but she accepts this fate.

Manuel directly addresses Misery, acknowledging its presence and the futility of trying to escape it.

Freydis states that those who attempt to bring back the dead come to misery, and Manuel's journey northward foreshadows a turn toward sorrow.

Manuel deliberately seeks out and confronts the Misery of earth, personified as a clay head.