the last 2 paragraphs in chapter 3 page 39-40 explain their meaning in the novel

Kino feels the illusion of the Pearl. He sees the Pearl not as a one way ticket to the destruction of his family but rather a warm glow of a promising future,

"And the beauty of the pearl, winking and glimmering in the light of the

little candle, cozened his brain with its beauty. So lovely it was, so

soft, and its own music came from it- its music of promise and delight,

its guarantee of the future, of comfort, of security."

The vision that Kino sees is largely an illusion of his own making. Kino has yet to see the evil in men, and perhaps himself, that the pearl will bring out. The comforting scene actually foreshadows the opposite which the pearl will bring into his life.