The Pilgrim’s Progress
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Dedication.
From the Editor.
Apology.
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS – PART I
Chap 1. Christian’s Deplorable Condition .
Chap 2. The Narrow Gate .
Chap 3. Delivered of His Burden at the Cross .
Chap 4. Facing the Enemy .
Chap 5. Christian Joins Faithful.
Chap 6. Vanity Fair.
Chap 7. Hopeful Joins Christian.
Chap 8. The Delectable Mountains.
Chap 9. Fellowship and the Enchanted Ground.
Chap 10. Beulah Land and Beyond .
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS – PART II
Part II .
Chap One. Christiana Becomes a Pilgrim .
Chap Two. The Entrance to The Way of the King is a Narrow Gate.
Chap Three. The Interpreter.
Chap Four. Mr. Great-heart.
Chap Five. The Palace Beautiful.
Chap Six. Humiliation and Deliverance.
Chap Seven. Many More Friends.
Chap Eight. The Pilgrims´ Company .
Chap Nine. Summoned by the King.
Title Page
The
Pilgrim’s
Progress
from this
world to that
which is
to come
By John Bunyan
Updated English
by Russell M. Stendal
RANSOM PRESS INTERNATIONAL
*****************************************
The
Pilgrim’s Progress
from
This World
to
That Which Is to Come
Delivered,
Under the Similitude of a Dream,
in Two Parts
By John Bunyan (1678)
***********************************
The Pilgrim’s Progres
John Bunyan (1678)
Complete and Unabridged
Based on the original text:
Philadelphia, R.W Pomeroy, 1832
Revisions to update the Old English, Copyright 2020
Ransom Press International
Russell M. Stendal: Editor
All Scripture from the Jubilee Bible, Copyright
2000, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2019, 2020
Ransom Press International
Russell M. Stendal: Translator and Editor
Copy editor and proofreader: Michell Rayburn
Cover Art: Matt Phileo
Illustrations — Artist: Henry Courtney Selous (1803 – 1890)
Engravers: William James Linton (1812 – 1897)
Léon Louis Chapon (1836 – 1918)
Digital art and restoration: Stephen Miller
Layout: Martha Jaramillo R
Ransom Press International
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Hollywood, Florida, 33021
ransompress@outlook.com
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64765-028-5
eBook ISBN: 978-1-64765-029-2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Dedication.
From the Editor.
Apology.
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS – PART I
Chapter 1. Christian’s Deplorable Condition .
Chapter 2. The Narrow Gate .
Chapter 3. Delivered of His Burden at the Cross .
Chapter 4. Facing the Enemy .
Chapter 5. Christian Joins Faithful.
Chapter 6. Vanity Fair.
Chapter 7. Hopeful Joins Christian.
Chapter 8. The Delectable Mountains.
Chapter 9. Fellowship and the Enchanted Ground.
Chapter 10. Beulah Land and Beyond .
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS – PART II
Part II .
Chapter One. Christiana Becomes a Pilgrim .
Chapter Two. The Entrance to The Way of the King is a Narrow Gate.
Chapter Three. The Interpreter.
Chapter Four. Mr. Great-heart.
Chapter Five. The Palace Beautiful.
Chapter Six. Humiliation and Deliverance.
Chapter Seven. Many More Friends.
Chapter Eight. The Pilgrims´ Company .
Chapter Nine. Summoned by the King.
Dedication.
This Special Edition is dedicated to everyone,
everywhere that loves the truth,
And in particular to our dear friend,
Carol Dufendach,
and her entire (natural and spiritual) extended family.
Carol, a fervent lover of truth, was one of the first
to promote and help extend our ministry in
the great State of Alaska and beyond.
It is friendship with her, and with those like her,
that has helped encourage and inspire
us to undertake projects such as this.
In the highest sense, of course,
our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth
From the Editor.
John Bunyan was born in 1628, seventeen years after the Authorized Version of the Bible was approved by King James and published (in 1611). Even though the intensity of the persecution of genuine believers was diminishing (in the sense that capital punishment was not as likely), religious freedom remained limited. At the time, clergy were well educated, and there were virtually no legal opportunities for an unlicensed, poor, unsophisticated, nonconformist preacher like Bunyan.
Bunyan, a tinker by trade, insisted on preaching not only to closed groups (such as the Congregational Church at Bedford) but also in public (and to great effect); this led to ongoing confrontation with secular and ecclesiastical authorities, which resulted in Bunyan being imprisoned on at least three occasions, for a total of over twelve years behind bars, before eventually being pardoned and licensed to teach. Not only was the cold, dark prison a hazard to his health and a trial to his faith, it also imposed severe hardship on his wife and four children (one of whom was blind).
Yet it was while in prison (between 1660 and 1672 and again for six months in 1675) that Bunyan had his famous dream(s) and subsequently wrote The Pilgrim´s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come in two parts in addition to many other writings. It has been said that John Bunyan had a very simple personal library consisting only of his Bible and a four-volume edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. His inspiration did not come from advanced theological training but from the Scriptures in the light of a very close personal relationship with the Lord. In this volume, note the extensive and virtually unprecedented use of Scripture.
This special edition of The Pilgrim´s Progress was born out of my frustrating quest to find an accurate Spanish translation of this work for use in our Latin America ministry. Then, I began to search for an appropriate English edition to serve as the basis for a Spanish translation. Once again, I was stymied. All of the editions I have collected (some plain and some fancy), which have been published over the past one hundred years or so, have also been so edited or abridged that it soon became clear to me that the original intent of the author had been (at least, in certain places) significantly altered.
I have not been able to find an edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress published in the past hundred or so years that has not in some way degraded, twisted, manipulated, or even deleted serious portions of the text that did not happen to line up with the modern doctrinal views of the editors (and different editors, in their varying editions, tended to distort entirely separate sections according to their conflicting theological views).
Even between my 1832 and 1893 editions significant manipulation occurred, particularly with the author’s notes (early editions have them in the margin; nineteenth century editions and on have them converted into footnotes). By 1893, many notes were missing, or others that were not written by the author had been added. Also, many of the original Scripture references had been deleted or replaced with other references that detracted from rather than strengthened the original argument.
Therefore, as our base text, we used a simple, no[1]frills pocket edition published by R.W. Pomeroy in Philadelphia (1832) in which the original spelling has been somewhat reformed but the Scripture references and footnotes (formerly margin notes) are much more intact.
So, what has our editing accomplished?
The original style of Bunyan reads half like a screenplay and half like normal dialogue with narration mixed in. Also, things such as capitalization, punctuation, and so on seem to blend according to Bunyan’s own style. We have turned the screenplay parts into normal dialogue and bent or even disregarded some of the modern rules of English so as to preserve the original style and meaning. We have also divided the book into chapters with subheadings to provide added comfort to the reader.
We have gone through and solved some puzzles with the Old English, particularly with the slang used in certain parts of England prior to 1660 that, unlike the King James Bible (or even Shakespeare), contained words that are no longer relevant in any dictionary and that were combined in such a manner as to be exceedingly obscure. In other places, I left some “gems” intact because I thought they were so priceless that I could not bring myself to mess with them (also thinking that the reader could probably eventually figure them out). There were, however, places where I simply could not find an exact modern equivalent.
Here are two examples or the original and edited versions:
1. As Cristiana and Mercy come up the hill Difficulty, the thirsty pilgrims come to a spring of water that has been deliberately muddied by the feet of some that do not desire for pilgrims to be able to quench their thirst.
Thereat Mercy said, “And why so envious, trow?” At this, Mercy said, “This is unimaginable; why so spiteful?”
2. While Christiana and friends are at the house of Mr. Mnason in Vanity Fair, here is part of the conversation :
Then said Mr. Dare-not-lie; “It is true, they neither have the pilgrim’s weed, nor the pilgrim’s courage; they go not uprightly, but all awry with their feet; one shoe goeth inward, another outward; and their hosen out behind; here a rag, and there a rent, to the disparagement of their Lord.”
Then Mr. Dare-not-lie said, “It is true. They have neither the pilgrim’s bearing, nor the pilgrim’s courage; they do not go uprightly, but all awry with their feet; one shoe goes inward, another outward; and their trousers are out behind: here a tatter and there a tear, to the disparagement of their Lord.
The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most read books (after the King James Bible) in the history of the English language. I want my children and grandchildren to be able to read and understand this book according to the fullness of the original intent of the author as part of our accurate, historical Christian heritage that shall continue to bear good fruit into the future.
Russell M. Stendal
June 11, 2020
Apology
When first I took my pen in hand
Thus for to write, I did not understand
That I at all should make a little book
In such a mode: nay, I had undertook
To make another which, when almost done,
Before I was aware, I this begun.
And thus it was: I, writing of the way
And race of saints in this our gospel-day,
Fell suddenly into an allegory
About their journey, and the way to glory,
In more than twenty things, which I set down:
This done, I twenty more had in my crown
And they again began to multiply,
Like sparks that from the coals do fly.
Nay, then, thought I, if that you breed so fast,
I´ll put you. By yourselves, lest you at last
Should prove ad infinitum1 and eat out
The book that I already am about
1 Without end.
Well, so I did; but yet I did not think
To show to all the world my pen and ink
In such a mode; I only thought to make
I knew not what: nor did I undertake
Thereby to please my neighbor; no, not I;
I did it my own self to gratify.
Neither did I but vacant seasons spend
In this my scribble; nor did I intend
But to divert myself, in doing this,
From worser thoughts, which make me do amiss.
Thus I set pen to paper with delight,
And quickly had my thoughts in black and white;
For having now my method by the end,
Still as I pull´d, it came; and so I penn´d
It down; until at last it came to be,
For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.
Well, when I had thus put mine ends together,
I show´d them others, that I might see whether
They would condemn them, or them justify:
And some said, Let them live; some, Let them die;
Some said, John, print it; others said, Not so:
Some said, It might do good; others said, No.
Now I was in a strait, and did not see
Which was the best thing to be done by me:
At last I thought, since ye are thus divided,
I print it will; and so the case decided.
For, thought I, some I see would have it done,
Though others in that channel do not run:
To prove, then, who advised for the best,
Thus I thought fit to put it to the test.
I further thought, if now I did deny
Those that would have it, thus to gratify;
I did not know, but hinder them I might
Of that which would to them be great delight.
For those which were not for its coming forth,
I said to them, Offend you, I am loath;
Yet since your brethren pleased with it be,
Forbear to judge, till you do further see.
If that thou wilt not read, let it alone;
Some love the meat, some love to pick the bone;
Yea, that I might them better moderate,
I did too with them thus expostulate:
May I not write in such a style as this?
In such a method, too, and yet not miss
My end– thy good? Why may it not be done?
Dark clouds bring waters, when the bright bring none.
Yea, dark or bright, if they their silver drops
Cause to descend, the earth, by yielding crops,
Givens praise to both, and carpet not at either,
But treasures up the fruit they yield together;
Yea, so commixes both, that in their fruit
None can distinguish this from that; they suit
Her well when hungry; but, if she be full,
She spews out both, and makes their blessings null.
You see the ways the fisherman doth take
To catch the fish; what engines doth he make!
Behold how he engageth all his wits;
Also his snares, lines, angles, hooks, and nets:
Yet fish there be, that neither hook nor line,
Nor snare, nor net, nor engine, can make thine:
They must be grop´d for, and be tickled too,
Or they will not be catch´d, whate´er you do.
How does the fowler seek to catch his game?
By divers means, all which one can not name:
His guns, his nets, his lime-twigs, light and bell:
He creeps, he goes, he stands; yea, who can tell
Of all his postures? Yet there´s none of these
Will make him master of the fowls he please.
Yea, he must pipe and whistle, to catch this;
Yet, if he does so, that bird he will miss.
If that a pearl may in toad´s head dwell,
And may be found, too, in an oyster-shell;
If things that promise nothing, do contain
What better is than gold; who will disdain,
That have an inkling2 of it, there to look,
That they may find it? Now, my little book
(Though void of all these paintings that may make
It with this or the other man to take),
Is not without those things that do excel
What do in brave but empty notions dwell.
2 Hint, whisper, insinuation.
“Well, yet I am not fully satisfied
That this your book will stand, when soundly tried.”
Why, what’s the matter? “It is dark.” What though?
“But it is feigned.” What of that? I trow
Some men by feigned words, as dark as mine,
Make truth to spangle, and its rays to shine!
“But they want solidness.” Speak man thy mind.
“They drown the weak; metaphors make us blind.”
Solidity, indeed, becomes the pen
Of him who writeth things divine to men:
But must I needs want solidness, because
By metaphors I speak? Were not God’s laws,
His gospel laws, in olden time held forth
By shadows, types, and metaphors? Ye loath
Will any sober man be to find fault
With them, lest he be found for to assault
The highest wisdom! No, he rather stoops,
And seeks to find out what, by pins and loops,
By calves and sheep, by heifers and by rams,
By birds and herbs, and by the blood of lambs,
God speaketh to him; and happy is he
That finds the light and grace that in them be.
Be not too forward, therefore, to conclude
That I want solidness—that I am rude:
All things solid in show, not solid be;
All things in parable despise not we,
Lest things most hurtful lightly we receive,
And things that good are, of our souls bereave.
My dark and cloudy words, they do but hold
The truth, as cabinets inclose the gold.
The prophets used much by metaphors
To set forth truth: yea, who so considers
Christ, his apostles too, shall plainly see
That truths to this day in such mantles be.
Am I afraid to say, that holy writ,
Which for its style and phrase puts down all wit,
Is everywhere so full of all these things,
Dark figures, allegories? Yet there springs
From that same book, that lustre, and those rays
Of light, that turn our darkest nights to days.
Come, let my carper to his life now look,
And find there darker lines than in my book
He findeth any; yea, and let him know,
That in his best things there are worse lines too.
May we but stand before impartial men,
To his poor one I dare adventure ten,
That they will take my meaning in these lines
Far better than his lies in silver shrines.
Come, Truth, although in swaddling-clothes, I find
Informs the judgment, rectifies the mind;
Pleases the understanding, makes the will
Submit; the memory too it doth fill
With what doth our imagination please;
Likewise it tends out troubles to appease.
Sound words, I know, Timothy is to use
And old wives’ fables he is to refuse;
But yet grave Paul him nowhere doth forbid
The use of parables, in which lay hid
That gold, those pearls, and precious stones that were
Worth digging for, and that with greatest care.
Let me add one word more. Oh, man of God,
Art thou offended? Dost thou wish I had
Put forth the matter in another dress?
Or that I had in things been more express?
To those that are my betters, as it fit,
Three things let me propound, then I submit.
1. I find not that I am denied the use
Of this my method, so I no abuse,
Put on the words, things, readers, or be rude
In handling figure or similitude,
In application; but all that I may
Seek the advance of truth this or that way.
Denied, did I say? Nay, I have leave,
(Examples, too, and that from them that have
God better pleased, by their words or ways,
Than any man that breatheth no-a-days,)
Thus to express my mind, thus to declare
Things unto thee that excellentest are.
2. I find that men as high as trees will write
Dialogue-wise; yet no man doth them slight
For writing so. Indeed, if they abuse
Truth, cursed be they, and the craft they use
To that intent; but yet let truth be free
To make her sallies upon thee and me,
Which way it pleases God: for who knows how,
Better that he that taught us first to plough,
To guide our minds and pens for his design?
And he makes base things usher in divine.
3. I find that holy writ, in many places,
Hath semblance with this method, where the cases
Do call for one thing to set forth another:
Use it I may, then, and yet nothing smother
Truth’s golden beams: nay, by this method may
Make it cast forth its rays as light as day.
And now, before I do put up my pen,
I’ll show the profit of my book; and then
Commit both thee and it unto the hand
That pulls the strong down, and makes weak ones stand.
This book, it chalketh out before thine eyes
The man that seeks the everlasting prize:
It shows you whence he comes, whither he goes;
What he leaves undone; also, what he does:
It also shows you how he runs, and runs,
Till he unto the gate of glory comes.
It shows, too, who set out for life amain,
As if the lasting crown they would obtain;
Here, also, you may see the reason why
They lose their labor, and like fools do die.
This book will make a traveler of thee,
If by its counsel thou wilt ruled be;
It will direct thee to the Holy Land,
If thou its directions understand.
Yea, it will make the slothful active be;
The blind also delightful things to see.
Art thou for something rare and profitable;
Or would’st thou see a truth within a fable?
Art thou forgetful? Would’st thou remember
From New-Year’s day to the last of December?
Then read my fancies; they will stick like burs,
And may be to the helpless comforters.
This book is writ in such a dialect
As may the minds of listless men affect:
It seems a novelty, and yet contains
Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains.
Would’st thou divert thyself from melancholy?
Would’st thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly?
Would’st thou read riddles, and their explanation?
Or else be drowned in their contemplation?
Dost thou live picking meat? Or would’st thou see
A man i’ the clouds, and hear him speak to thee?
Would’st thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep?
Or would’st thou in a moment laugh and weep?
Would’st thou lose thyself and catch no harm,
And find thyself again, without a charm?
Would’st read thyself, and read know’st not what,
And yet know whether thou art blest of not,
By reading the same lines? Oh, then come hither,
And lay my book, thy head, and heart together.
John Bunyan
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
PART I
Chapter 1. Christian’s Deplorable Condition .
As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I came to a certain place where there was a den1 and laid down in that place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed, and behold, I saw a man clothed with rags2 standing in a certain place, heading away from his own house3 with a book in his hand and a great burden upon his back.4 I looked and saw him open the book and begin to read; and as he read, he wept and trembled,5 and not being able to contain his remorse any longer, he gave a lamentable cry, saying, “What shall I do?”6
1 The jail: Mr. Bunyan here alludes to his own hard measure, having (at the session in 1660) been convicted of holding unlawful assemblies and conventicles and thereupon committed to prison; and he was there confined twelve years.
2 But we were all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses as filthy rags; and we all fell as the leaves of a tree; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
3 So likewise, any one of you that does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)
4 For my iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. (Psalm 38:4)
5 For if the word spoken by the ministry of angels was steadfast and every rebellion and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape, if we belittle such great saving health? Which, having begun to be published by the Lord, has been confirmed unto us by those that heard him. (Hebrews 2:2–3)
6 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? (Acts 2:37) Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)
In this plight, therefore, he went home and restrained himself as long as he could so that his wife and children would not perceive his distress; but he could not be silent long because the conviction of his conscience increased. Therefore, at length he spoke his mind to his wife and children and began to talk to them: “O, my dear wife,” he said, “and you my beloved children, I, your dear friend, am in myself undone by reason of a burden that lies heavily upon me. Moreover, I am certain y informed that this our city7 will be burned with fire from heaven. And in this fearful overthrow, myself along with you my wife and you my sweet babes, shall miserably come to ruin, unless some way of escape, which I am presently unable to see, can be found whereby we may be saved.”
At this, his relatives were confounded, not because they believed that what he had said to them was true, but because they thought that some incoherent idea had gotten into his head; therefore, as it was late and they hoped that sleep might settle his brains, with all haste they got him to bed.
But the night was as troublesome to him as the day; so instead of sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears. When the morning came, they asked how he felt. He told them, “Worse and worse.”
He also set to talking to them again, but they began to be hardened. They also thought to drive away his condition by using harsh and surly language with him; sometimes they would deride, sometimes they would chide, and some-times they would quite neglect him. Therefore, he began to withdraw to his room to pray for and pity them and also to condole his own misery. He would also walk alone in the fields, sometimes reading and sometimes praying; and thus for some days he spent his time.
Now I saw, one time when he was walking in the fields, that he was (as was his custom) reading in his book and greatly distressed in his mind; and as he read, he burst out, as he had done before, crying, “What shall I do to be saved?”8
I saw also that he looked this way and that way, as if he would run; yet he stood still because (as I perceived) he could not tell which way to go. I looked, then, and saw a man named Evangelist coming to him, and he asked, “Why do you cry?”
The man answered, “Sir, I perceive, by the book in my hand, that I am condemned to die and after that to come to judgment,9 and I find that I am not willing to do the first10 nor able to do the second.”11
7 The present world.
8 And brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:30–31)
9 And as it is appointed unto men to die once, and after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
10 O that a man might dispute with God, as he can with his neighbour! When the counted years are come, then I shall go the way from which I shall not return. (Job 16:21–22)
11 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it and will do it. (Ezekiel 22:14)
Then Evangelist said, “Why are you not willing to die, since this life is attended with so many evils?”
The man answered, “Because I fear that this burden that is upon my back will sink me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into Tophet.12 And sir, if I am not ready to go to prison, I am not ready to go to judgment and from there to execution; and the thoughts of these things make me cry.”
Then Evangelist said, “If this is your condition, why are you standing still?”
He answered, “Because I do not know where to go.”
Then he gave him a parchment roll,13 and there was written inside, “Flee from the wrath to come.”14
The man, therefore, read it, and looking upon Evangelist very carefully, said, “Where must I flee?”
Then Evangelist said, pointing with his finger over a very wide field, “Do you see that narrow gate over there?”15
The man said, “No.”
Then said the other, “Do you see that shining light?”16
He said, “I think I do.”
“Then,” Evangelist said,17 “keep that light in your eye and walk directly toward it; then you shall see the gate at which, when you knock, it shall be told you what to do.”
12 For Tophet [or burning] is ordained of yesterday for the king of Babylon, it is also prepared; he has deepened and enlarged the pile of her fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD like a stream of brimstone kindles it. (Isaiah 30:33)
13 Conviction of the necessity of fleeing.
14 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who taught you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:7)
15 Enter ye in at the narrow gate, for the way that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and those who follow it are many; because narrow is the gate, and confined is the way which leads unto life, and there are few that find it. (Matthew 7:13–14)
16 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my way. (Psalm 119:105) We have also the most sure word of the prophets, unto which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19)
17 Note: Christ and the way to him cannot be found without the Word.
Run Toward the Gate
So, I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now he had not run far from his own door when his wife and children, perceiving it, began to cry after him to return; but the man put his fingers in his ears and ran on crying, “Life! life! eternal life!”18 So, he did not look back19 but fled toward the middle of the plain.
The neighbors also came out20 to see him run, and as he ran, some mocked, others threatened, and some cried after him to return;21 and among those that did so, there were two that were resolved to bring him back by force. The name of the one was Obstinate, and the name of the other was Pliable. Now by this time, the man had gone a good distance from them; however, they were resolved to pursue him, which they did, and in a little time they overtook him. Then the man said, “Neighbors, why are you come?”
They said, “To persuade you to go back with us.”
But he said, “I cannot do that; for you live in the city of Destruction, the place where I was born. I see it to be so; and dying there, sooner or later you will sink lower than the grave into a place that burns with fire and brimstone. Be content, good neighbors, and go along with me.”
“What,” said Obstinate, “and leave our friends and our comforts behind us!”
“Yes,” said Christian (for that was his name), “because all that which you forsake is not worthy to be compared22 with a little of what I am seeking to enjoy; and if you will go along with me and hold it, you shall fare as I myself. For where I go, there is enough and to spare.23 Come away and prove my words.
18 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, and even his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)
19 And it came to pass as they brought them forth outside, that he said, Escape; for thy soul, do not look behind thee, neither stop thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. (Genesis 19:17)
20 For I heard the murmuring of many, fear on every side, Report, and we will re[1]port it. All my friends watched to see if I would stumble. Peradventure he will deceive himself, they said, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. (Jeremiah 20:10)
21 Note: those that flee from the wrath to come are a laughingstock to the world.
22 For the earnest hope of the creatures waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)
23 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have abundance of bread, and I perish here with hunger! (Luke 15:17)
Pursuit of Something Better
“What are these things you seek, since you leave the entire world to find them?” Obstinate asked.
Christian replied, “I seek an incorruptible inheritance that is undefiled and that does not fade away;24 it is laid up in heaven25 and safe there, to be bestowed at the time appointed on those that diligently seek it. Read it so, if you will, in my book.”
“Tush away with your book; will you go back with us or not?”
“No, I will not because I have laid my hand to the plough.”26 Obstinate turned to their other companion. “Come then, neighbor Pliable, let us return home without him; there is a company of these crazy-headed conceited men that, when they take a fancy by the end, are wiser in their own eyes than seven men that can render a reason.”27
“Don’t revile; if what the good Christian says is true, the things he looks after are better than ours. My heart inclines to go with my neighbor,” Pliable said.
“What! More fools still!” Obstinate urged. “Pay attention to me and go back; who knows where such a brain-sick fellow will lead you? Go back, go back, and be wise.”
Christian replied, “No, but do come with your neighbor, dear Pliable; there are such things to be had that I spoke of, and many more glories besides. If you do not believe me, read here in this book, and regarding the truth of what is expressed inside, see that it is all confirmed by the blood of the One that made it.”28
“Well, neighbor Obstinate, I begin to come to a point; I intend to go along with this good man and to cast in my lot with him.” Pliable looked to Christian. “But, my good companion, do you know the way to this desired place?”
“I am directed by a man, whose name is Evangelist, to make haste to a little gate that is before us, where we shall receive instructions about the way.”
“Come then, good neighbor, let us be going,” Pliable said. Then they went together.
“And I will go back to my place; I will be no companion of such misled, fantastical fellows,” Obstinate said.
24 Unto the incorruptible inheritance that cannot be defiled and that does not fade away, conserved in the heavens for you. (1 Peter 1:4)
25 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one; therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)
26 And Jesus said unto him, No one having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)
27 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can give him counsel. (Proverbs 26:16)
28 For a testament is confirmed by the death: otherwise it is not valid as long as the testator lives. From which came that not even the first one was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had read every commandment of the law to all the people, taking the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, he sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God has commanded unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. (Hebrews 9:17–21)
Beautiful, Unspeakable Glory
Now I saw in my dream that when Obstinate turned back, Christian and Pliable were talking as they walked over the plain; and so Christian began their discussion: “Come, neighbor Pliable, how do you do? I am glad you are persuaded to go along with me. If Obstinate had felt what I have felt of the powers and terrors of what is yet unseen, he would not so lightly have turned his back on us.”
“Come, neighbor Christian, now that we are alone, give me a further explanation of what the things are and how they are to be enjoyed where we are going.”
“I can better conceive of them with my mind than speak of them with my tongue.29 But yet, since you are desirous to know, I will read of them in my book,” Christian said.
“And do you think that the words of your book are certainly true?” Pliable said.
“Yes, most certainly; for it was made by He who cannot lie.”30
“Well said, Christian; what things are they?”
“There is an endless kingdom to be inhabited and everlasting life to be given us, that we may inhabit that kingdom forever.”31
“Well said; and what else?”
“There are crowns of glory32 to be given us and garments that will make us shine like the sun33 in the firmament of heaven.”
“This is very pleasant; and what else?”
“There shall be no more crying, nor sorrow; for He that is owner of the place will wipe all tears from our eyes.”34
“And what company shall we have there?”
“We shall be there with seraphim and cherubim,35 creatures that will dazzle your eyes to look on them. There also you shall meet with thousands and ten thousands that have gone before us to that place; none of them are hurtful, but they are loving and holy, every one walking in the sight of God and standing in his presence with acceptance forever. In a word, there we shall see the elders with their golden crowns;36 there we shall see the holy virgins with their golden harps;37 there we shall see men that by the world were cut in pieces, burned in flames, eaten of beasts, and drowned in the seas for the love they demonstrated to the Lord of the place;38 they will be all well and clothed with immortality,39 as with a garment.”
Pliable said, “The hearing of this is enough to delight one’s heart. But are these things to be enjoyed? How may we share in them?”
“The Lord, the Governor of the country, has recorded that in this book, and if we are truly willing to have it, he will bestow the substance of it upon us freely,”40 Christian said.
“Well, my good companion, I am glad to hear of these things. Come on, let us quicken our pace,” Pliable said.
“I cannot go as fast as I would because of this burden that is on my back.”
29 Note: God’s things are unspeakable.
30 For the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the times of the ages. (Titus 1:2)
31 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any-one pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:28–29)
32 From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all those also that have loved his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8)
33 And there shall be no night there; and they need no lamp neither light of the sun; for the Lord God shall give them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5) Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:43)
34 He will destroy death forever; and the Lord GOD shall wipe away every tear from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people he shall take away from off all the earth: for the LORD has determined it. (Isaiah 25:8) They shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun be thrust upon them nor any other heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall govern them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 7:16–17) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and death shall be no more neither shall there be any more sorrow nor crying nor pain; for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
35 Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. (Isaiah 6:2) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17) And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and of the animals and of the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. (Revelation 5:11)
36 And round about the throne were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (Revelation 4:4)
37 These are those who are not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These are redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without blemish before the throne of God. (Revelation. 14:4–5)
38 Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. (Hebrews 11:35) He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (John 12:25)
39 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. (2 Corinthians. 5:2) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)
40 For ye shall go out with joy, and be returned with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12) See John 6:37–52.
Through the Mire
Now I saw in my dream that just as they ended this talk, they drew near to a very miry swamp that was in the middle of the plain, and since they both were being careless, they fell suddenly into the bog. The name of the swamp or slough was Hopelessness. Here, therefore, they wallowed for a time, being dreadfully smeared with the dirt; and Christian, because of the burden that was on his back, began to sink in the mire.
Then Pliable said, “Ah, neighbor Christian, where are you now?”
“Truly,” said Christian, “I do not know.”
At this, Pliable was offended and angrily said to his fellow, “Is this the happiness you have told me all this while of? With such misfortune at our first setting out, what may we expect between this and our journey’s end?41 If I get out again with my life, you shall possess the brave country alone for me.” And with that, he gave a desperate struggle or two and got out of the mire on that side of the slough that was next to his own house. So, away he went, and Christian never saw him again.
Therefore, Christian was left to stumble in the Slough of Hopelessness alone; but still he endeavored to struggle to that side of the slough that was farther42 from his own house and next to the narrow gate; which he did, but he could not get out because of the burden that was upon his back. But I beheld in my dream that a man came to him, whose name was Help, and asked him what he did there.
“Sir,” said Christian, “I was told to go this way by a man called Evangelist, who directed me also to the narrow gate that I might escape the wrath to come. And as I was going there, I fell in here.”
“But why didn’t you look for the steps?”43 Help asked.
“Fear followed me so hard that I blindly fled, and I fell in.”
Then Help said, “Give me your hand.”
So Christian gave him his hand, and Help pulled him out, and he set him upon sound ground44 and sent him on his way.
41 Note: it is not enough just to be pliable.
42 Note: a Christian, though in trouble, seeks still to get farther from his own house.
43 The promises.
44 He brought me up also out of the pit of hopelessness, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and straightened my steps. (Psalm 40:2)
The Pit of Fear and Doubt.
Then I stepped over to the one that pulled him out and said, “Sir, why, since this place is on the way from the city of Destruction to the narrow gate, is it that this swamp is not mended so that poor travelers might go through with more security?”
And he said unto me, “This miry slough is a place that cannot be mended; it is the descent where the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin continually flows, and therefore, it is called the Slough of Hopelessness; for as soon as the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, many fears and doubts arise in his soul along with discouraging apprehensions; then all of them get together and settle in this place, and this is the reason for the badness of this ground.
“It is not the pleasure of the King that this place should remain so bad.45 His laborers also have, by the direction of His Majesty’s surveyors, been employed for more than sixteen hundred year’s regarding this patch of ground, if perhaps it might have been improved. Yes, and to my knowledge, at least twenty thousand cart loads have been swallowed up there. Yes, millions of wholesome instructions have at all seasons been brought from all places of the King’s dominions if it could have been fixed – and those that know say they are the best materials to make good ground of the place; but it is the Slough of Hopelessness still, and will remain so when they have done what they can.
“True, there are, by the direction of the Lawgiver, certain good and substantial46 steps placed through the very midst of this slough; but because this place continues to spew out its filth, as it does in most any weather, these steps are hardly seen; or if so, men, through the dizziness of their heads, mis-step, and then they are stuck in the mire even though the steps are there. But the ground is good once they are received at the gate,”47 Help said.
45 Comfort ye the tired hands and strengthen the knees that tremble. Say to those that are of a fearful heart, Be comforted, fear not; behold, your God comes with vengeance, with recompense; God himself will come and save you. (Isaiah 35:3–4)
46 The promises of forgiveness and acceptance to life by faith in Christ.
47 Moreover as for me, in no wise should I sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you, but I will teach you the good and the right way. (1 Samuel 12:23)
Fallout for Turning Back
Now I saw in my dream that by this time, Pliable was home at his house. His neighbors came to visit him, and some of them called him a wise man for coming back, and some called him a fool for hazarding himself with Christian; others again mocked his cowardliness, saying, “Surely, since you began the adventure, I would not have been so ignoble as to have quit over a few difficulties.”
So Pliable sat uncomfortable among them. But at last he got more confidence, and then they all turned their tales and began to deride poor Christian behind his back. And so, this is what happened to Pliable.
Now as Christian was walking alone by himself, he saw someone afar off come crossing over the field to meet him; and so they met just as they were about to pass each other. The gentleman’s name that met him was Mr. Worldly Wiseman; he dwelt in the town of Carnal Policy, a very great town, and also nearby where Christian came from. This man, then, met with Christian and had some slight knowledge of him (for Christian’s setting forth from the city of Destruction was talked about not only in the town where he lived but also, it began to be news in some other places). Mr. Worldly Wiseman, therefore, having some conjecture of him, by noting his laborious pace and by observing his sighs and groans and the like, began to enter into some talk with Christian.
Carnal and Appealing Advice
“How now, good fellow, where are you heading in such a burdened manner?” Mr. Worldly Wiseman asked.
“A burdened manner indeed, as ever I think any poor creature had! And since you ask me where I am going,” said Christian, “I tell you, sir, I am going to that narrow gate in front of me; I am informed that there I shall be put into a way to be rid of my heavy burden.
“Do you have a wife and children?”
“Yes, but I am so weighed down with this burden that I cannot enjoy them as I used to; it seems to me that I am as if I had none.”48
“Will you listen to me if I give you advice?”
“If it is good, I will; for I stand in need of good counsel,” Christian said.
“I would advise you, then,” said Mr. Worldly Wiseman, “that with all speed, get rid of your burden; for you will never be settled in your mind until then, nor will you be able to enjoy the benefits of the blessings that God has bestowed upon you until then.
“That is what I seek for, even to be rid of this heavy burden; but I cannot get it off myself, nor is there anyone in our country that can take it off my shoulders. Therefore, I am going this way, as I told you, that I may be rid of my burden.”
“Who told you to go this way to be rid of your burden?”
“A man that appeared to me to be a very great and honorable person; his name, as I remember, is Evangelist.
“Curse him for his counsel,” Mr. Worldly Wiseman said. “There is not a more dangerous and troublesome way in the world than the one into which he has directed you; and that way you shall find if you will be ruled by his counsel. You have already met with trouble, as I perceive; for I see the dirt of the Slough of Hopelessness is upon you. But that slough is the beginning of the sorrows that attend those that go on in that way. Hear me; I am your elder. In the way you are going, you will meet with wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and in a word, death and whatnot. These things are certainly true, having been confirmed by many testimonies. And should a man so carelessly cast himself away by obeying a stranger?”
“Why, sir, this burden on my back is more terrible to me than are all these things that you have mentioned.49 No, I do not care what I meet with in the way; I can also meet with deliverance from my burden,” Christian said.
“How did you first come by your burden?”
“By reading this book in my hand.”
“I thought so; and it has happened unto you as to other weak men who, meddling with things too high for them, suddenly fall into such distractions.50 These distractions do not only unman men, as I perceive yours have done to you, but they run them upon desperate ventures to obtain they know not what.”
“I know what I would obtain; it is ease for my heavy burden.”
“But why will you seek for ease this way, seeing so many dangers attend it? Especially since, if you had the patience to hear me, I could direct you to the obtaining of what you desire without the dangers that you will run yourself into in this way,” Mr. Worldly Wiseman said. “Yes, and the remedy is at hand. Besides, I will add that instead of those dangers, you shall meet with much safety, friendship, and contentment.”
“Sir, please open this secret to me.”
“Why, in that village over there – the village is named Morality – there lives a gentleman whose name is Legality, a very judicious man and a man of a very good name, that has skill to help men remove burdens such as yours from their shoulders.51 Yes, to my knowledge, he has done a great deal of good this way; aye, and besides, he has skill to cure those that are somewhat mentally disturbed with their burdens. To him, as I said, you may go and be helped presently. His house is not quite a mile from this place; and if he is not at home, his son, a fine young man whose name is Civility, can do it as well as the old gentleman himself. There, I say, you may be eased of your burden; and if you are not inclined to go back to your former residence – as indeed I would not wish for you – you may send for your wife and children to this village where there are houses now standing empty, one of which you may have at a reasonable rate; cheap and good provision is readily obtainable there. And that which will make your life happier is there, to be sure. You shall live by honest neighbors in good reputation and good fashion.”
Now Christian was somewhat indecisive, but presently he concluded, “If what this gentleman has said is true, my wisest course is to take his advice.”52 And so he continued their conversation.
48 But this I say, brothers, the time is short; for the rest, let those that have wives be as though they had none. (1 Corinthians 7:29)
49 Such is the frame of heart of a young Christian.
50 Note this: Mr. Worldly Wiseman does not like that men should be serious in reading the Bible.
51 Note this: the Worldly Wiseman prefers morality over the narrow gate.
52 Observe how Christian is ensnared by the words of the Worldly Wiseman.
A Visit to Morality
“Sir, which is my way to this honest man’s house?” Christian asked of Mr. Worldly Wiseman.
“Do you see that53 high hill?”
“Yes, very well.”
“By that hill you must go, and the first house you come to is his.”
So Christian turned out of his way to go to Mr. Legality’s house for help; but lo and behold, when he got close to the hill, it seemed so high and also the side of it that was next to the way hung over so much that Christian was afraid to venture farther, lest the hill should fall on his head.54 Therefore, there he stood still not knowing what to do. Also, his burden now seemed heavier to him than while he was on his way.
Flashes of fire came out of the hill55 and made Christian afraid that he should be burned; therefore, he began to sweat and quake for fear.56 And now he began to be sorry that he had taken Mr. Worldly Wiseman’s counsel.
And with that, he saw Evangelist coming to meet him, at the sight of whom he began to blush for shame. So, Evangelist drew nearer and nearer, and coming up to him, he looked upon him with a severe and dreadful countenance and then began to reason with Christian.
“What are you doing here, Christian?” Evangelist said. At those words, Christian did not know what to answer; therefore, he stood speechless before him. Evangelist continued, “Are you not the man that I found crying outside the walls of the city of Destruction?”
“Yes, dear sir, I am that man.”
“Did I not indicate unto you the way to the little narrow gate?”
“Yes, dear sir,” said Christian.
“How is it, then, you are so quickly turned aside? For you are now out of the way.”
“I met with a gentleman soon after I got over the Slough of Hopelessness who persuaded me that I might find a man that could take off my burden in the village before me.”
“Who was he?”
“He looked like a gentleman and talked much to me, and he got me at last to yield. So, I came here; but when I saw this hill and how it hangs over the way, I suddenly stood still, lest it should fall on my head.”
“What did that gentleman say to you?”
“Why, he asked me where I was going, and I told him.”
“And what did he say then?” Evangelist said.
“He asked me if I had a family, and I told him. But, I said, I am so weighed down with the burden that is on my back that I cannot take pleasure in them as formerly,” Christian said.
“And then what did he say?”
“He told me to hurry to get rid of my burden; and I told him it was ease that I sought. And I said I am, therefore, go[1]ing to the gate across the plain to receive farther direction how I may get to the place of deliverance. So, he said that he would show me a better, shorter way, not so attended with difficulties as the way, sir, that you set me on. T his way, h e said, will direct you to a gentleman’s house that has skill to take off these burdens. So, I believed him and turned out of that way into this, if haply I might be soon eased of my burden. But when I came to this place and saw things as they are, I stopped, for fear – as I said – of danger; but now I do not know what to do.”57
“Then stand still a little, and I will show you the words of God.”
53 Mount Sinai.
54 Well may the Christian tremble and fear, lest Mount Sinai should fall on his head when he seeks to be rid of his burden any other way than that point[1]ed out by Evangelist.
55 And it came to pass on the third day when the morning came, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the shofar [ram’s horn] exceeding loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled. (Exodus 19:16) And all Mount Sinai smoked because the LORD had descended upon it in fire, and its smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. (Exodus 19:18)
56 And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. (Hebrews 12:21)
57 When Christians unto carnal men give ear, Out of their way they go, and pay for’t dear; For Master Worldly Wiseman can but show A saint the way to bondage and woe.
Worldly Counsel Refuted
So Christian stood trembling. Then Evangelist said, “See that you do not refuse him that speaks. For if those who refused him that spoke on earth did not escape, much less shall we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from the heavens.58 Furthermore,” he said, “Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”59 He also applied them like this: “You are the man who is running into this misery; you have begun to reject the counsel of the Most High and to draw back your foot from the way of peace, even almost to the hazarding of your perdition.”
Then Christian fell down at his feet as though dead, crying, “Woe is me, for I am undone!”
At the sight of this, Evangelist caught him by the right hand, saying, “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men;60 be not unbelieving, but faithful.” 61
Then Christian revived a little and stood up trembling, as at first, before Evangelist.
Then Evangelist proceeded, saying, “Pay more attention to the things that I shall tell you of. I will now show you who it was that deluded you and who it was to whom he sent you. The man that met you is named Worldly Wiseman and rightly is he so called, partly because he relishes only the doctrine of this world62 – therefore, he always goes to the town of Morality to church – and partly because he loves that doctrine best, for it saves him best from the cross.63 Because he is of this carnal temper, therefore, he seeks to pervert my ways, though right.
“Now there are three things in this man’s counsel that you must utterly abhor: (1) his turning you out of the way; (2) his working to render the cross revolting to you; (3) and his setting your feet in that way that leads unto the administration of death.
“First, you must abhor his turning you out of the way; yes, and your own consenting unto him, because this is to reject the counsel of God for the sake of the counsel of a Worldly Wiseman. The Lord says, Strive to enter in at the narrow gate,64 the gate to which I send you; because narrow is the gate, and confined is the way which leads unto life, and there are few that find it.65 This wicked man has turned you from this little narrow gate and from the way unto it, and he has brought you almost to destruction. Therefore, hate his turning you out of the way, and loathe yourself for hearkening to him.
“Second, you must abhor his working to make the cross revolting unto you; for you are to prefer it above the treasures of Egypt.66 Besides, the King of Glory has told you that he that will save his life shall lose it.67 And he that comes to me, and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, and even his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.68 I say, therefore, for a man to work to persuade you that the way of the cross shall be your demise – without which, the truth has said, you cannot have eternal life – this doctrine you must abhor.
“Third, thou must hate his setting of your feet in the way that leads to the ministration of death. And for this you must consider to whom he sent you and also how unable that person was to deliver you from your burden.
“He to whom you were sent for ease, being by name Legality, is the son of the bond-woman that now is in bondage with her children, and is, in a mystery, this Mount Sinai,69 which you have feared will fall on your head. Now if she with her children are in bondage, how can you expect to be made free by them? This Legality, therefore, is not able to set you free from your burden. No man has ever been rid of his burden by him; no, nor shall it ever be: you cannot be justified by the works of the law, for by the deeds of the law, no man living can be rid of his burden.
“Therefore, Mr. Worldly Wiseman is an alien, and Mr. Legality is a cheat; and as for his son Civility, notwithstanding his smirking looks, he is but a hypocrite and cannot help you. Believe me, there is nothing in all this noise that you have heard of these foolish men but a design to cheat you of your salvation by turning you from the way in which I had set you.”
58 Hebrews 12:25
59 Hebrews 10:38
60 Matthew 12:31
61 John 20:27
62 They are of the world; therefore, they speak of the world, and the world hears them. (1 John 4:5)
63 As many as desire to please in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of the Christ. (Galatians 6:12)
64 Luke 13:24
65 Matthew 7:14
66 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater rich[1]es than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. (Hebrews 11:25–26)
67 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:35) He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (John 10:25) He that finds his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. (Matthew 10:39)
68 Luke 14:26
69 Is the law then against the promises of God? No, in no wise, for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture has concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to the believers. But before faith came, we were under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But when faith is come, we are no longer under the hand of the schoolmaster. For ye are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:21–27)
Truth Comes to Light
After this, Evangelist called aloud to the heavens for confirmation of what he had said; and with that, words and fire came out of the mountain under which poor Christian stood, which made the hair of his flesh stand up. The words were pronounced: For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.70
Now, Christian looked for nothing but death, and began to cry out lamentably, even cursing the time in which he met with Mr. Worldly Wiseman, still calling himself a thousand fools for hearkening to his counsel. He also was greatly ashamed to think that this gentleman’s arguments, flowing only from the flesh, should have prevailed with him so far as to cause him to forsake the right way.
This done, he applied himself again to Evangelist in words and sense. “Sir, what do you think? Is there any hope? May I now go back and go up to the narrow gate? Shall I not be abandoned for this and sent back from there ashamed? I am sorry I have listened to this man’s counsel, but may my sin be forgiven?”
“Your sin is very great, for by it you have committed two evils: you have forsaken the way that is good to tread in for-bidden paths,” Evangelist said. “Yet the man at the gate will receive you, for he has goodwill for men; only, he said, take care that you do not turn aside again, lest you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled in a little while.”71
70Galatians 3:10
71Psalm 2:12.
Chapter 2. The Narrow Gate .
Then Christian decided to go back, and Evangelist, after he had kissed him, gave him a smile and bid him God-speed. So he went on with haste, without speaking to anyone along the way; nor if any asked him, would he give them an answer. He went like one that was all the while treading on forbidden ground and could by no means consider himself safe until he was back on the way that he had left to follow Mr. Worldly Wiseman’s counsel. So in the process of time, Christian arrived at the gate. Now, over the gate was written: Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 72
He knocked, therefore, more than once or twice, saying:73
“May I now enter here? Will he within
Open to sorry me, though I have been
An undeserving rebel? Then shall I
Not fail to sing his lasting praise on high.”
At last there came a serious person to the gate, named Goodwill, who asked who was there, where he came from, and what he wanted.
72 Matthew 7:7
73He that would enter in, must first without Stand knocking at the gate, nor need he doubt That is a knocker but to enter in; For God can love him and forgive his sin.
Stepping in the Gate.
“Here is a poor burdened sinner,” Christian said. “I come from the city of Destruction but am going to Mount Zion that I may be delivered from the wrath to come; therefore, I would sir, since I am informed that the way there is by this gate, know if you are willing to let me in.”
“I am willing with all my heart,” he said. And with that he opened the gate.
So, when Christian stepped in, the other gave him a pull. Then Christian said, “What does this mean?”
The other told him, “A short distance from this gate, a strong castle has been built, of which Beelzebub is the captain. From there, both he and those that are with him shoot arrows at anyone that comes up to this gate, attempting to kill them before they can enter in.”
Then Christian replied, “I rejoice and tremble.” When he was inside, the man of the gate asked him who directed him there.
“Evangelist told me come here and knock, as I did. And he said that you, sir, would tell me what I must do.”
“An open door is set before you, and no one can shut it.”74
“Now I begin to reap the benefits of my hazards.”
“But how is it that you came alone?” Goodwill said.
“Because none of my neighbors saw their danger as I saw mine,” Christian said.
“Did any of them know of your coming?”
“Yes, my wife and children saw me leave and called after me to come back. Also, some of my neighbors stood crying and calling after me to return. But I put my fingers in my ears, and so came on my way.”
“But did none of them follow you to persuade you to go back?”
“Yes, both Obstinate and Pliable; but when they saw that they could not prevail, Obstinate went back critical, but Pliable came with me a little way.”
“But why did he not come through?” Goodwill said.
“Indeed, we both came together until we suddenly fell into the Slough of Hopelessness, and then my neighbor Pliable was discouraged and would not venture farther. Therefore, getting out again on the side next to his own house, he told me I should possess the brave country alone for him. So, he went his way, and I came mine; he after Obstinate, and I to this gate.”75
“Alas, poor man; is the celestial glory of so little esteem with him that he does not count it worth running the hazard of a few difficulties to obtain it?” Goodwill said.
“Truly, I have spoken the truth regarding Pliable,” Christian said, “and if I should also say all the truth of myself, it will appear that I am no better.76 It is true, he went back to his own house, but I also turned aside to go in the way of death, being persuaded by the carnal arguments of Mr. Worldly Wiseman.”
“Oh, did he descend upon you? I suppose he would have had you seek for ease at the hands of Mr. Legality! Both of them are deceivers. But did you take his counsel?”
“Yes, as far as I dared. I went to find Mr. Legality, until I thought that the mountain that stands by his house would have fallen upon my head, so there I was forced to stop.”
“That mountain has been the death of many and will be the death of many more; it is well you escaped being dashed to pieces by it.”
“Why, truly I do not know what might have become of me there if Evangelist had not encountered me again as I was musing in the midst of my gloom; but it was God’s mercy that he came to me again, for else I would never have come here. But since I have come, I realize that someone such as I is more fit, indeed, for death by that mountain than to stand talking like this with my Lord. But oh what grace is this to me that, even so, I am admitted entrance here!”
“We make no objections against anyone; despite all that they have done before they come here, they in no wise are cast out.77 Therefore, good Christian, come a little way with me, and I will teach you about the way you must go. Look in front of you; do you see this narrow way? That is the way you must go. It was traveled by the patriarchs, prophets, Christ, and his apostles, and it is as straight as can be made; this is the way you must go,” Goodwill said.
“But good sir, are there no turnings nor windings by which a stranger may lose his way?” Christian asked.
“Yes, there are many ways that intersect or border upon this, and they are crooked and wide. But this is how you may distinguish the right from the wrong: the right only being confined and narrow.”78
74 I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no one can shut it, for thou hast a little strength and hast kept my word and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)
75 Note this: a man may have company when he sets out for heaven and yet go there alone.
76 Mark how Christian accuses himself before the man at the gate. Such are the effects of true conviction.
77 All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)
78 Because narrow is the gate, and confined is the way which leads unto life, and there are few that find it. (Matthew 7:14)
The Burden Remains.
Then I saw in my dream that Christian asked him further if he could not help him remove his burden that was upon his back. For as yet he had not been able to get rid of it, nor could he by any means remove it without help.
Goodwill told him, “As for your burden, be content to bear it until you come to the place of deliverance;79 for there, it will fall from your back by itself.”
Then Christian began to gird up his loins and prepare himself for his journey. Goodwill told him that after travelling some distance from the gate, he would come to the house of the Interpreter at whose door he should knock, and he would show him excellent things. Then Christian took his leave of his friend, and he again bid him Godspeed.
Then he went on until he came to the house of the Inter-preter, where he knocked over and over.
At last, someone came to the door. “Who is there?”
“Sir, here is a traveler who was invited by an acquaintance of the good man of this house to call here for my profit,” Christian said. “I would, therefore, speak with the master of the house.
So, he called for the master of the house, and after a short time, the Interpreter came to Christian and asked him what he would have.
“Sir, I have come from the city of Destruction and am going to Mount Zion; I was told by the man that stands at the gate at the head of this way that if I called here, you would show me excellent things, such as would be helpful to me on my journey.”
“Come in,” the Interpreter said. “I will show you that which will be profitable unto you.”
The Interpreter commanded his servant to light the candle80 and bid Christian follow him. He took him into a private room and had his man open a door. When he had done this, Christian saw the picture of a very serious person hanging up against the wall, and this was the fashion of it: this person had eyes lifted up to heaven, he had the best of books in his hand, the law of truth was written upon his lips, the world was behind his back, he stood as if he pleaded with men, and a crown of gold hung over his head.
“What does this mean?” Christian asked.
“The man whose picture this is, is one of a thousand; he can beget children,81 travail in birth with children,82 and nurse them himself when they are born. And whereas you see him with his eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in his hand, and the law of truth written upon his lips, it is to show you that his work is to know and unfold dark things to sinners – even as you also see him stand as if he pleaded with men. And whereas you see the world as cast behind him and that a crown hangs over his head, that is to show you that slighting and despising the things that are present for the love that he has to his Master’s service, he is sure to have glory for his reward in the world that comes next. Now I have showed you this picture first because the Man83 whose picture this is, is the only Man whom the Lord of the place where you are going has authorized to be your guide in all difficult places you may meet with along the way. So, pay attention to what I have showed you, and bear well in your mind what you have seen, lest in your journey you meet with some that pretend to lead you right but their way goes down to death.”
79 Note: there is no deliverance from the guilt and burden of sin except by the death and blood of Christ.
80 Of illumination.
81 For though ye may have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet ye shall not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:15)
82 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ is formed in you. (Galatians 4:19)
83 The God-man, Jesus Christ.
Cleansing by Law Versus Gospel.
Then he took Christian by the hand and led him into a very large parlor that was full of dust because it was never swept. After he had reviewed it a little while, the Interpreter called for a man to sweep. Now, when he began to sweep, the dust flew about so abundantly that Christian was almost choked. Then the Interpreter said to a girl that stood by, “Bring water and sprinkle the room.” When she had done so, it was swept and cleansed with pleasure.
Christian said, “What does this mean?”
The Interpreter answered, “This parlor is the heart of a man that was never sanctified by the sweet grace of the gospel. The dust is his original sin and inward corruptions that have defiled the whole man. He that began to sweep at first is the law; but the girl that brought water and sprinkled it is the gospel. Now, whereas you saw that as soon as the first began to sweep, the dust flew about the room so that it could not be cleansed by him, and you were almost choked with it, this is to show you that the law, instead of cleansing84 the heart from sin by its working, it revives, puts strength85 into, and increases sin in the soul even as it uncovers86 and forbids it; for the law does not give power to subdue sin.
“Again, as you saw the girl sprinkle the room with water, upon which it was cleansed with pleasure, this is to show you that when the sweet and precious influences of the gospel come into the heart, then I say, even as you saw the girl lay the dust by sprinkling the floor with water, so is sin vanquished and subdued 87 and the soul made clean88 through the obedience by faith; consequently, it is fit for the King of Glory to inhabit,” Interpreter said.
84 But now we are free from the law of death in which we were held, that we might serve in newness of Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:6)
85 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)
86 Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. (Romans 5:20)
87 Now to him that is able to confirm you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was concealed from times eternal but now is made manifest, and by the writings of the prophets, by the commandment of God eternal, declared unto all the Gentiles, that they might hear and obey by faith. (Romans 16:25–26)
88 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3) That he might sanctify and cleanse her in the washing of water by the word. (Ephesians 5:26) And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. (Acts 15:9)
The Best Things.
I saw furthermore in my dream that the Interpreter took Christian by the hand and led him into a little room where two little children sat, each one in his chair. The name of the eldest was Passion, and the name of the other Patience. Passion seemed to be discontented, but Patience was very quiet.
Then Christian asked, “What is the reason of the discontent of Passion?”
The Interpreter answered, “Their governor desires for him to delay receiving his best things until the beginning of next year, but he wants it all now; however, Patience is willing to wait.”
Then I saw that someone came to Passion and brought him a bag of treasure and poured it down at his feet – things that he took up and rejoiced with, and then he laughed Patience to scorn. But I saw that in a little while, he had lavished it all away and had nothing left but rags.
Then Christian said to the Interpreter, “Expound this matter more fully to me.”
“These two lads are figures: Passion is of the men of this world, and Patience is of the men of the world that is to come. For as here you see, Passion will have all now, this year. That is to say, in this world, so are the men of this world; they must have all their good things now; they cannot wait till the next year, that is, until the next world, for their portion of good. That proverb, ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,’ is of more authority with them than are all the divine testimonies of the good of the world to come. But as you saw that he had quickly lavished it all away and was presently left with nothing but rags, so will it be with all such men at the end of this world.”
Christian said, “Now I see that Patience has the best wisdom, and for many reasons; first, because he waits for the best things, and second, because he will also have the glory of his treasure when the other has nothing but rags.”
“Now you may add another reason: the glory of the next world will never wear out, but these are suddenly gone. Therefore, Passion does not have as much reason to laugh at Patience because he had his good things first as Patience will have to laugh at Passion because he will have his best things last; for first must give place to last because last must have his time to come. But last gives place to nothing, for there is not another to succeed. He, therefore, that has his portion first and has to have a time to spend it; but he that has his portion last shall have it forever. Therefore it is said of Dives,89 Thou in thy lifetime thou didst receive thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted here, and thou art tormented. 90
“Then I perceive it is best to not covet things that are now but to wait for the things to come,” Christian said.
“You say truth; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.91 But even though this is so, since the present things and our fleshly carnal appetites are still such near neighbors to one another, and again, because the things to come and carnal sense are such strangers to one another, two things are true: it is so easy to suddenly love the things of this world and the distance is so far between us and the things of the world to come.”
89 “Dives” is Latin for “rich man” and represents the unnamed rich man in the story in Luke 16.
90 Luke 16:25
91 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
Oil of Grace
Then I saw in my dream that the Interpreter took Chris[1]tian by the hand and led him into a place where there was a fire burning against a wall and someone standing by it always throwing a lot of water upon it to quench it, but the fire burned higher and hotter.
Then Christian said, “What does this mean?”
The Interpreter answered, “This fire is the work of grace that is wrought in the heart; the one who casts water upon it to extinguish and put it out is the devil. But in that you see the fire, despite this, burn higher and hotter, you shall also see the reason for that.” So he took him around to the back side of the wall where he saw a man with a vessel of oil in his hand, out of which he continually cast oil into the fire secretly.
Then Christian said, “What does this mean?”
The Interpreter answered, “This is Christ who continually, with the oil of his grace,92 maintains the work already begun in the heart; so that, no matter what the devil can do, the souls of his people remain gracious. And when you saw that the man stood behind the wall to maintain the fire, this is to teach you that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is maintained in the soul.”
92 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather glory in my weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Entrance to the Kingdom.
I saw also that the Interpreter took him again by the hand, and he led him into a pleasant place where a stately palace was built, beautiful to behold, at the sight of which Christian was greatly delighted. He saw certain persons walking upon the top who were clothed all in gold.
Christian asked, “May we go in there?”
Then the Interpreter took him and led him up toward the door of the palace; and behold, at the door stood a great company of men desiring to go in, but they dared not. A man sat at a little distance from the door and beside a table with a book, his inkhorn before him to take the names of those that should enter in; he saw also that in the doorway stood many men in armor to keep it, being resolved to do to the men that would enter what hurt and mischief they could.
Christian was now somewhat amazed. At last, when every man turned back for fear of the armed men, Christian saw a man of a very courageous and determined composure come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, “Set down my name, sir.”
And when this was done, Christian saw the man draw his sword, put a helmet on his head, and rush toward the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadly force; but the man, not at all discouraged, fell to cutting and hacking most fiercely. After he had received and given many wounds to those that attempted to keep him out, he cut his way through them all and pressed forward into the palace,93 at which there was a pleasant voice heard from those that were within, even of those that walked upon the top of the palace, saying:
“Come in, come in,
Eternal glory thou shalt win.”
So, he went in and was clothed with garments like theirs. Then Christian smiled and said, “I think I truly know the meaning of this. Now,” he said, “let me continue my journey.”
“No, stay,” said the Interpreter, “until I have showed you a little more, and after that you shall go on your way.”
So the Interpreter took Christian by the hand again and led him into a very dark room where a man sat in an iron cage.
93 Confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to remain in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)
Iron Cage of Despair
Now the appearance of the man seemed very sad; he sat with his eyes looking down to the ground, his hands folded together, and he sighed as if his heart would break.
Then Christian said, “What does this mean?”
“Speak with the man,” the Interpreter said.
Then Christian said to the man, “Who are you?”
The man answered, “I am what I was not once.”
“What were you once?”
The man said, “I was once a fair and flourishing professor, both in my own eyes and also in the eyes of others.94 I once was, as I thought, fair for the celestial city and had then even joy at the thoughts that I should get there.”
“Well, but what are you now?”
“I am now a man of despair and am shut up in it, as in this iron cage. I cannot get out. Oh now I cannot!”
“But how did you come into this condition?”
“I did not continue to watch and be sober; I gave free reign to my lusts; I sinned against the light of the Word and the goodness of God; I have grieved the Spirit, and he is gone; I tempted the devil, and he is come to me; I have provoked God to anger, and he has left me; I have so hardened my heart that I cannot repent.”
Then Christian said to the Interpreter, “But is there no hope for such a man as this?”
“Ask him,” said the Interpreter.
Christian asked the man, “Is there no hope, but you must be kept in the iron cage of despair?”
“No, none at all.”
“Why? The Son of the Blessed is full of pity.”
“I have crucified him to myself afresh;95 I have despised his person;96 I have despised his righteousness; I have counted his blood an unholy thing; I have done despite to the spirit of grace.97 Therefore, I have shut myself out of all the promises and there now remains to me nothing but threats, dreadful threats, faithful threats of certain judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour me as an adversary.”
“For what did you bring yourself into this condition?”
“For the lusts, pleasures, and profits of this world; in the enjoyment of which I did then promise myself much delight, but now every one of those things also bite me and gnaw me like a burning worm.”
“But can you not now repent and turn?”
“God has denied me repentance. His Word gives me no encouragement to believe; he, himself has shut me up in this iron cage, neither can all the men in the world let me out. Oh eternity! eternity! how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet with in eternity?”
Then the Interpreter said to Christian, “Let this man’s misery be remembered by you and be an everlasting caution to you.”
“Well, this is fearful! God help me to watch and to be sober and to pray that I may shun the cause of this man’s misery. Sir, is it not time for me to go on my way now?”
94 Those on the rock are those that when they hear, receive the word with joy, but these have no root, who for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away. (Luke 8:13)
95 For it is impossible that those who once received the light and tasted of that heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit and likewise have tasted the good word of God and the virtue of the age to come, and have back-slidden, be renewed again by repentance, crucifying again for themselves the Son of God and putting him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4–6)
96 But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. (Luke 19:14)
97 Of how much greater punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God and has counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know who he is that has said, Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. (Hebrews 10:29–30)
Wheat into the Storehouse
“Wait until I show you one more thing, and then you shall go on your way. So, he took Christian by the hand again and led him into a chamber where there was a person getting out of bed, and as he put on his clothing, he shook and trembled.
Then Christian said, “Why does this man tremble so?”
The Interpreter then told him to tell Christian the reason behind his doing this.
So the man began, “Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamed and saw when the heavens grew exceedingly black with most fearful thunder and lightning so that it put me into torment. So I looked up in my dream and saw the clouds shake violently at an unusual rate, upon which I heard the sound of a great trumpet98 and saw a man sitting upon a cloud, attended with the thousands of heaven;99 they were all in flaming fire,100 also the heavens were in a burning flame. Then I heard a voice101 saying, ‘Arise, all you dead, and come to judgment.’
“And with that, the rocks rent, the graves opened, and the dead came forth;102 some of them were exceedingly glad and looked upward;103 some sought to hide104 themselves under the mountains. Then I saw the man that sat upon the cloud open the book and command the world to draw near. Yet there was, by reason of a fierce flame that issued out and came from before him,105 a convenient distance between him and them, as between the judge and the prisoners at the bar.
“I also heard it proclaimed to those that attended the man that sat upon the cloud, ‘Gather together the tares, the chaff, and stubble, and cast them into the burning lake.’106 And with that, the bottomless pit opened, just about where I stood; out of the mouth of it came, in an abundant manner, smoke and coals of fire with hideous noises. It was also said to the same persons, ‘Gather my wheat into the store-house.’107 And with that, I saw many caught up and carried away into the clouds,108 but I was left behind. I sought to hide myself but could not, for the man that sat upon the cloud still kept his eye upon me; my sins came into my mind, and my conscience accused109 me on every side. Upon this I awoke from my sleep.”
“But what was it that made you so afraid of this sight?” Christian said.
“Why, I thought that the day of judgment had come and that I was not ready for it; but this frightened me most, that the angels gathered up several and left me behind; also the pit of hell opened her mouth just where I stood. My conscience afflicted me too; and, as I thought, the Judge always had his eye upon me, showing indignation in his countenance.”
Then the Interpreter asked Christian, “Have you considered all these things?”
“Yes, and they put me in hope and fear.”
“Well, keep all these things so in your mind that they may be as a goad in your sides to prick you forward in the way you must go,” the Interpreter said.
Then Christian began to gird up his loins and to prepare himself for his journey.
Then the Interpreter said, “May the Comforter110 always be always with you, good Christian, to guide you in the way that leads to the city.”
So, Christian went on his way, saying:
“Here I have seen rare and profitable,
Things pleasant, dreadful, things to make me stable
In what I have begun to take in hand;
Then let me think on them and understand
Wherefore they showed me where and let me be
Thankful, O good Interpreter, to thee.”
98 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised without corruption, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
99 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints. (Jude 14)
100 With flaming fire, to take vengeance on those that do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8)
101 Marvel not at this, for an hour shall come when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice. (John 5:28)
102 And I saw a great white throne and him that was seated upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and their place was not found. And I saw the dead, great and small, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened; which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them; and the judgment of each one was according to their works. And Hades and death were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Revelation 20:11–14)
103 Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God, for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; early will I present myself unto thee and wait. (Psalm 5:1–3)
104 The Gentiles shall see and be ashamed at all thy mighty acts: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall become deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent; as the serpents of the earth, they shall tremble in their holes; they shall be filled with fear of the LORD our God and shall also fear thee. (Micah 7:16–17)
105 But who may abide the time of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:2–3) “I beheld until thrones were placed, and an Elder of great age did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool: his throne a flame of fire, his wheels burning fire. A river of fire issued and came forth from before him; thousands of thousands served him, and ten thousands of ten thousands stood before him; the Judge sat down, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:9–10)
106 Whose fan is in his hand; and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with fire that shall never be quenched. (Matthew 3:12) For, behold, the day comes that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, said the LORD of the hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (Malachi 4:1)
107 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor and will gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. (Luke 3:17)
108 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)
109 For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature that which is of the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing wit[1]ness, accusing and also excusing their reasonings one with another. (Romans 2:14–15)
110 The Comforter is the Holy Spirit. See John 14:26.
Chapter 3. Delivered of His Burden at the Cross .
Now I saw in my dream that the highway that Christian was to go up was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation.111 Up this way, therefore, burdened Christian ran, but not without great difficulty because of the load on his back.
He ran like this until he came to a place that was somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below in the bottom was a tomb. So I saw in my dream that just as Christian came to the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders and fell from off his back and began to tumble, and so continued to do until it came to the mouth of the tomb, where it fell in, and I did not ever see it again!
Burden Exchanged for a ScrolI.
Then Christian, glad and lightsome,112 said with a merry heart, “He has given me rest by his sorrow and life by his death.” Then he stood still a while to look and wonder, for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked, therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks.113
Now as he stood looking and weeping, behold, three Shining Ones came to him and greeted him with, “Peace be unto you.”
The first said to him, “Your sins are forgiven;”114 the second stripped him of his rags115 and clothed him with a change of apparel; the third set a mark on his forehead116 and gave him a roll with a seal upon it, which he told him to look at as he ran and that he should hand it in at the celestial gate.
So they went their way. Then Christian gave three leaps for joy and went on singing:117
“Thus far did I come laden with my sin,
Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in,
Till I came here. What a place is this!
Must here be the beginning of my bliss?
Must here the burden fall from off my back?
Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?
Blessed cross! blessed tomb! blessed rather be
The Man that there was put to shame for me!”
I saw, then, in my dream that he went on like this, even until he came to the bottom where he saw, a little out of the way, three men fast asleep with shackles upon their heels. The name of the first was Simple, of the second Sloth, and of the third Presumption.
Christian then, seeing them in this situation, went to them if perhaps he might awaken them and cried, “You are like those that sleep on the top of a mast,118 for the Dead Sea is under you, a gulf that has no bottom; awake, therefore, and come away; be willing, and I will help you remove your irons.” He also told them, “If he that goes about like a roaring lion119 comes by, you will certainly become a prey to his teeth. With that, they looked upon him and began to reply in this manner:
Simple said, “I see no danger.”
Sloth said, “Yet a little more sleep.”
Presumption said, “Every tub must stand upon its own bottom.”
And so, they lay down to sleep again,120 and Christian went on his way.
111 In that day they shall sing this song in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; God has appointed saving health for walls and bulwarks. (Isaiah 26:1)
112 Note: when God releases us of our guilt and burden, we are as those that leap for joy.
113 And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of prayer, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn over him as one mourns for his only son, afflicting themselves over him as one afflicts himself over his firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)
114 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the paralytic, Son, thy sins are forgiven thee. (Mark 2:5)
115 And the angel answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I have caused thee to be clothed with new raiment. (Zechariah 3:4)
116 In whom ye also trusted, hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your saving health; in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of the promise. (Ephesians 1:13)
117 Note: a Christian can sing, even though alone, when God gives him the joy of his heart.
118 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lies down in the midst of the sea or as he that sleeps at the rudder. (Proverbs 23:34)
119 Be temperate and vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
120 There is no persuasion that will do if God does not open the eyes.
Possible Shortcuts?
Yet he was troubled to think that men in that much danger should so little esteem the kindness of someone that so freely offered to help them, both by awakening them, counseling them, and proffering to help them remove their irons. And as he was troubled about this, he saw two men come tumbling over the wall on the left hand of the narrow way, and they caught up to him. The name of the one was Formalist, and the name of the other Hypocrisy. So, as I said, they drew up close to him, who then entered with them into discussion.
“Gentlemen, where did you come from, and where do you go?” Christian asked.
“We were born in the land of Vainglory and are going for praise to Mount Zion,” Formalist and Hypocrisy said.
“Why did you not come in at the gate that stands at the beginning of the way? Do you not know that it is written that he that enters not in by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber?”121
Formalist and Hypocrisy then said that all their countrymen considered it too far to go to the gate for entrance and that, therefore, their usual way was to make a shortcut of it and to climb over the wall as they had done. “But will violating his revealed will like this not be counted a trespass against the Lord of the city where we are bound?” Christian said.
Formalist and Hypocrisy told him122 that as for that, he needed not to trouble his head about it, for what they did was an established custom, and they could produce, if need be, testimony that would witness it for more than a thousand years.
“But, will your practice stand a trial at law?”
Formalist and Hypocrisy then told him, “Our longstanding custom of more than a thousand years would, without a doubt, now be admitted as legal by an impartial judge. And besides, if we get into the way, what matter is it which way we get in? If we are in, we are in; you, who as we perceive came in at the gate, are in the way; and we also are in the way after tumbling over the wall. Now where is your condition better than ours?”
“I walk by the rule of my Master; you walk by the rude working of your fancies. The Lord of the way counts you as thieves already; therefore, I doubt you will be found true men at the end of the way. You have come in by yourselves without his direction and shall go out by yourselves without his mercy,” Christian said.
To this, they did not give much of an answer but told him to look to himself. Then I saw that they went on, each man in his way, without much conference one with another, except that these two men told Christian that as for laws and ordinances, they did not doubt but that they should do them as conscientiously as he. “Therefore,” they said, “we do not see how you differ from us, other than by the coat that is on your back, which was, as we know, given you by some of your neighbors to hide the shame of your nakedness.”
“Laws and ordinances will not save you, since you did not come in by the door,”123 Christian said. “And as for this coat that is on my back, it was given to me by the Lord of the place where I go; and that, as you say, to cover my nakedness with. And I take it as a token of kindness to me, for I had nothing but rags before. And besides, with this I comfort myself as I go. Surely, I think, when I come to the gate of the city, the Lord thereof will know me for good since I have his coat on my back, a coat that he gave me freely in the day that he stripped me of my rags. I also have a mark in my forehead that you may not have noticed, which one of my Lord’s most intimate associates fixed there in the day that my burden fell off my shoulders. I will tell you also that then I was given a sealed roll to comfort me by reading as I go on the way; I was also told to give it in at the celestial gate in token of my certain going in after it. All these things I doubt you have, and you lack them because you did not come in at the gate.”
To this they gave him no answer; they only looked upon each other and laughed. Then I saw that they all went on but that Christian kept the lead. He had no more talk but with himself, and that sometimes sighingly and sometimes comfortably; also he would often be reading in the roll that one of the Shining Ones gave him, by which he was refreshed.
121 John 10:1.
122 Those that come into the way, and not by the door, think that they can say something in vindication of their own practice.
123 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16)
Three Ways Diverge.
I saw then that they all went on until they came to the foot of the hill Difficulty,124 at the bottom of which there was a spring. There were also in the same place two other ways besides the one that came straight from the gate; one turned to the left hand and the other to the right at the bottom of the hill, but the narrow way went right up the hill, and the name of passage going up the side of the hill is called Difficulty. Christian now went to the spring125 and drank of it to refresh himself, then he began to go up the hill, saying,
“The hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend;
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear.
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
The other two also came to the foot of the hill. But when they saw that the hill was steep and high and that there were two other ways to go – and supposing also that these two ways might meet again with the way that Christian went up on the other side of the hill – therefore, they were resolved to go in those ways.
Now the name of one of those ways was Danger, and the name of the other was Destruction. So the one took the way that is called Danger, which led him into a great forest; and the other took the way to Destruction, which led him into a wide field full of dark mountains, where he stumbled and fell and rose no more.
Then I looked after Christian to see him go up the hill, where I perceived he went from running to walking, and from walking to clambering upon his hands and his knees because of the steepness of the place. Now about the midway to the top of the hill was a pleasant arbor126 made by the Lord of the hill for the refreshment of weary travelers. Christian sat down there to rest; then he pulled out his roll and read to his comfort; he also now began to look over the coat or garment that was given to him as he stood by the cross. Thus pleasing himself awhile, he at last fell into a slumber and then into a fast sleep, which detained him in that place until it was almost night; and in his sleep his roll fell out of his hand.127
Now, as he was sleeping, there came one to him and awaked him, saying, Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.128 And with that, Christian suddenly started up and sped on his way, and he went quickly until he came to the top of the hill.
Now as soon as he got to the top of the hill, two men came running from the oppo[1]site direction; the name of the one was Timorous, and of the other Mistrust. Christian said to them, “Sirs, what’s the matter? You run the wrong way.”
Timorous answered, “We are going to the city of Zion and had got up that difficult place, but the farther we go, the more danger we meet with; therefore, we turned and are going back again.”
“Yes,” said Mistrust, “for just before us lie a couple of lions in the way, whether sleeping or waking we do not know, and we thought that if we came within their reach that they would tear us to pieces.”
Then Christian said, “You make me afraid, but where shall I flee to be safe? If I go back to my own country that is prepared for fire and brimstone, I shall certainly perish there; if I can get to the celestial city, I am sure to be in safety there; I must take the risk. To go back is nothing but death; to go forward is fear of death and life everlasting beyond it. I will continue to go forward.”
So, Mistrust and Timorous ran down the hill, and Christian went on his way.
124 Difficult is behind; Fear is before; Tho’ he’s got on the hill, the lion’s roar. A Christian man is never long at ease; When one fright is gone, another doth him seize.
125 They shall never hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water he shall feed them. (Isaiah 49:10)
126 A word of grace.
127 Note: he that sleeps is a loser.
128 Proverbs 6:6
A Missing Roll
But thinking again of what he had heard from the men, he sought his roll that he might read from it and be comforted, but he felt and did not find it. Then Christian was in great distress and did not know what to do; for he wanted that which used to relieve him and that which should have been his pass into the celestial city. Here, therefore, he began to be greatly perplexed, not knowing what to do. At last he thought of when he had slept in the arbor that is on the side of the hill; and falling down upon his knees, he asked God forgiveness for that foolish act and then went back to look for his roll.
But all the way he went back, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful. Sometimes he sighed, sometimes he wept, and oftentimes he chided himself for being so foolish to fall asleep in that place, which was erected only for a little refreshment from his weariness. So, he went back, carefully looking on this side and on that all the way as he went, if somehow he might find his roll that had been his comfort so many times in his journey.
He went like this until once again he saw the arbor where he sat and slept; but that sight renewed his sorrow even more by reminding him of his evil of sleeping unto his mind. Therefore, he now went on, bewailing his sinful sleep, saying, “O wretched man that I am that I should sleep in the daytime,129 that I should sleep in the midst of difficulty! That I should so indulge the flesh as to use that rest for ease to my flesh, which the Lord of the hill has erected only for the relief of the spirits of pilgrims! How many steps have I taken in vain! This is what happened to Israel; for their sin they were sent back again by the way of the Red Sea, and I am made to tread those steps with sorrow, which I might have trod with delight had it not been for this sinful sleep. How far might I have been on my way by this time! I am made to tread those steps three times over, when I needed to have done them only once; and now, also, the night shall overtake me, for the day is almost spent. Oh that I had not slept!”
Now, by this time he had come back to the arbor, where for a while he sat down and wept; but at last, as providence would have it, looking sorrowfully down under the bench, there he saw his roll. With trembling and haste he took it up and put it safely away. But who can tell how joyful this man was when he had gotten his roll again? For this roll was the assurance of his life and acceptance at the desired haven. Therefore he laid it up in his bosom, gave thanks to God for directing his eye to the place where it lay, and with joy and tears set himself again to his journey.
But oh how nimbly did he go up the rest of the hill! Yet before he got up, the sun went down upon Christian, and this made him recall again the vanity of his sleeping to his remembrance; and so he again began to condole with himself: “Oh such sinful sleep! How for thy sake is my journey to be over-taken by nightfall! I must walk without the sun; darkness must cover the path of my feet, and I must hear the noise of the doleful creatures because of my sinful sleep!”
Now he also remembered the story that Mistrust and Timorous had told him, how they were frightened with the sight of lions. Then Christian said to himself again, “These beasts range in the night for their prey; and if they should meet with me in the dark, how shall I avoid them? How shall I escape being torn in pieces by them?”
So, in this condition, he went on his way. But while he was bewailing his unhappy miscarriage, he lifted up his eyes and saw there was a very stately palace before him, the name of which was Beautiful, and it stood by the highway side.
A Trial of Faith.
So, I saw in my dream that he made haste and went forward to see if he might possibly get lodging there. Now before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a furlong off the porter’s lodge, and looking very narrowly before him as he went, he saw two lions in the way. “Now,” he thought, “I see the dangers by which Mistrust and Timorous were driven back.” (The lions were chained, but he did not see the chains.) Then he was afraid and thought about going back after them, for he thought nothing but death was before him.
But the porter at the lodge, whose name is Watchful,130 perceiving that Christian made a halt as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, “Is thy strength so small? Do not fear the lions, for they are chained and are placed there for trial of faith where it is and for discovery of those that have none; keep in the midst of the path, and you shall not be hurt.”
Then I saw that Christian went on, trembling for fear of the lions but paying close attention to the directions of the porter; he heard them roar, but they did him no harm. Then he clapped his hands and went on until he came and stood in front of the gate where the porter was. Then Christian said to Watchful, “Sir, what house is this, and may I lodge here tonight?”
Watchful answered, “This house was built by the Lord of the hill, and he built it for the relief and security of pilgrims.” He also asked where Christian was from and where he was going.
“I am come from the city of Destruction, and I am going to Mount Zion; but because the sun is now set, I desire, if I may, to lodge here tonight.”
“My name is now Christian, but my name at the first was Graceless; I came of the race of Japheth, whom God will persuade to dwell in the tents of Shem.”131
“But how does it happen that you come so late? The sun is set,” Watchful said.
“I would have been here sooner, but that wretched man that I am, I slept in the arbor that stands on the hillside! No, if it had not been for that, I should have been here much sooner, but in my sleep I lost my evidence and came with-out it to the brow of the hill; and then feeling for it and not finding it, I was forced with sorrow of heart to go back to the place where I had gone to sleep, where I found it; and so now I am here.
“Well, I will call one of the virgins of this place who will, if she likes your talk, bring you in to the rest of the family according to the rules of the house.”
129 For you know in what manner you ought to imitate us, for we did not walk disorderly among you, neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought, but working with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. (2 Thessalonians 3:7–8)
130 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? (Mark 4:40).
131 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Ca[1]naan shall be his slave (Genesis 9:27).
Rest at the Castle
So Watchful the porter rang a bell, and at the sound of it, a serious and beautiful young lady named Discretion came out of the door of the house. “Why have you called me?” she asked.
Watchful answered, “This man is on a journey from the city of Destruction to Mount Zion; but he is weary and the hour late, and he asked me if he might lodge here tonight. So, I told him I would call for you, who, after speaking with him, may do as seems good unto you according to the law of the house.”
Then she asked Christian where he was from and where he was going, and he told her. She asked him about how he got into the way, and he told her. Then she asked him what he had seen and met with in the way, and he told her. And at last she asked his name.
He said, “It is Christian, and I have so much the more a desire to lodge here tonight because, by what I perceive, this place was built by the Lord of the hill for the relief and security of pilgrims.”
She smiled, but the water stood in her eyes; after a little pause she said, “I will call forth two or three more of the family. So, she ran to the door and called Prudence, Piety, and Charity, who, after a little more conversation with him, had him into the family; and many of them meeting him at the threshold of the house said, “Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; this house was built by the Lord of the hill on purpose to entertain such pilgrims in.”
Then he bowed his head and followed them into the house. When he had come in and sat down, they gave him something to drink and consented together that until supper was ready, some of them should have some particular discussion with Christian for the best use of time; and they appointed Piety, Prudence, and Charity to speak with him. And so they began.
Christian’s Recount of the Journey.
“Come, good Christian,” Piety said, “since we have been so loving to you as to receive you into our house this night, let us, if perhaps we may better ourselves thereby, talk with you of all things that have happened to you in your pilgrimage.”
“With a very good will; and I am glad that you are so well disposed,” Christian said.
“What moved you at first to betake yourself to a pilgrim’s life?” Piety asked.
“I was driven out of my native country by a dreadful sound that was in my ears; I knew that unavoidable destruction would surround me if I continued to reside in the place where I was.”
“But how did it happen that you came out of your country this way?”
“It was as God would have it; for when I was under the fear of destruction, I did not know where to go. But unexpectedly, a man came to me as I was trembling and weeping, whose name is Evangelist, and he directed me to the narrow gate, which I would never have found, and so set me into the way that has led me directly to this house.”
“But did you not come by the house of the Interpreter?”
“Yes, and I saw things there that I will remember as long as I live, especially three things: to know how Christ, in despite of Satan, maintains his work of grace in the heart; how the man had sinned himself quite out of the hope of God’s mercy; and also the dream of the man who thought in his sleep that the day of judgment was come.”
“Why, did you hear him tell his dream?” Piety asked.
“Yes, and a dreadful one it was, I thought; it made my heart
ache as he was telling of it, but yet I am glad I heard it,” Christian said.
“Was this all you saw at the house of the Interpreter?”
“No, he took me and showed me a stately palace, and how the people that were in it were clad in gold; and how there came a valiant man and cut his way through the armed men that stood in the door to keep him out; and how he was invited to come in and win eternal glory. Those things overwhelmed my heart, and I would have stayed at that good man’s house for an entire year, except I knew I had farther to go.”
“And what else did you see in the way?”
“See? Why, I went but a little farther, and I saw One, as I thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon a tree; and the very sight of him made my burden fall off my back, for I groaned under a very heavy burden, but then it fell down from off me. It was a strange thing to me, for I never saw such a thing before; yes, and while I stood looking up –for then I could not keep myself from looking – three Shining Ones came to me. One of them testified that my sins were forgiven me; another stripped me of my rags and gave me this embroidered coat which you see; and the third set the mark that you see on my forehead and gave me this sealed roll.” And with that, Christian pulled the roll out of his tunic.
“But you saw more than this, did you not?” Piety said.
“The things that I have told you were the best, yet I saw some others as, namely, I saw three men – Simple, Sloth, and Presumption – lie asleep a little out of the way as I came; they had irons upon their heels, but do you think I could awake them? I also saw Formality and Hypocrisy come tumbling over the wall to go, as they pretended, to Zion; but they were quickly lost, even as I myself did tell them, but they would not believe. But above all, I found it hard work to get up this hill, and as hard to come by the lions’ mouths; and truly, if it had not been for the good man, the porter that stands at the gate, I do not know but that, after all, I might have gone back again; but I thank God I am here, and thank you for receiving me.”
A Heavenly Kingdom
Then Prudence thought it good to ask him a few questions and desired his answer to them. “Do you not think sometimes of the country from where you came?”
“Yes, but with much shame and detestation,” Christian said. Truly, if I had been mindful of that country from where I came out, I might have had opportunity to have returned;132 but now I desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”
“Do you continue with some of the things that you used to do back then?”
“Yes, but greatly against my will, especially my inward and carnal ponderings, with which all my countrymen as well as myself were delighted. But now all those things are my grief, and if I could choose my own things, I would choose never to think of those things again; but when I would be doing that which is best, that which is worst is with me.”133
“Do you not find sometimes as if those things were vanquished, which at other times are your perplexity?” Prudence said.
“Yes, but that is seldom; however, they are to me golden hours in which such things happen to me,” Christian said.
“Can you remember by what means you find your annoyances at times as if they were vanquished?”
“Yes, when I think of what I saw at the cross, that will do it; and when I look upon my embroidered coat, that will do it; and when I look into the roll that I carry in my bosom, that will do it; and when my thoughts grow warmer about where I am going, that will do it.”
“And what is it that makes you so desirous to go to Mount Zion?”
“Why, there I hope to see Him alive that hung dead on the cross; and there I hope to be rid of all those things that to this day are in me and are an annoyance to me. There they say there is no death,134 and there I shall dwell with such company as I like best. For, to tell you the truth, I love Him because I was eased of my burden by Him, and I am weary of my inward sickness. I would happily be where I shall die no more and with the company that shall continually cry, Holy, holy, holy!
132 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had time to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one; therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:15–16)
133 For that which I do, I do not understand, and not even the good that I desire is what I do; but what I hate, that is what I do. (Romans 7:15)
134 He will destroy death forever; and the Lord GOD shall wipe away every tear from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people he shall take away from off all the earth: for the LORD has determined it. (Isaiah 25:8) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and death shall be no more neither shall there be any more sorrow nor crying nor pain; for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4).
Left Behind
Then Charity said to Christian, “Do you have a family; are you a married man?”
“I have a wife and four small children.
“And why did you not bring them along with you?” Charity asked.
Then Christian wept, and said, “Oh, how willingly would I have done it! But they were, all of them, utterly against my going on this pilgrimage.”
“But you should have talked to them and have endeavored to show them the danger of staying behind.”
“I did, and told them what God had shown to me of the destruction of our city; but I seemed to them as one that mocked,135 and they did not believe me.”
“And did you pray to God that he would bless your counsel to them?”
“Yes, and that with much affection; for you must think that my wife and poor children were very dear to me.”
“But did you tell them of your own sorrow and fear of destruction? For I suppose that destruction was visible enough to you.”
“Yes, over and over and over. They might also see my fears in my countenance, in my tears, and also in my trembling under the apprehension of the judgment that hung over our heads; but all this was not sufficient to prevail with them to come with me.”
“But what could they say for themselves; why they did not come?”
“Why, my wife was afraid of losing this world, and my children were given to the foolish delights of youth; so, by one thing and another, they left me to wander in this manner alone.”
“But did you not, with your vain life, damp all that you used by way of persuasion by words to bring them away with you?” Charity said.
“Indeed, I cannot commend my life, for I am conscious to myself of many failings. But I also know that by his behavior a man may soon overthrow what, by argument or persuasion, he labors to fasten upon others for their good. Yet this I can say, I was very wary of giving them occasion, by any unseemly action, to make them averse to going on this pilgrimage. And for this very thing they would tell me I was too precise and that I denied myself of things – for their sakes – in which they saw no evil. No, I think I may say that if what they saw in me hindered them, it was my great sensitivity to not sin against God or do any wrong to my neighbor.”
“Indeed, Cain hated his brother because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous,136 and if your wife and children have been offended with you for this, they thereby show themselves to be implacable to good; you have delivered your soul from their blood.”137
135 And Lot went out and spoke unto his sons-in-law, those who were to marry his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. (Genesis 19:14)
136 Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. (1 John 3:12)
137 Yet if thou warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. (Ezekiel 3:19)
Next Door to Heaven
Now I saw in my dream that they sat talking together like this until supper was ready. So, when they had made ready, they sat down to eat. Now the table was furnished with fat things and with wine that was well refined,138 and all their talk at the table was about the Lord of the hill – as, namely, about what he had done and his purpose in doing so and why he had built that house. By what they said, I perceived that he had been a great warrior and had fought with and slain the one that had the power of death,139 but not without great danger to himself, which made me love him the more.
“For, as they said and as I believe,” said Christian, “he did it with the loss of much blood. But that which put the glory of grace into all he did was that he did it out of pure love to his country.” And besides, there were some of them of the household that said they had been and spoke with him since he died on the cross; and they had attested that they had it from his own lips that he is such a lover of poor pilgrims that the like is not to be found from the east to the west.
They also gave an instance of what they affirmed, which was that he had stripped himself of his glory that he might do this for the poor; they also said that they heard him say and affirm that he would not dwell in the mountain of Zion alone. They said he had made many pilgrims into princes,140 though by nature they were born beggars and their origin had been the dunghill.
So they discussed together until late at night; and after they had committed themselves to their Lord for protection, they laid down to rest. They gave the pilgrim a large upper chamber, whose window opened toward the sunrise. The name of the chamber was Peace, where Christian slept until the break of day, and then he awoke and sang:
“Where am I now? Is this the love and care
Of Jesus for the men that pilgrims are
Thus to provide! That I shall be forgiven
And dwell already the next door to heaven?
138 And in this mountain the LORD of the hosts shall make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of purified wines, of fat things full of marrow, of purified liquids. (Isaiah 25:6)
139 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the empire of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)
140 He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he has set the world upon them. (1 Samuel 2:8) He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts the destitute out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. (Psalm 113:7–8)
A Tour of the Castle.
So in the morning they all got up; and after some more conversation, they told him that he should not depart until they had shown him the rarities of that place. First they took him into the study where they showed him records of the greatest antiquity; in which, as I remember my dream, they showed him the pedigree of the Lord of the hill, that he was the Son of the Ancient of Days and came by eternal generation. Here also were more fully recorded the acts that he had done and the names of many hundreds that he had taken into his service; and how he had placed them in such habitations that could neither by length of days, nor decays of nature, be dissolved.
Then they read to him some of the worthy acts that some of his servants had done, who by faith won kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, recovered from infirmities, were made valiant in battle, and turned to flight the armies of foreign enemies.141
Then they read again another part of the records of the house where it was shown how willing their Lord is to receive into his favor any person, even any that in time past had offered great affronts to his person and proceedings. Here also were several other histories of many other famous things, all of which Christian had a view – of things both ancient and modern, together with prophecies and predictions of things that have their certain accomplishment, both to the dread and amazement of enemies and the comfort and solace of pilgrims.
The next day, they took him and had him into the armory where they showed him all manner of equipment that their Lord had provided for pilgrims: sword, shield, helmet, breastplate, all-prayer,142 and shoes that would not wear out. And there was here enough of this to harness out as many people for the service of their Lord as there are stars in the heaven for multitude.
They also showed him some of the instruments with which some of his servants had done wonderful things. They showed him Moses’s rod, the hammer and nail with which Jael slew Sisera, the pitchers, trumpets, and lamps too, with which Gideon put to flight the armies of Midian. Then they showed him the ox goad with which Shamgar slew six hundred men. They showed him also the jawbone with which Samson did such mighty feats. They showed him the sling and stone with which David slew Goliath of Gath and the sword with which their Lord will kill the man of sin in the day that he shall rise up to the prey.143 They showed him many other excellent things, with which Christian was much delighted. This done, they went to their rest again.
141 Hebrews 11:33–34
142 This is the weapon with which Christian afterward put to flight his spiritual adversaries in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
143 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. (Isaiah 33:13)
Extended Stay
Then I saw in my dream, that in the morning he got up to go forward, but they asked him to stay the next day also; and then they said they would, if the day were clear, show him the Delectable Mountains, which they said would yet further add to his comfort because they were nearer the desired haven than the place where he presently was. So Christian consented and stayed. When the morning was up, they took him to the top of the house and had him look south. So he did, and at a great distance, he saw a most pleasant mountainous country with beautiful woods and vineyards, fruit of all sorts, flowers also, with springs and fountains and very delightful to behold.
“What is the name of the country?” Christian asked
“It is Emmanuel’s land,” they said. “It is as common as this hill is to and for all the pilgrims. And when you arrive there, you may see the gate of the celestial city, since the shepherds that live there will make it appear.”144
Now he considered setting forward, and they were willing that he should. “But first,” they said, “let us go again into the armory.”
So, they did, and when he came there, they harnessed him from head to foot with armor and weapons that were battle ready lest, perhaps, he should meet with assaults in the way. After this preparation, he walked out with his friends to the gate, and there he asked the porter, “Have you seen any pilgrim pass by?”
Then the porter answered, “Yes.”
The Pilgrim Presses On
“Do you know anything about him?” Christian asked.
“I asked his name, and he told me it was Faithful,” the porter said.
“Oh, I know him; he is my townsman, my near neighbor. He comes from the place where I was born. How far ahead do you think he may be?”
“By this time he is likely below the hill.”
“Well, good porter Watchful, the Lord be with you and add to all your blessings much increase for the kindness that you have shown me.”
Then Christian began to go forward, but Discretion, Piety, Charity, and Prudence decided to accompany him down to the foot of the hill. So, they went on together, reiterating their former serious conversations until they came to go down the hill.
Then Christian said, “As it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down.”
“Yes,” said Prudence, “so it is. For it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the valley of Humiliation, as you are doing now, and to not slip along the way; therefore, we are going to accompany you down the hill.”
He began to go down, but very warily; yet he did slip a time or two.
Then I saw in my dream that these good companions, when they got Christian down to the bottom of the hill, gave him a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, and a cluster of raisins, and then he went on his way.145
144 He also set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD so that there should be no way for anyone who was unclean to enter in. (2 Chronicles 23:19)
145 Whilst Christian is among his godly friends, Their golden mouths make him sufficient mends For all his griefs; and when they let him go, He’s clad with northern steel from top to toe.
Chapter 4. Facing the Enemy .
Now, in this valley of Humiliation, poor Christian was hard put; for he had gone but a little way before he saw a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him. His name is Apollyon.
Then Christian began to be afraid and to consider in his mind whether to go back or to stand his ground. But he remembered that he had no armor for his back and, therefore, thought that to turn his back might give his enemy greater advantage to easily pierce him with his darts. So he resolved to face the danger and stand his ground; for, he thought, “even if my only purpose were the saving of my life, this would be the best way to stand.”
So, he went on, and Apollyon met him. Now the monster was hideous to behold. He was clothed with scales like a fish, and they are his pride; he had wings like a dragon and feet like a bear, and out of his belly came fire and smoke; and his mouth was as the mouth of a lion. When he was come up to Christian, he beheld him with a disdainful countenance, and thus began to question him.
Interrogation by the Monster
“Where did you come from, and where are you bound?” Apollyon said.
“I have come from the city of Destruction, which is the place of all evil,” Christian said, “and I am going to the city of Zion.”
“By this I perceive you are one of my subjects; for all that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it. How is it, then, that you have run away from your king? Were it not that I hope you may do me more service, I would strike you now at one blow to the ground.”
“I was, indeed, born in your dominions, Apollyon, but your service was hard and your wages such as a man could not live on; for the wages of sin is death. 146 Therefore, when I came of age, I did, as other considerate persons do, to look out if perhaps I might recover myself,” Christian said.
“There is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects, neither will I as yet lose you; but since you complain of your service and wages, be content to go back, and what our country will afford I do here promise to give you.”
“But I have given myself to another, even to the King of princes; and how can I with fairness go back with you?”
“You have done in this according to the proverb, ‘changed a bad for a worse;’ but it is ordinary for those that have professed themselves his servants, to give him the slip after a while and return again to me. Do the same, and all shall be well,” Apollyon said.
146 Romans 6:23
Christian Stands His Ground
“I have given him my faith and sworn my allegiance to him; how then, can I go back from this and not be hanged as a traitor?” Christian said.
Apollyon answered, “You did the same by me, and yet I am willing to let it go, if now you will yet turn again and go back.”
“What I promised you was before I came of age. And besides, I count that the Prince, under whose banner I now stand, is able to absolve me, yes, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with you. And besides, O you destroying Apollyon, to speak truth, I like his service, his wages, his servants, his government, his company, and country better than yours; therefore, leave off to persuade me further. I am his servant, and I will follow him,” Christian said.
“Consider again, when you are in cool blood, what you are likely to meet with in the way that you are going. You know that for the most part, his servants come to a bad end because they are transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them have been put to shameful deaths! And besides, you count his service better than mine; whereas, he never yet came from the place where he is to deliver any that served him out of their enemies’ hands. But as for me, how many times, as all the world very well knows, have I delivered from him and his, either by power or fraud, those that have faith-fully served me though taken by them! And so, I will I deliver you.”
“His forbearing, at present, to deliver them is on purpose to try their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end; and as for the bad end you say they come to, that is most glorious in their account. As for present deliverance, they do not much expect it; for they remain faithful unto him for their glory, and then they shall have it when their Prince comes in his glory and that of the angels,” Christian said.
“You have already been unfaithful in your service to him; so how do you think to receive wages of him?”
“Wherein, O Apollyon, have I been unfaithful to him?”
“You fainted when you at first set out, when you were almost choked in the gulf of Hopelessness. You attempted wrong ways to get rid of your burden when you should have waited until your Prince had taken it off. You sinfully slept and lost your choice things. You were almost persuaded also to go back at the sight of the lions. And when you speak of your journey and of what you have seen and heard, you are inwardly desirous of vainglory in all that you say or do.”
“All this is true and much more that you have left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful and ready to forgive,” Christian said. “But besides, these infirmities possessed me in your country, for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.”
Then Apollyon broke out into a grievous rage, saying, “I am an enemy to this Prince; I hate his person, his laws, and people. I have come out on purpose to withstand you.”
“Apollyon, beware of what you do, for I am in the King’s highway, the way of holiness; therefore, be very careful.”
The Battle Ensues
Then Apollyon positioned himself over the whole breadth of the way and said, “I am void of fear in this matter. Prepare to die; for I swear by my infernal den that you shall go no farther; here I will spill your soul.” And with that he threw a flaming dart at Christian’s chest.
But Christian had a shield in his hand with which he caught Apollyon’s dart, and so prevented the danger.147
Then Christian drew his sword, for he saw it was time to do something. And Apollyon, equally as fast, made at him, throwing darts as thick as hail, by which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head,148 his hand, and foot. This made Christian give way a little. Apollyon, therefore, followed up in a fury, and Christian again took courage and resisted as manfully as he could.
This sore combat lasted for more than half a day until Christian was almost quite spent; for you must know that Christian, by reason of his wounds, was growing weaker and weaker.
Then Apollyon, eyeing his opportunity, began to close in on Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall.
And with that, Christian’s sword flew out of his hand.
Then Apollyon said, “I am sure of you now.” And with that, he had almost pressed him to death so that Christian began to despair of life.
But, as God would have it, while Apollyon was bringing forth his final blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword and caught it, saying, “Do not rejoice against me, O my enemy; for if I have fallen, I shall arise.”149 And with that, Christian gave Apollyon a deadly thrust, which made him give back as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian, perceiving that, made at him again, saying, “Nevertheless, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us.”150
And with that, Apollyon spread forth his dragon wings and sped away, so that Christian saw him no more.151
147 Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (Ephesians 6:16).
148 That is, in his understanding, faith, and conversation.
149 Micah 7:8
150 Romans 8:37
151 Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Victory Prayer
In this combat, no man can imagine unless he had seen and heard, as I did, what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made during all of the fight; he spoke like a dragon. And on the other side, not many can imagine what sighs and groans burst from Christian’s heart. I never saw him all the while give so much as one pleasant look until he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his two-edged sword; then, indeed, he smiled and looked upward! But it was the most dreadful sight that ever I saw.
When the battle was over, Christian said, “I will here give thanks to him that has delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, to him that helped me against Apollyon.” And so, he did, saying,
“Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend,
Designed my ruin; therefore, to this end
He sent him harness’d out; and he, with rage,
That hellish was, did fiercely me engage;
But blessed Michael helped me, and I,
By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly.
Therefore, to Him let me give lasting praise
And thank and bless his holy name always.”
Then a hand came to him – a hand with some of the leaves of the tree of life – which Christian took and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle, and he was healed immediately. He also sat down in that place to eat bread and to drink of the bottle that had been given to him a short time before. So, being refreshed, he addressed himself to his journey with his sword drawn in his hand; for he said, “I do not know but what some other enemy may be at hand.” But he met with no other affront from Apollyon as he continued through the valley.
Another Valley, Two Men.
Now at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death; and Christian could not avoid it because the way to the Celestial City went through the middle of it. Now, this valley is a very solitary place, according to the prophet Jeremiah: a wilderness . . . a land of deserts and of pits . . . a land of drought and of the shadow of death . . . a land that no man [but a Christian] passed through and where no man dwelt. 152
Now, here Christian was in worse trouble than in his fight with Apollyon, as by the sequel you shall see.
I saw then in my dream that when Christian got to the borders of the Shadow of Death, two men met him who were children of those that brought up an evil report of the good land,153 making haste to go back. Christian spoke to them as follows.
“Where are you going?” Christian said.
“Back, back; and we would have you do so too, if either life or peace is prized by you,” The two men said.
“Why, what’s the matter?”
“Matter! We were going the same way as you are going and went as far as we dared; and indeed, we almost went too far, for had we gone a little farther, we would not be here to bring you the news.”
“But what have you met with?” said Christian.
“Why, we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but by good fortune we looked ahead and saw the danger before we came to it.”154
“But what have you seen?”
“Seen! Why the valley itself, which is as dark as pitch; we also saw there the demons, satyrs, and dragons of the pit. We heard in that valley a continual howling and yelling, as of a people under unutterable misery, who sat there bound in affliction and irons. And over that valley hung the discouraging clouds of confusion;155 death always spread his wings over it. In a word, it is dreadful in every way, being utterly without order.”
“Then,” Christian said, “I do not yet perceive, by what you have said, that this is not my way to the desired haven.”156
“Let it be your path; we will not choose it for ours.”
So, they parted, and Christian went on his way, but still with his sword drawn in his hand for fear lest he should be assaulted.
A Dark and Narrow Pathway.
I saw then in my dream, so far as this valley reached, there was on the right hand a very deep ditch; that ditch is the same into which the blind have led the blind in all ages, and there both have miserably perished. Again, I saw that on the left hand there was a very dangerous quagmire, into which, if even a good man falls, he finds no bottom for his foot to stand on. Into that mire, King David once fell,157 and no doubt he would have been smothered there, had not He that is able plucked him out.
The pathway here was also exceedingly narrow, and therefore, good Christian was in even more danger; for when he sought, in the dark, to avoid the ditch on the one hand, he was ready to step into the quagmire on the other. Also, when he sought to escape the mire, without great carefulness he would be ready to fall into the ditch.
Thus he went on, and I heard him here sigh bitterly; for besides the danger mentioned above, the pathway here was so dark that many times when he lifted up his foot to go forward, he knew not where or upon what he should set it next.
I perceived the mouth of hell158 to be about halfway through the valley, and it stood close beside the way.
“Now,” thought Christian, “what shall I do?”
And now and then the flames and smoke would come out in such abundance, with sparks and hideous noises (things that were not so easily deterred by Christian’s sword, as was the case with Apollyon before), so that he was forced to put up his sword and take up another weapon called All prayer.159 So he cried in my hearing, “O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.”160
Thus he went on a great while, yet the flames still reached toward him; he also heard doleful voices and rushings to and fro, so that sometimes he thought he would be torn in pieces or trampled down like mire in the streets. He saw these frightful sights and heard these dreadful noises as he walked for several miles until he thought he heard a company of fiends coming forward to meet him, so he stopped and began to ponder what he should do.
Sometimes, he had half a thought to go back; then again, he thought he might be halfway through the valley. He remembered, also, how he had already vanquished many a danger, and the danger of going back might be much greater than going forward. So, he resolved to go on; yet the fiends seemed to come nearer and nearer. But when they were almost upon him, he cried out with a most vehement voice, “I will go in the strength of the Lord God. 161 So, they fell back and came no further.
One thing I would not let slip. I noticed that now poor Christian was so confounded that he did not know his own voice; and so I perceived it that just when he was passing the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him and stepped up softly to him, whispered, and suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he really thought had proceeded from his own mind. This affected Christian more than anything that he had met with before, even to think that he should now blaspheme Him that he loved so much. Yet if he could have helped it, he would not have done it; but he did not have the discernment to either stop his ears or to know from where these blasphemies came.
152 Jeremiah 2:6
153 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the sons of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone through to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. (Numbers 13:32)
154 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death. (Psalm 44:18–19) He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bonds asunder. (Psalm 107:14)
155 But put forth thy hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and thou shalt see if he does not blaspheme thee to thy face. (Job 3:5) Land of darkness, as darkness itself, and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness. (Job 10:22)
156 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death. (Psalm 44:18–19) Neither did they say, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through and where no man dwelt? (Jeremiah 2:6)
157 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not drown; let me be delivered from those that hate me and out of the deep waters. (Psalm 69:14)
158 Poor man! where art thou now? Thy day is night; Good man, be not cast down, thou yet art right; Thy way to heaven lies by the gates of hell: Cheer up, hold out, with thee it shall go well.
159 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching in this with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18)
160 Psalm 116:4
161 Psalm 71:16
Discerning Voices
When Christian had traveled in this miserable condition for quite some time, he thought he heard the voice of a man, as going before him, saying, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.”162
Then was he glad and for these reasons: First, because he understood that some who feared God were in this valley as well as himself. Second, he perceived God was with them in and though that dark and dismal state.163 “And why not with me?” he thought, “though by reason of the impediment that attends this place, I cannot perceive it.” Third, he hoped that he could overtake them to have company by and by.
So he went on, and called to the person that was ahead of him, who did not know what to answer, for he also thought himself to be alone. And by and by, the day broke; then Christian praised He who turns the shadow of death into the morning. 164
Now morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to return but to see, by the light of the day, what hazards he had gone through in the dark. So, he saw more perfectly the ditch that was on the one hand and the quagmire that was on the other; also, how narrow the way was that led between them both. Now he saw the demons, and satyrs, and dragons of the pit, but all afar off; for after break of day, they did not come near, yet they were revealed to him, according to that which is written, He uncovers the depths of the darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death. 165
Now Christian was very impressed with this deliverance from all the dangers as he had walked alone; dangers that he had greatly feared before, yet he saw them more clearly now because the light of the day made them conspicuous to him. And about this time, the sun was rising, and additional mercy was shown to Christian; for you must note that though the first part of the Valley of the Shadow of Death was dangerous, still this second part that he had yet to go through was, if possible, far more dangerous. For, from the place where he now stood, even to the end of the valley, the way was set so full of snares, traps, gins, and nets here, and so full of pits, pitfalls, deep holes, and drop-offs there, that if it had now been dark, as it was when he traveled the first part of this way, if he had a thousand souls, they would, in theory, have been cast away. But, as I said, just now the sun was rising. Then h e said, “His lamp shone upon my head, and by its light I walked in the darkness.”166
162 Psalm 23:4
163 Behold, he shall pass before me, and I shall not see him; and he shall pass on, and I shall not understand him. (Job 9:11)
164 Amos 5:8
165 Job 12:22
166 Job 29:3.
The End of the Valley.
In this light, therefore, he came to the end of the valley. Now I saw in my dream that at the end of the valley lay blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of people, even of pilgrims that had previously gone this way; and while I was wondering what should be the reason, a little before me, I saw a cave where two giants, Pope and Pagan, lived in old times and by whose power and tyranny the men whose bones, blood, ashes, etc., lay there were cruelly put to death. But Christian went by this place without much danger while I somewhat wondered; but I have learned since that Pagan has been dead many a day; and as for the other, though he is still alive, he is, by reason of age and also of the many shrewd brushes that he met with in his younger days, grown so crazy and stiff in his joints that he can now do little more than sit in his cave’s mouth grinning at pilgrims as they go by and biting his nails because he cannot come at them.
So, I saw that Christian went on his way; yet, at the sight of the old man that sat at the mouth of the cave, he could not tell what to think, especially because the giant spoke to him – though he could not go after him – saying, “You will never mend until more of you are burned.”
But Christian held his peace and set a good face on it; and so, he went by and was not hurt. Then Christian sang,
“O world of wonders, (I can say no less),
That I should be preserved in that distress
That I have met with here! O blessed be
That hand that from it has delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin
Did compass me while I this vale was in;
Yea, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie
My path about, that worthless, silly I
Might have been catch’d, entangled, and cast down;
But since I live, let JESUS wear the crown.”
Chapter 5. Christian Joins Faithful.
As Christian went on his way, he came to a little ascent, which was built up on purpose so that pilgrims might see ahead of them. Up there, therefore, Christian went, and looking forward, he saw Faithful ahead of him upon his journey. Then Christian said aloud, “Ho, ho; so-ho; stay, and I will be your companion.”
At that, Faithful looked behind him; and Christian cried again, “Stay, stay, until I come up to you.”
But Faithful answered, “No, I am fleeing for my life, and the avenger of blood is behind me.”
At this, Christian was somewhat moved, and putting forth all his strength, he quickly caught up with Faithful, and overran him; so, the last was first. Then Christian vaingloriously smiled because he had gotten ahead of his brother; but not being careful with his feet, he suddenly stumbled and fell and could not rise again until Faithful came up to help him.
News from Home
Then I saw in my dream, they went very lovingly on together, and had sweet conversation of all the things that had happened to them in their pilgrimage; and so Christian began:
“My honored and well-beloved brother Faithful, I am glad that I have overtaken you and that God has so tempered our spirits that we can walk as companions in this so pleasant a path.”
“I had thought, my dear friend, to have your company all the way from our town,” Faithful said, “but you got ahead of me; so I was forced to come this much of the way alone.”
“How long did you stay in the city of Destruction before you set out after me on your pilgrimage?”
“Until I could stay no longer; for after you left, there was talk that our city would, in a short time, be burned down to the ground with fire from heaven.”
“What? Did your neighbors really talk so?”
“Yes, it was for a while in everybody’s mouth.”
“What? And did no more of them but you come out to escape the danger?” Christian said.
“Though there was, as I said, a great deal of talk, yet I do not think they firmly believed it.” Faithful said. “For, in the heat of the discourse, I heard some of them deridingly speak of you and of your desperate journey; for so they called this, your pilgrimage. But I did believe, and do still, that the end of our city will be with fire and brimstone from above; and therefore, I have made my escape.”
“Did you hear no talk of neighbor Pliable?”
“Yes, Christian, I heard that he followed you till he came to the Slough of Hopelessness, where, as some said, he fell in, even though he will not admit it. But I am sure he was soundly besmirched with that kind of dirt.”
“And what did the neighbors say to him?”
“He has, since his going back, been held greatly in derision, and that among all sorts of people; some mock and despise him, and few will give him work. He is now seven times worse than if he had never gone out of the city.”
“But why should they be so set against him, since they also despise the way that he forsook?”
“Oh, they say, ‘Hang him; he is a turncoat; he was not true to his profession!’ I think God has stirred up even the Lord’s enemies to hiss at him and make him a proverb because he has forsaken the way.”167
“Did you not speak with him before you came out?”
“I met him once in the streets, but he leered away on the other side, as one ashamed of what he had done; so I did not speak to him.”
“Well, at my first setting out I had hopes for that man; but now I fear he will perish in the overthrow of the city. For it has happened unto [him] according to the true proverb, The dog returns unto his own vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing “in the mire.168
“These are my fears for him too; but who can hinder that which will be?” Faithful said.
“Well, neighbor Faithful,” said Christian, “let us leave him and talk of things that more immediately concern ourselves. Tell me now what you have met with in the way as you came; for I know you have must have met with some things.
167 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will give them over as a reproach to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a curse, and as an astonishment, and a hissing, and an affront, unto all the Gentiles where I have driven them: because they did not hearken unto my words, said the LORD, which I sent unto them by my slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye did not hear, said the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:18–19)
168 2 Peter 2:2
Faithful’s Temptations
“I escaped the slough that I perceive you fell into and got up to the gate without that danger; only I met with someone, whose name is Unrestrained, that could have done me mischief.”
“It was well you escaped her net; Joseph was hard pressed by her, and he escaped as you did; but it almost169 cost him his life. But what did she do to you?” Christian said.
“You cannot imagine, unless you know something, what a flattering tongue she had. She did everything possible to get me to turn aside with her, promising me all manner of pleasure.”
“But she did not promise you the pleasure of a good conscience.”
“You know what I mean, Christian; all carnal and fleshly pleasure.”
“Thank God that you escaped her. The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit; he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.”170
“I know not whether I did completely escape her or not,” Faithful said.
“Why? I know you did not consent to her desires.”
“No, not to defile myself; for I remembered an old writing that I had seen, which said, Her feet go down to death, her steps uphold Sheol. 171 So, I shut my eyes because I would not be bewitched with her looks.172 Then she railed at me, and I went on my way.”
“Did you meet with any other assault as you came?” Christian asked.
“When I came to the foot of the hill called Difficulty, I met with a very aged man who asked me what I was and where I was going. I told him that I was a pilgrim going to the Celestial City. Then the old man said, ‘You look like an honest fellow; will you be content to live with me for the wages that I shall give you?’ Then I asked his name and where he lived. He said his name was Adam the First and that he lived in the town of Deceit.”173
Faithful continued, “I asked him, then, what his work was and what were the wages that he would give? He told me that his work was many delights, and his wages were that I should be his heir at last. Then I asked him what house he kept and what other servants he had. So, he told me that his house was maintained with all the dainties of the world and that his servants were those of his own begetting. Then I asked how many children he had. He said that he only had three daughters – the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life174 – and that I should marry them if I would. Then I asked how long a time he would have me live with him; and he told me, as long as he lived himself.”
“Well, and to what conclusion did you and the old man come to at last?” Christian asked.
“Why, at first I found myself somewhat inclined to go with the man, for I thought he spoke very fair; but looking in his forehead as I talked with him, I saw written there, ‘Put off the old man with his deeds.’”175
“And how then?”
“Then it came burning hot into my mind that whatever he said and however he flattered, when he got me home to his house, he would sell me for a slave. So, I told him not to speak to me, for I would not come near the door of his house. Then he reviled me and told me that he would send someone after who would make my way bitter to my soul. So, I turned to go away from him; but just as I turned to go, I felt him take hold of my flesh and give me such a deadly pinch that I thought he had pulled part of me after himself; this made me cry, ‘O wretched man.’176 So I went on my way up the hill. Now, when I was more than halfway up, I looked behind, and saw someone coming after me, swift as the wind; so he overtook me just about the place where the arbor stands.”
“It was there,” said Christian, “that I sat down to rest; but being overcome with sleep, I then lost my roll that I have been safeguarding.”
“But, good brother, hear me out,” Faithful said. “As soon as the man overtook me, he attacked me; he knocked me down and laid me out for dead. But when I was a little come to myself again, I asked him why he treated me so. He said because of my secret inclination to Adam the First. And with that he struck me another deadly blow on the chest and beat me down backwards; so, I lay at his foot as dead as before. And when I came to myself again, I cried unto him for mercy; but he said, ‘I do not know how to show mercy.’ And with that, he knocked me down again. Without a doubt, he would have made an end of me, but that one came by and ordered him to forbear.”
“Who ordered him to forbear?” Christian said.
“I did not know him at first, but as he went by, I perceived the holes in his hands and in his side. Then I concluded that he was our Lord. So, I went up the hill.”
“That man that overtook you was Moses. He does not spare anyone; neither does he know how to show mercy to those that transgress the law.”
“I know it very well; this was not the first time that he has met with me. It was he that came to me when I dwelled securely at home, and it was he that told me he would burn my house down over my head if I stayed there.”
“But did you not see the house that stood there on the top of the hill, on the side of which Moses met you?” Christian asked.
“Yes, and the lions too before I came to it. But, for the lions, I think they were asleep, for it was about noon; and because I had so much of the day before me, I passed by the porter and came down the hill,” Faithful said.
“He told me, indeed, that he saw you go by; but I wish you had called at the house, for they would have showed you so many rarities that you would never have forgotten them to the day of your death. But tell me, did you meet anyone in the Valley of Humility?”
“Yes, I met with a man named Discontent, who would willingly have persuaded me to go back with him; his reason was that the valley was altogether without honor. He also told me that to go there would deeply offend all my friends, such as Pride, Arrogancy, Self-Conceit, Worldly Glory, and others, who he said would be insulted if I made such a fool of myself as to wade through this valley.”
“Well, how did you answer him?” Christian said.
“I told him that although all those that he named might claim to be my kindred, and rightly so – for indeed they were my relations according to the flesh – yet since I became a pilgrim, they have disowned me, and I also have rejected them. Therefore, they are to me now no more than if they had never been of my lineage. I also told him that as to this valley, he had quite misrepresented the thing; for before honor is humility, and a haughty spirit before a fall.177 Therefore, I said I would rather go through this valley to the honor that was so accounted by the wisest than choose that which he esteemed most worthy of our affections,” Faithful said.
169 See Genesis 39:11–13.
170 Proverbs 22:14
171 Proverbs 5:5
172 I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a maid? (Job 31:1)
173 That ye put off everything concerning the old way of life, that is, the old man who corrupts himself according to deceitful desires. (Ephesians 4:22)
174 1 John 2:16
175 That ye put off everything concerning the old way of life, that is, the old man who corrupts himself according to deceitful desires. (Ephesians 4:22)
176 See Romans 7:24.
177 See Proverbs 16.
Accusation by Shame
“Did you meet with anything else in that valley?” Christian said.
“Yes, I met with Shame; but of all the men that I met with on my pilgrimage, he, I think, bears the wrong name. The other would- be said no after a little argumentation and somewhat else; but this bold-faced Shame would never have done so,” Faithful said.
“Why, what did he say to you?”
“ What? Why, he objected against religion itself. He said it was a pitiful, low, sneaking business for a man to pay attention to religion. He said a tender conscience was an unmanly thing and that for a man to watch over his words and ways, so as to tie up himself from that intimidating liberty to which the brave spirits of the times have accustomed themselves, would make him the ridicule of the times. He objected, also, that so few of the mighty, rich, or wise were ever of my opinion; nor were any of them of my opinion before they were persuaded to be fools and to be of a voluntary fondness to venture the loss of everything for nobody knows what.”178
Faithful continued, “He furthermore objected to the base and low estate and condition of those that were chiefly the pilgrims of the times in which they lived. He objected to their ignorance and lack of understanding in all natural science. He also went at it at that rate about a great many more things than I relate here: that it was a shame to sit whining and mourning under a sermon and a shame to come sighing and groaning home; that it was a shame to ask my neighbor forgiveness for petty faults or to make restitution where I have taken from anyone. He also said that religion made a man become incompatible with the great and famous because of a few vices, which he called by finer names, and made him own and respect those of a lower position in life because of the same religious fraternity; ‘And is not this,’ he said, ‘a shame?’”
“And what did you say to him?” Christian said.
“Say? I did not know what to say at first,” Faithful said. “For he accused me so that my blood came up in my face; even this Shame affected me so and had almost won the argument. But at last I began to consider that what is highly es[1]teemed among men is had in abomination with God.179 And I thought again, this Shame tells me what men are; but he tells me nothing about what God or the Word of God is. And I thought, furthermore, that at the day of doom, we shall not be doomed to death or life according to the intimidating spirits of this world, but according to the wisdom and law of the Highest. Therefore, I thought, what God says is best, is indeed best, though all the men in the world are against it. Seeing, then, that God prefers his religion;180 seeing God prefers a tender conscience; seeing those that make themselves fools for the kingdom of heaven are wisest, and that the poor man that loves Christ is richer than the greatest man in the world that hates him; I said, ‘Shame, depart. You are an enemy to my salvation. Shall I entertain you against my sovereign Lord? How, then, shall I look him in the face at his coming?181 If I am now ashamed of his ways and servants, how can I expect his blessing?’
“But indeed, this Shame was a bold villain; I could scarcely shake him out of my company, for he would haunt me and continually whisper in my ear with one or another of the infirmities that attend religion. But at last, I told him that it was in vain for him to attempt further in this business; for in those things that he disdained, in those I see the most glory. And so, at last I got past this unrelenting one. And when I had shaken him off, then I began to sing.
“The trials that those men do meet withal,
That are obedient to the heavenly call,
Are manifold and suited to the flesh,
And come, and come, and come again afresh;
That now, or some time else, we by them may
Be taken, overcome, and cast away.
O let the pilgrims, let the pilgrims, then,
Be vigilant, and acquit themselves like men.”
Christian said, “I am glad, my brother, that you withstood this villain so bravely; for of all, as you say, I think he has the wrong name. For he is so bold as to follow us in the streets and to attempt to put us to shame before all men; that is, to make us ashamed of that which is good. But if he was not himself audacious, he would never attempt to do as he does. But let us continue to resist him; for, notwithstanding all his bravadoes, he promotes the fool and none else. The wise shall inherit glory, said Solomon; but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”182
“I think we must cry to Him for help against Shame so that we might be valiant for truth upon the earth,” Faithful said.
“What you say is true; but did you meet anyone else in that valley?” Christian asked.
“No, I did not; for I had sunshine all the rest of the way through, and also through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.”
“It was well for you; it fared quite differently with me,” Christian said. “I had for quite a long time, almost as soon as I entered into that valley, a dreadful combat with that foul fiend Apollyon; for I really thought he would have killed me, especially when he got me down and crushed me under him, as if he would have crushed me to pieces. For as he threw me, my sword flew out of my hand; he really thought he had me, but I cried to God, and he heard me and delivered me out of all my troubles. Then I entered into the Valley of the Shadow of Death and had no light for almost half the way through it. I thought I should have been killed there over and over; but at last the day broke, and the sun arose, and from then on I had far more ease and quiet.”
178 For look upon your vocation, brothers, that ye are not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. (1 Corinthians 1:26) Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you seems to be wise in this age, let them become a fool that they may be wise. (1 Corinthians 3:18) But those things which were gain to me, I counted loss for Christ. And doubtless I even count all things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Philippians 3:7–9) Have any of the princes or of the Pharisees believed on him? (John 7:48)
179 And he said unto them, Ye are they who justify themselves before men, but God knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)
180 The pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation and to keep thyself unspotted from this world. (James 1:27)
181 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)
182 Proverbs 3:35
Many Words, Much Noise
Moreover, I saw in my dream that as they went on, Faithful, as he happened to look to one side, saw a man whose name was Talkative walking at a distance beside them; for in this place there was room enough for them all to walk. He was a tall man and something more handsome at a distance than close at hand. To this man, Faithful addressed himself.
“Friend, where are you away to? Are you going to the heavenly country?”
“I am going to the same place,” Talkative said.
“That is well; then I hope we shall have your good company?” Faithful said.
“With a very good will, I shall be your companion.”
“Come on then, and let us go together, and let us spend our time discussing things that are profitable.” Faithful said.
“To talk of things that are good, to me is very acceptable, with you or with anyone; and I am glad that I have met with those that incline to so good a work; for, to speak the truth, there are but few who care to spend their time like this while they are traveling, but much rather choose to be speaking of things of no profit; and this has been troubling to me.” Talkative said.
“That is, indeed, something to be lamented; for what could be so worthy of the use of the tongue and mouth of men on earth as are the things of the God of heaven?” Faithful said.
“I like you, for your words are full of conviction; and I will add, what thing is so pleasant, and what is so profitable as to talk of the things of God? That is, if a man has any delight in things that are wonderful. For instance, if a man delights to speak of history or of the mystery of things; or if a man loves to talk of miracles, wonders, or signs, where shall he find things recorded so delightfully and so sweetly penned as in the Holy Scriptures?”
“That is true; but to be profited by such things in our talk should be our chief design.”
“That’s what I said, for to talk of such things is most profitable; for by so doing, a man may gain knowledge of many things, as of the vanity of earthly things and the benefit of things above. Thus, in general but more particularly, by this a man may learn the necessity of the new birth, the insufficiency of our own works, the need of Christ’s righteousness, etc. Besides, by this a man may learn what it is to repent, to believe, to pray, to suffer, or the like; by this, also, a man may learn what are the great promises and consolations of the gospel, to his own comfort. Further, by this a man may learn to refute false opinions, to vindicate the truth, and also to instruct the ignorant.”
“All this is true; and I am glad to hear these things from you,” Faithful said.
“Alas! the lack of this is the reason why so few understand the need for faith and the necessity of a work of grace in their soul in order to have eternal life; they ignorantly live in the works of the law by which a man can by no means obtain the kingdom of heaven,” Talkative said.
“But by your leave, heavenly knowledge of these things is the gift of God; no man attains to them by human industry or only by the talk of them.”
“All this I know very well; for a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven; all is of grace, not of works. I could give you a hundred scriptures for the confirmation of this.”
“Well, then,” said Faithful, “what is that one thing that we shall at this time found our discussion upon?”
“Whatever you will. I will talk of things heavenly or things earthly, things moral or things evangelical, things sacred or things profane, things past or things to come, things foreign or things at home, things more essential or things circumstantial, provided that all be done to our profit.
Deceived by Empty Words.
Now Faithful began to wonder, and stepping over to Christian (for he walked all this while by himself) he said to him, but softly, “What a brave companion we have! Surely, this man will make a very excellent pilgrim.”
“Do you know him, then?”
“Know him? Yes, better than he knows himself.”
“Then what is he?”
“His name is Talkative; he lives in our town. I wonder that you should be a stranger to him, but I consider that our town is large.”
“Whose son is he? And where does he live?”
“He is the son of Say-well. He lived in Prating-Row, and he is known to all that are acquainted with him by the name of Talkative of Prating-Row; and, notwithstanding his fine tongue, he is quite a sorry fellow.”
“Well, he seems to be a very outstanding man.”
“That is, to those who do not have a thorough acquaintance with him, for he is best abroad; near home he is ugly enough. Your saying that he is an outstanding man brings to my mind what I have observed in the work of a painter whose pictures show best at a distance, but very near are more unpleasing.”
“But I am ready to think you speak in jest because you smiled,” Faithful said.
“God forbid that I should jest, though I smiled, in this matter or that I should accuse anyone falsely. I will give you a further unearthing of him,” Christian said. “This man is for any company and for any talk; as he speaks now with you, so will he talk when he is on the ale-bench; and the more drink he has in his head, the more of these things he has in his mouth. Religion has no place in his heart, or house, or conversation; all he has lies in his tongue, and his religion is nothing but noise.”
“Do you say so? Then am I greatly deceived by this man.”
“Deceived! You may be sure of it. Remember the proverb, They say, and do not do it;183 for the kingdom of God is not in words, but in virtue.184 He talks of prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth, but he only knows to talk of them. I have been in his family and have observed him both at home and abroad, and I know what I say of him is the truth. His house is as empty of true religion as the white of an egg is of savor. There is there neither prayer nor sign of repentance for sin; even the brute, in his kind, serves God far better than he. He is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion to all that know him;185 through him it can hardly have a good testimony in all that end of the town where he lives.”
Christian continued, “The common people that know him describe him as, ‘A saint abroad and a devil at home.’ His poor family finds it so; he is such an ill-mannered person, such a scolder, and so unreasonable with his servants that they are at a loss as to what to do or how to speak to him. Men that have any dealings with him say it is better to deal with a Turk than with him, for fairer dealings they shall have at their hands. This Talkative, whenever possible, will go beyond them, defraud, beguile, and overreach them. Besides, he brings up his sons to follow his steps; and if he finds in any of them a foolish apprehensiveness, for so he calls the first appearance of a tender conscience, he calls them fools and blockheads and by no means will employ them in much or commend them before others. For my part, I am of the opinion that he has, by his wicked life, caused many to stumble and fall; and he will be, if God does not prevent it, the ruin of many more.”
“Well, my brother,” Faithful said, “I am bound to believe you, not only because you say you know him, but also because you make your reports of men like a Christian. For I cannot think that you speak these things of ill will but because it is even so as you say.”
“Had I known him no more than you, I might, perhaps, have thought of him at first as you did; and had I received this report at the hands of those who are always enemies to religion, I should have thought it to be of the slander that often falls from bad men’s mouths upon good men’s names and professions. But by all of what I have said and a great many more as bad, of my own knowledge, I can prove him guilty. Besides, good men are ashamed of him; they cannot call him brother or friend; the very naming of him among them makes them blush if they know him,” Christian said.
“Well, I see that saying and doing are two very different things, and from here on I shall better observe this distinction,” Faithful said.
“They are two things indeed and are as diverse as the soul and the body; for, as the body without the soul is but a dead carcass, so talk is but a dead carcass, also, if the theory of religion is alone without doing. The soul of religion is the practical part. The pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation, and to keep thyself unspotted from this world.186 This, Talkative is not aware of; he thinks that hearing and saying will make a good Christian, and thus he deceives his own soul. Hearing is but as the sowing of the seed; talking is not sufficient to prove that fruit is indeed in the heart and life. And let us assure ourselves that at the day of doom, men shall be judged according to their fruits.187 It will not be said then, ‘Did you believe? But were you doers, or talkers only?’ And accordingly shall they be judged. The end of the world is compared to our harvest,188 and you know men at harvest regard nothing but fruit. Not that anything can be accepted that is not of faith; but I speak this to show you how insignificant the profession of Talkative will be at that day,” Christian said.
“This brings to my mind that of Moses, by which he describes the beast that is clean.189 Talkative is not such a one that parts or divides the hoof and chews the cud; he that divides the hoof only or that chews the cud only is unclean. The hare chews the cud but yet is unclean because he does not divide the hoof. And this truly resembles Talkative; he chews the cud, he seeks knowledge; he chews upon the Word, but he does not divide not the hoof. He does not part ways with sinners; but, like the hare, he retains the foot of the dog or bear, and therefore, he is unclean,” Faithful said.
“You have spoken, for all I know, the true gospel sense of these texts. And I will add another thing. Paul calls some men, yes, and those great talkers too, sounding brass and tinkling cymbals;190 that is, as he expounds them in another place, things without life giving sound.191 Things without life – that is, without the true faith and grace of the gospel – and consequently, things that shall never be placed in the kingdom of heaven among those that are the children of life, though by their talk they sound as if it were the tongue or voice of an angel.”
“Well, I was not so fond of his company at first, but I am sick of it now. What shall we do to be rid of him?” Faithful said.
“Take my advice, and do as I tell you,” Christian said, “and you shall find that he will soon be sick of your company too, unless God shall touch his heart and turn it.
“What would you have me do?”
“Why, go to him and enter into a serious discussion about the power of religion; and ask him plainly – when he has approved of it, for that he will – whether this thing is set up in his heart, house, or conversation.”
183 Matthew 23:3
184 1 Corinthians 4:20
185 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision verily profits if thou keep the law, but if thou art a rebel to the law, thy circumcision is made into a foreskin. (Romans 2:24–25)
186 James 1:27; see also verses 22–26.
187 But he that was planted in good ground is he that hears the word and understands it and who also bears the fruit and brings forth: one a hundredfold and another sixty and another thirty. (Matthew 13:23)
188 Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)
189 Whatever divides the hoof and is clovenfooted and chews the cud, among the animals, that shall you eat. (Leviticus 11:3) And every animal that parts the hoof and cleaves the cleft into two claws and chews the cud among the beasts that ye shall eat. (Deuteronomy 14:6)
190 1 Corinthians 13:1, 3
191 1 Corinthians 14:7
Knowing Versus Doing
Then Faithful stepped forward again and said to Talkative, “Come, what cheer? How is it now?”
“Thank you, well. I thought we should have had a great deal of talk by this time,” Talkative said.
“Well, if you will, we will go ahead with it now; and since you left it with me to state the question, let it be this: how does the saving grace of God reveal itself when it is in the heart of man?”
“I perceive, then, that our talk must be about the power of things. Well, it is a very good question, and I shall be willing to answer you. I will sum up my answer like this: First, where the grace of God is in the heart, it causes there a great outcry against sin. Secondly—”
“No, stop; let us consider one point at a time. I think instead you should say it shows itself by inclining the soul to abhor its sin,” Faithful said.
“Why, what difference is there between crying out against, and abhorring of sin?” Talkative said.
“Oh! a great deal.192 A man may cry out against sin out of policy; but he cannot abhor it except by virtue of a godly antipathy against it. I have heard many cry out against sin in the pulpit who continue to tolerate it well enough in their heart, house, and conversation.193 Joseph’s mistress cried out with a loud voice, as if she had been very holy; but she would willingly, notwithstanding that, have committed uncleanness with him. Some cry out against sin, even as the mother cries out against her child in her lap when she calls it a slut and a naughty girl and then falls to hugging and kissing it.”
“You are setting a trap, I perceive,” Talkative said.
“No, I do not,” Faithful said. “I am only for setting things right. But what is the second thing whereby you would prove the revelation of a work of grace in the heart?”
“Great knowledge of gospel mysteries.”
“This sign should have been first; but first or last, it is also false; for knowledge, great194 knowledge, may be obtained in the mysteries of the gospel, and yet no work of grace in the soul. Even if a man has all knowledge,195 he may yet be nothing, and so, consequently, not be a child of God. When Christ said, ‘Do you know all these things?’ and the disciples answered, yes, he added, ‘Blessed are ye if ye do them.’ He does not lay the blessing in the knowing of them but in the doing of them.196 For there is a knowledge that is not attended with doing; he that knows his Master’s will, and does not do it.”197
Faithful continued, “A man may know like an angel, and yet be no Christian; therefore, your sign of it is not true. Indeed, to know is a thing that pleases talkers and boasters; but to do is that which pleases God. Not that the heart can be good without knowledge, for without that the heart is nothing. There are, therefore, two sorts of knowledge: knowledge that rests in the bare speculation of things, and knowledge that is accompanied with the grace of faith and love, which motivates a man to do the will of God from the heart. The first of these will serve the talker; but without the other, the true Christian is not content. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.”198
“You set a trap again; this is not for edification.”
“Well, if you please, propound another sign of how this work of grace reveals itself where it is,” Faithful said.
“Not I, for I see we shall not agree,” Talkative said.
“Well, if you will not, will you give me leave to do it?”
“You may use your liberty.”
“A work of grace in the soul reveals itself either to the one that has it or to standers-by. To the person that has it, therefore, it gives them conviction of sin, especially of the defilement of their nature and of the sin of unbelief,199 for the sake of which he is sure to be damned, if he finds no mercy at God’s hand,200 by faith in Jesus Christ. This sight and sense of things works in him to bring forth sorrow and shame for sin.201 He finds, then, revealed in him, the Savior of the world and the absolute necessity of embracing him for life;202 at which time he finds himself hungering and thirsting after him;203 to which hungerings, etc., the promise is made. Now, according to the strength or weakness of his faith in his Savior, so is his joy and peace, so is his love for holiness, so are his desires to know him more and also to serve him in this world. But though I say it reveals itself like this unto him, yet it is but seldom that he is able to conclude that this is a work of grace; because his corruptions now and his abused reason make his mind to misjudge in this matter; therefore, of the person that has this work in him, sound judgment is required before he can with steadiness conclude that this is a work of grace.”
Faithful went on, “To others it is revealed like this: first, by an experiential confession of his faith in Christ;204 second, by a life answerable to that confession – that is, a life of holiness,205 heart holiness, family holiness (if he has a family), and by behavior holiness in the world, which in general teaches him inwardly to abhor his sin, and himself for that matter, in secret. It teaches him to suppress sin in his family and to promote holiness in the world, not by talk only, as a hypocrite or talkative person may do, but by a practical subjection in faith and love to the power of the Word. And now, sir, as to this brief description of the work of grace and also the revealing of it, if you have any objection, object; if not, then give me leave to put forward to you a second question.”
“No, my part is not now to object, but to hear; let me, therefore, have your second question,” Talkative said.
“It is this: do you experience this first part of the description of it; and does your life and behavior testify to the same? Or does your religion stand in word or tongue and not in deed and truth? Please, if you incline to answer me in this, say no more than you know the God above will say amen to, and also nothing but what your conscience can justify you in; For it is not he that commends himself that is approved, but whom the Lord commends.206 Besides, to say I am thus and thus when my behavior and all my neighbors tell me I lie207 is great wickedness.”
Then Talkative at first began to blush; but, recovering himself, he replied with this: “You come now to experience, to conscience, and to God; and to appeal to him for justification of what is spoken. I did not expect this kind of discourse; nor am I disposed to give an answer to such questions because I do not count myself bound to it, unless you take it upon you to be a catechizer; and even if you should do so, I may refuse to make you my judge. But please tell me why you ask me such questions?”
“Because I saw you eager to talk and because I did not know if you had anything else but notion. Besides, to tell you all the truth, I have heard that you are a man whose religion consists of talk and that your behavior contradicts what you profess with your mouth. They say you are a spot208 and a blemish among Christians and that religion fares worse for your ungodly behavior; that some have already stumbled due to your wicked ways; and that more are in danger of being destroyed by this. Therefore, your religion and an ale-house, and covetousness, and uncleanness, and swearing, and lying, and vain company-keeping, etc., will stand together. The proverb is true of you which is said of a harlot, that ‘she is a shame to all women.’ So are you a shame to all those who profess faith.”
“Since you are so ready to take up reports and to judge so rashly as you do, I cannot but conclude you are some irritable or melancholy man, not fit for serious conversation; and so goodbye,” Talkative said.
Then Christian came up and said to his brother, “I told you how it would happen; your words and his lusts could not agree. He would rather leave your company than reform his life. But he is gone, as I said. Let him go; the loss is no one’s but his own. He has saved us the trouble of leaving him; and for him to continue as he is, as I suppose he will do, would have been a blot on our company; besides, the apostle says, ‘From such withdraw thyself.’”209
“But I am glad we had this little conversation with him; it may happen that he will think of it again. However, I have dealt plainly with him, and so am clear of his blood if he perishes,” Faithful said.
“You did well to talk so plainly to him as you did,” Christian said. “There is very little of this faithful dealing with men nowadays, and this is what makes religion stink so bad in the nostrils of many; for they are these talkative fools whose religion is only in word and who are immoral and vain in their behavior that – being so quickly admitted into the fellowship of the godly – puzzle the world, blemish Christianity, and grieve the sincere. I wish that all men would deal with them as you have done; then they should either be made more conformable to true religion, or the company of the saints would be too hot for them.”
Then Faithful said:
“How Talkative at first lifts up his plumes!
How bravely doth he speak! How he presumes
To drive down all before him! But so soon
As Faithful talks of heart work; like the moon
That’s past the full, into the wane he goes;
And so will all but he that heart work knows.”
192 Note: the mere crying out against sin is no sign of grace.
193 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled and left. (Genesis 39:15)
194 Note: great knowledge is no sign of grace.
195 And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)
196 But he said, Rather, blessed are those that hear the word of God and keep it. (Luke 11:28) Blessed are those who do his commandments that their power and authority might be in the tree of life and they may enter in through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14)
197 Luke 12:47
198 Psalm 119:34. Note: true knowledge will be attended with endeavors.
199 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me (John 16:8–9)
200 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be condemned. (Mark 16:16)
201 Therefore I will declare my iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. (Psalm 38:18) Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, and even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth. (Jeremiah 31:19)
202 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:15–16) Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men in which we can be saved. (Acts 4:12)
203 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6) And he said unto me, It is done. I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)
204 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto saving health. (Romans 10:10) Brethren, be imitators of me and consider those who so walk, as ye have us for a pattern. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross [Gr. stauros – stake] of Christ; whose end shall be perdition, whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things). For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:17–20)
205 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)
206 2 Corinthians 10:18
207 And if it is not so now, who will make me a liar or reduce my speech to nothing? (Job 24:25)
208 These are spots in your banquets of charity, feeding themselves without any fear whatsoever: clouds without water, carried to and fro of the winds; trees withered as in fall, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. (Jude 12)
209 1 Timothy 6:5
Chapter 6. Vanity Fair.
They went on talking of what they had seen along the way, and so they made that way easy, which would otherwise no doubt have been tedious to them; for now they went through a wilderness.
When they were almost quite out of this wilderness, Faithful happened to look back and saw someone coming after them, and he knew him. “Oh!” said Faithful to his brother, “Who comes over there?”
Then Christian looked and said, “It is my good friend Evangelist.”
“Aye, and my good friend too,” said Faithful, “for it was he that set me on the way to the gate.”
Now Evangelist came up unto them and greeted them.
Holding Fast to Truth
“Peace be with you, dearly beloved, and peace be to your helpers,” Evangelist said.
“Welcome, welcome, my good Evangelist. The sight of your face brings to my remembrance your early kindness and unwearied labors for my eternal good,” Christian said.
“And a thousand times welcome,” said good Faithful, “ Your company, O kind Evangelist, is desirable to us poor pilgrims!”
Then Evangelist said, “How has it fared with you, my friends, since the time of our last parting? What have you met with, and how have you behaved yourselves?”
Then Christian and Faithful told him of all the things that had happened to them in the way and how and with what difficulty they had arrived to that place.
“I rejoice,” said Evangelist, “not that you have met with trials but that you have been victorious and that even in the midst of many weaknesses, you have continued in the way to this very day. I say I rejoice of this thing, both for my own sake and for yours; I have sowed, and you have reaped, and the day is coming that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together; 210 that is, if we continue, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.211 The crown is before you, and it is an incorruptible one; so run that ye may obtain it.212 There are some that have set out for this crown, and after they have gone quite far for it, another comes in and takes it from them; so hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.”213
Evangelist continued, “You are not yet out of range of the guns of the devil; Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, fighting against sin.214 Let the kingdom be always before you and believe steadfastly concerning the things that are invisible. Let nothing that is on this side of the other world get inside you. And above all, pay close attention to your own heart and to its wrong desires; for they are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.215 Set your faces like flint; you have all power in heaven and earth on your side.”
Then Christian thanked him for his exhortations but told him that even so, they would have him speak more unto them for their wellbeing the rest of the way; he said they would rather – for they well knew he was a prophet – that he tell them of things that might happen to them and also how they might resist and overcome them.
To this request Faithful also consented.
210 John 4:36
211 Galatians 6:9
212 Know ye not that those who run in a race indeed all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain it. And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as unto an uncertain thing; so I fight, not as one that beats the air; but I keep my body under, and bring it into subjection, lest preaching to others, I myself should become reprobate. (1 Corinthians 9:24–27)
213 Revelation 3:11
214 Hebrews 12:4
215 Jeremiah 17:9
Coming Tribulation
So, Evangelist began, “My sons, you have heard in the Word of the truth of the gospel that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God216 and again, that the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city, saying, that prisons and tribulations await you.217 Therefore, you cannot expect that you should go long on your pilgrimage without them, in some sort or other. You have found something of the truth of these testimonies upon you already, and more will immediately follow; for now, as you see, you are almost out of this wilderness, and therefore, you will soon come into a town that you will by and by see before you. In that town you will face many deadly enemies who shall do everything possible to kill you.
“Be sure that one or both of you must seal the testimony that you hold with blood; but be faithful unto death, and the King will give you the crown of life.218 He that shall die there, although his death will be not be natural and his pain, perhaps, great, yet he will have the better of his fellow; not only because he will arrive at the Celestial City soonest but because he will escape many miseries that the other will meet with in the rest of his journey. But when you are come to the town and shall find fulfilled what I have related here, then remember your friend, and acquit yourselves like men, and commit the keeping of your souls to God in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”219
216 Acts 14:22
217 Acts 20:23
218 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer; behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)
219 Therefore, let those that are afflicted according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls unto him as unto a faithful Creator, doing good. (1 Peter 4:19
A Year-Long Fair
Then I saw in my dream that when they got out of the wilderness, they presently saw a town before them, and the name of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is a fair kept called Vanity Fair. It is kept all year long. It bears the name of Vanity Fair because the town where.
it is kept is lighter than vanity220 and also because all that is there sold or that comes there is vanity; as is the saying of the wise that everything that shall have happened to him is vanity. ”221
This fair is no newly erected business but a thing of ancient standing. I will show you its origin:
Almost five thousand years ago there were pilgrims walking to the Celestial City like these two honest persons are, and Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion, with their companions, perceiving that by the path that the pilgrims made, the way to their desired city lay through this town of Vanity. Therefore, they contrived to set up a fair here, a fair where all sorts of vanity should be sold and that it should last all the year long. Therefore, at this fair, merchandise is sold such as houses, lands, trades, places, honors, entitlements, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures; and delights of all sorts are sold such as harlots, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and whatnot.
And furthermore, at this fair, there is at all times to be seen jugglings, cheats, games, plays, fools, apes, knaves, and rogues, and that of every kind.
Here are to be seen, too, and that for nothing, thefts, murders, adulteries, false-swearers, and that of a blood-red color.
And, as in other fairs of less moment, there are several rows and streets under their proper names where such and such wares are vended; so here, likewise, you have the proper places, rows, streets (namely, countries and kingdoms) where the wares of this fair are soonest to be found. Here is the Britain Row, the French Row, the Italian Row, the Spanish Row, the German Row, where several sorts of vanities are to be sold. But, as in other fairs, some one commodity is supreme in all the fair; so, the ware of Rome and her merchandise is greatly promoted in this fair; only our English nation, with some others, have taken somewhat of a dislike to it.
Now, as I said, the way to the Celestial City is right through the middle of this town where this lusty fair is kept; and those that will go to the city may not avoid this town, for then ye would need to go out of the world.222 The Prince of Princes himself, when he was here, went through this town to his own country, and upon a fair-day also; yes, and I think it was Beelzebub, the chief lord of this fair, who invited him to buy of his vanities, for he would have made him lord of the fair if he would have done him reverence as he went through the town.
Because he was such a person of honor; Beelzebub took him from street to street, and showed him all the kingdoms of this world in a short time, that he might, if possible, al[1]lure that Blessed One to give in and buy some of his vanities; but he had no desire for the merchandise and, therefore, left the town without laying out so much as one penny upon these vanities.223 This fair, therefore, is an ancient thing of long standing and a very great fair.
Now, these pilgrims, as I said, absolutely had to pass through this fair. Well, so they did; but note, even as they entered into the fair, all the people in the fair were moved, and the town itself was in a hubbub about them, and that for several reasons:
First, the pilgrims were clothed with apparel that was distinct from the clothing of any that traded in that fair. The people of the fair, therefore, gazed intently upon them. Some said they were fools; some, they were psychiatric patients; and some, they were very peculiar men.
Second, as they wondered at their apparel, so they did likewise at their speech; for few could understand what they said. They naturally spoke the language of Canaan, but those that kept the fair were the men of this world; so from one end of the fair to the other, they seemed barbarians each to the other.
Third, but that which did not a little amuse the merchandisers, was that these pilgrims were not interested at all in their wares. They did not care so much as to look upon them; and if they called upon them to buy, they would put their fingers in their ears and cry, Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity,224 and look upward, signifying that their trade and traffic was in heaven.
Fourth, one chanced mockingly, beholding the comportment of the men, to say unto them, “What will you buy?” But they, looking gravely upon him, said, “We buy the truth.”225 At that was an occasion to despise the men even more – some mocking, some taunting, some speaking reproachfully, and some calling upon others to smite them.
220 Surely the sons of Adam are vanity, and the sons of nobles are a lie; to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. (Psalm 62:9)
221 But if a man lives many years and rejoices in them all; yet if afterwards he remembers the days of darkness, for they shall be many, he shall say that everything that shall have happened to him is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 11:8
222 1 Corinthians 5:10 223 See Matthew 4:8–9; Luke 4:5–7.
224 Psalm 119:37
225 See Proverbs 23:23.
False Accusations
At last, things came to a tumult and great stir in the fair, so much that all order was confounded. Word was presently brought to the great one of the fair, who quickly came down and delegated some of his most trusty friends to take those men into interrogation about why the fair was almost overturned. So, the men were brought to examination, and those that had arrested them asked them where they came from, where they were going, and what they were doing there in such unusual garb.
The men told them they were pilgrims and strangers in the world and that they were going to their own country, which was the heavenly Jerusalem,226 and that they had given no occasion to the men of the town or to the merchandisers to abuse them like this and to hinder them in their journey, except if it was when someone asked them what they would buy, and they replied that they would buy the truth.
But those that were appointed to examine them did not believe them to be any other than insane and mad, or else subversives that came to put all things into confusion at the fair. Therefore, they took them and beat them and besmeared them with dirt, and then they put them into a cage so that they might be made a spectacle to all the people of the fair.
They lay there for some time and were made the objects of anyone’s sport, or malice, or revenge; the great one of the fair laughed all the while at everything that befell them. But the men being patient and not rendering evil for evil or curse for curse, but to the contrary, blessing,227 and giving good words for bad and kindness for injuries done, some of those in the fair that were more observing and less prejudiced than the rest began to check and blame the baser sort for their continual abuses done by them to the men. Their adversaries, therefore, in an angry manner let fly at them again, counting them as bad as the men in the cage and telling them that they seemed confederates and should be made partakers of their misfortunes. The others replied that for all that they could see, the men were quiet and sober and intended nobody any harm; and that there were many that traded in their fair that were more worthy to be put into the cage and humiliated than were the men that they had abused.
So, after many words had passed on both sides (the men behaving themselves all the while very wisely and soberly before them), they fell to some blows among themselves and did harm one to another. Then were these two poor men brought before their interrogators again and were charged with being guilty of the late uproar that had been in the fair. So, they beat them pitifully and hung irons upon them and led them in chains up and down the fair for an example and terror to others, lest any should speak on their behalf or join themselves unto them.
But Christian and Faithful behaved themselves yet more wisely and received the dishonor and shame that was cast upon them with so much meekness and patience that it won to their side several (though but few in comparison of the rest) of the men in the fair. This put the other party yet into a greater rage, insomuch that they concluded the death of these two men. Therefore, they threatened that neither the cage nor the irons should be sufficient punishment, but that they should die for the abuse they had done and for deluding the men of the fair.
Then they were remanded to the cage again until further orders should be taken concerning them. So, they put them in and made their feet fast in the stocks.
226 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off and believing them and embracing them and confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those that say such things declare plainly that they seek their native country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had time to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one; therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:13–16)
227 1 Peter 3:9.
The Trial
Here, they remembered what they had heard from their faithful friend Evangelist, and they were all the more confirmed in their way and in their sufferings by what he had told them would happen. They comforted each other that whose lot it was to suffer, he should have the best of it; therefore, each man secretly wished that he might have that preferment. But committing themselves to the all-wise disposal of Him that rules all things, with much content they abode in the condition in which they were until they should be otherwise disposed of.
Then a convenient time being appointed, the people brought Christian and Faithful forth to their trial, for their condemnation. When the time was come, they were brought before their enemies and arraigned. The judge’s name was Lord Hate-good; their indictment was one and the same in substance, though somewhat varying in form, the contents of which was this: that they were enemies to and disturbers of the trade and that they had made commotions and divisions in the town and had won a party to their own most dangerous opinions in contempt of the law of their prince.
Then Faithful began to answer that he had only set himself against that which had set itself against Him that is higher than the highest. “And,” said he, “as for disturbance, I made none, being myself a man of peace; the parties that were won to us were won by beholding our truth and innocence, and they are only turned from the worse to the better. And as to the king you talk of, since he is Beelzebub the enemy of our Lord, I defy him and all his angels.”
Then the proclamation was made that those that had anything to say for their lord the king against the prisoner at the bar should forthwith appear and give their evidence. So three witnesses came forward: Envy, Superstition, and Sycophant.228 They were then asked if they knew the prisoner at the bar and what they had to say for their lord the king against him.
Then stood forth Envy and said to this effect: “My lord, I have known this man a long time and will attest upon my oath before this honorable bench that he is—”
“Hold; give him his oath,” the judge said.
So, they swore Envy in. Then he said, “My lord, this man, notwithstanding his plausible name, is one of the vilest men in our country; he does not regard prince nor people, law nor custom, but does all that he can to dominate all men with his disloyal notions, which he in general calls principles of faith and holiness. And in particular, I myself heard him once affirm that Christianity and the customs of our town of Vanity were diametrically opposite and could not be reconciled. By saying this, my lord, he does not only condemn all our laudable doings but us also in the doing of them.”
Then the judge said to him, “Have you any more to say?”
“My lord, I could say much more, only I would not be tedious to the court. Yet if need be, when the other gentlemen have given in their evidence, if anything shall be lacking in order to condemn him, I will enlarge my testimony against him.” So, he was told to stand by.
Then they called Superstition and asked him look upon the prisoner. They also asked what he could say for their lord the king against him.
Then they swore him in, and he began: “My lord, I have no great acquaintance with this man, nor do I desire to have further knowledge of him. However, this I know, from some discussion that I had with him the other day in this town, that he is a very pestilent fellow; for then talking with him, I heard him say that our religion is false and such by which a person could by no means please God. From this saying of his, my lord, your lordship knows very well what necessarily will follow: that we continue to worship in vain, remain in our sins, and finally shall be damned. This is what I have to say.”
Then Sycophant was sworn in and told to say what he knew on behalf of their lord the king against the prisoner at the bar.
“My lord, and you gentlemen all, I have known this fellow for a long time,” Sycophant said, “and have heard him speak things that ought not to be spoken; for he has railed on our noble Prince Beelzebub and has spoken contemptibly of his honorable friends – whose names are the Lord Old Man, the Lord Carnal Delight, the Lord Luxurious, the Lord Desire of Vainglory, my old Lord Lustful Behavior, Sir Having Greedy – with all the rest of our nobility; and he has said, furthermore, that if everyone were of his mind, if possible, not one of these noblemen should have a place any longer in this town. Besides, he has not been afraid to rail on you, my lord, who are now appointed to be his judge, calling you an ungodly villain with many other such vilifying terms with which he has bespattered most of the gentry of our town.”
When this Sycophant had told his tale, the judge directed his speech to the prisoner at the bar, saying, “ You renegade, heretic, and traitor; have you heard what these honest gentlemen have witnessed against you?”
228 A sycophant is a self-seeking flatterer (Merriam-Webster).
The Defense
“May I speak a few words in my own defense?” Faithful said.
“Sirrah, sirrah, you deserve to live no longer but to be slain immediately upon the place,” the judge said. “Yet, that all men may see our gentleness toward you, let us hear what you, vile renegade, have to say.”
Faithful presented his defense. “First I say, then, in answer to what Mr. Envy has spoken, I never said anything but this: that what rule, or laws, or custom, or people were flat against the Word of God are diametrically opposite to Christianity. If I have said amiss in this, convince me of my error, and I am ready here before you to make my recantation. As to the second, that is, to Mr. Superstition and his charge against me, I said only this: that in the worship of God, divine faith is required; but there can be no divine faith without a divine revelation of the will of God. Therefore, whatever is thrust into the worship of God that is not agreeable to divine revelation is only a human faith, faith that will not be profitable to eternal life. Thirdly, as to what Mr. Sycophant has said, I say – avoiding terms as that I am said to rail and the like – that the prince of this town, with all the rabblement, his attendants named by this gentleman, are more fit for being in hell than in this town and country. And so, the Lord have mercy upon me.”
Then the judge called to the jury, who all this while stood by to hear and observe, “Gentlemen of the jury, you see this man about whom so great an uproar has been made in this town; you have also heard what these worthy gentlemen have witnessed against him; also, you have heard his reply and confession. It lies now in your responsibility to hang him or save his life; but yet I think it necessary to instruct you in our law.”
The Verdict
The judge continued, “There was an act made in the days of Pharaoh the Great, servant to our prince, that lest those of a contrary religion should multiply and grow too strong for him, their males should be thrown into the river.229 There was also an act made in the days of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, another of his servants, that whoever would not fall down and worship his golden image should be thrown into a fiery furnace.230 There was also an act made in the days of Darius that for some time, whoever called upon any god but him should be cast into the lion’s den.231 Now, this rebel has broken the substance of these laws, not only in thought, which is not to be allowed, but also in word and deed, which must, therefore, be intolerable. For that of Pharaoh, his law was made upon a supposition to prevent mischief, no crime being yet apparent; but here is a crime apparent. For the second and third, you see he disputes against our religion; and for the treason that he has already confessed, he deserves to die.”
Then the jury went out – whose names were Mr. Blindman, Mr. No-good, Mr. Malice, Mr. Love-lust, Mr. Liveloose, Mr. Heady, Mr. High-mind, Mr. Enmity, Mr. Liar, Mr. Cruelty, Mr. Hate-light, and Mr. Implacable; each gave his private verdict against Faithful among themselves, and afterwards unanimously concluded to declare him guilty before the judge.
And first among themselves, Mr. Blindman, the foreman, said, “I see clearly that this man is a heretic.”
He was followed by Mr. No-good, who said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth.”
“Aye,” said Mr. Malice, “for I hate the very looks of him.”
Then Mr. Love-lust said, “I could never endure him.”
“Nor I,” said Mr. Live-loose, “ for he would always be condemning my way.”
“Hang him, hang him,” said Mr. Heady.
“A sorry scrub,” said Mr. High-mind.
“My heart rises against him,” said Mr. Enmity.
“He is a rogue,” said Mr. Liar.
“Hanging is too good for him,” said Mr. Cruelty.
“ Let us dispatch him out of the way,” said Mr. Hatelight.
Then said Mr. Implacable, “If I had all the world given me, I could not be reconciled to him; therefore, let us declare him guilty of death.”
And so they did; therefore, he was presently condemned to be taken from the place where he was to the place from where he came, and there to be put to the cruelest death that could be invented. Therefore, they brought him out to do with him according to their law; and first they scourged him, then they buffeted him, then they lanced his flesh with knives; after that, they stoned him with stones, then pricked him with their swords; and last of all, they burned him to ashes at the stake.
Thus, came Faithful to his end.
229 Exodus 1:22
230 Daniel 3:6
231 Daniel 6:7
The End Is Not the End
Now I saw that there behind the multitude stood a chariot and a couple of horses waiting for Faithful, who – as soon as his adversaries had dispatched him – was taken up into it, and straightway was carried up through the clouds with the sound of trumpets, the nearest way to the celestial gate.
But as for Christian, he had some respite and was remanded back to prison; so he remained there for a space. But He who overrules all things, having the power of their rage in his own hand, so wrought it about that Christian escaped them for that time and went his way.
And as he went, he sang, saying,
“Well, Faithful, thou hast faithfully professed
Unto thy Lord; with whom thou shalt be blessed,
When faithless ones, with all their vain delights,
Are crying out under their hellish plights.
Sing, Faithful, sing, and let thy name survive;
For though they killed thee, thou art yet alive.”
Chapter 7. Hopeful Joins Christian.
Now I saw in my dream that Christian did not continue his journey alone; for there was one whose name was Hopeful, being made so by observing the words and behavior of Christian and Faithful in their sufferings at the fair, who joined himself unto him; and entering into a brotherly covenant, told him that he would be his companion. So one died to bear testimony to the truth, and another rose out of his ashes to be a companion with Christian in his pilgrimage. Hopeful also told Christian that there were many more people in the fair that would take their time and follow after.
Religion for Worldly Gain
So I saw that quickly after they got out of the fair, they overtook one that was going ahead of them whose name was By-ends; so they said to him, “Are you a countryman, sir? And how far will you go in this way?”
He told them that he came from the town of Fair-speech, and he was going to the Celestial City;232 but he did not tell them his name.
“From Fair-speech?” said Christian. “Is there any good that lives there?”
“Yes,” said By-ends, “I hope so.”
“Please, sir, what may I call you?” said Christian.
“I am a stranger to you, and you to me; if you are going this way, I shall be glad of your company; if not, I must be content.”
“This town of Fair-speech,” said Christian, “I have heard of; and, as I remember, they say it’s a wealthy place.”
“Yes, I will assure you that it is; and I have very many rich kindred there.”
“Please tell me, who are your kindred there, if a man may be so bold?”
“Almost the whole town,” said By-ends. “And in particular my Lord Turn-about, my Lord Time-server, and my Lord Fair speech from whose ancestors that town first took its name; also Mr. Smooth-man, Mr. Facing-both-ways, Mr. Anything. And the parson of our parish, Mr. Two-tongues, was my mother’s own brother by my father’s side; and to tell you the truth, I have become a gentleman of good quality. Yet my great-grandfather was only a waterman, looking one way and rowing another, and I got most of my estate by the same occupation.”
“Are you a married man?” Christian said.
“Yes, and my wife is a very virtuous woman, the daughter of a virtuous woman; she was my Lady Feigning’s daughter; therefore, she came of a very honorable family and is arrived to such a pitch of breeding that she knows how to carry it to all, even to prince and peasant. It is true, we somewhat differ in religion from those of the stricter sort, but only on two small points: First, we never strive against wind and tide. Secondly, we are always most zealous when religion goes in his silver slippers; we very much love to walk with him in the street if the sun shines and the people applaud him.”
Then Christian stepped a little aside to his fellow Hopeful, saying, “It runs in my mind that his name is By-ends of Fair-speech; and if it is him, we have as crafty a knave in our company as lives in all these parts.”
“Then,” said Hopeful, “ask him; I think he should not be ashamed of his name.”
So Christian came up with him again and said, “Sir, you talk as if you knew something more than all the world does; and, if I am not mistaken, I deem I have half a guess of you. Is not your name Mr. By-ends of Fair-speech?”
“That is not my name, but indeed it is a nickname given me by some that cannot stand me, and I must be content to bear it as a reproach as other good men have borne theirs before me.”
“But did you ever give an occasion for anyone to call you by this name?” Christian asked.
“Never, never!” said By-ends. “The worst that I ever did to give them an occasion to give me this name was that I always had the luck, in my judgment, to go with the present way of the times, whatever it was, and this was my opportunity to get by. Whatever things are cast upon me, let me count them a blessing; but do not let the malicious load me, therefore, with reproach.”
“I thought, indeed, that you were the man that I heard of; and to tell you what I think, I fear this name belongs to you more properly than you are willing we should think it does.”
“Well if you will continue to imagine, I cannot help it; however, you shall find me a fair company-keeper if you will still admit me as your associate,” By-ends said.
“If you will go with us,” Christian said, “you must go against wind and tide; which, I perceive, is against your opinion. You must also own pure and undefiled Religion in his rags as well as when in his silver slippers; and stand by him, too, when bound in irons as well as when he walks the streets with applause.”
“You must not impose, nor lord it over my faith; leave me to my liberty and let me go with you,” By-ends said.
“Not a step further unless you will do, what I propose, as we have.”
Then By-ends said, “I shall never desert my old principles, since they are harmless and profitable. If I may not go with you, I must do as I did before you overtook me, that is, go by myself until some overtake me that will be glad of my company,” By-ends said.
232 When he speaks fair, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart. (Proverbs 26:25)
Hypocrisy Loves Company
Now I saw in my dream that Christian and Hopeful left him and kept their distance ahead of him. But one of them, looking back, saw three men following Mr. By-ends; and, as they caught up with him, he made them a very low bow, and they also gave him a compliment. The men’s names were Mr. Hold-the-world, Mr. Money-love, and Mr. Save-all – men that Mr. By-ends had formerly been acquainted with; for in their youth they were schoolfellows and taught by one Mr. Gripe-man, a schoolmaster in Love-gain, which is a market town in the county of Coveting in the North. This schoolmaster taught them the art of getting, either by violence, trickery, flattering, lying, or by putting on a guise of religion; and these four gentlemen had attained much of the art of their master so that they, each of them, could have kept such a school themselves.
Well, when they had, as I said, greeted each other, Mr. Money-love said to Mr. By-ends, “Who are those men upon the road in front of us?” For Christian and Hopeful were yet within view.
“They are a couple of far countrymen that, after their manner, are going on a pilgrimage,” By-ends said.
“Alas!” said Mr. Money-love, “why did they not stay, that we might have had their good company? For they, and we, and you, sir, I hope, are all going on a pilgrimage.”
“We are so, indeed; but the men before us are so rigid and love so much their own notions, and do also so lightly esteem the opinions of others, that let a man be ever so godly, yet if he does not agree with them in all things, they thrust him quite out of their company.”
“That is bad; but we read233 of some that are over-righteous, and such men’s rigidness prevails with them to judge and condemn all but themselves. But please tell me, what and how many were the things wherein you differed?” Mr. Save all said.
“Why, they, after their headstrong manner, conclude that it is their duty to rush on their journey in all weather, and I am for waiting for wind and tide,” By-ends said. “They are for hazarding all for God at a clap; and I am for taking all advantages to secure my life and estate. They are for holding their notions, though all other men be against them; but I am for religion in so far as the times and my safety will bear it. They are for Religion when in rags and contempt; but I am for him when he walks in his silver slippers, in the sunshine, and with applause.”
Mr. Hold-the-world said, “Aye, and hold on to your position there, good Mr. By-ends; for, for my part, I can count him but a fool that having the liberty to keep what he has, he shall be so unwise as to lose it. Let us be wise as serpents. It is best to make hay while the sun shines. You see how the bee lies still in winter and stirs only when she can have profit with pleasure. God sends sometimes rain and sometimes sunshine; if they are such fools to go through the first, then let us be content to take fair weather along with us. For my part, I like that religion best that will stand with the security of God’s good blessings unto us; for if we are ruled by our reason, since God has bestowed upon us the good things of this life, do you not imagine that he would have us keep them for his sake? Abraham and Solomon grew rich in religion; and Job says that a good man shall lay up gold as dust;234 but he must not be such as the men ahead of us, if they are as you have described them.”
“I think that we are all agreed in this matter; and therefore, no more words about it are necessary,” Mr. Save-all said.
“This matter, is indeed resolved; for he that does not believe Scripture or reason – and you see we have both on our side – does not know his own liberty nor seek his own safety,” Mr. Money-love said.
“My brethren, we are, as you see, all going on a pilgrimage; and for our better diversion from things that are bad, give me leave to ask you this question,” By-ends said. “Suppose a man, a minister or a tradesman, etc., should have an opportunity lie before him to get the good blessings of this life; yet so as that he can by no means attain them unless, in appearance at least, he becomes extraordinarily zealous in some points of religion that had not concerned him before, may he not use this means to attain his end, and yet be considered a righteous, honest man?”
233 Do not be too legalistic; neither make thyself over wise in thine own eyes: why should thou destroy thyself? (Ecclesiastes 7:16)
234 Job 22:24
Mr. Money-love’s Theory
Mr. Money-love said, “I see the bottom of your question; and with these gentlemen’s good leave, I will endeavor to shape you an answer. And first, to speak to your question as it concerns a minister himself: suppose a minister, a worthy man possessed with a very small income – who has in his eye a greater benefit more fat and plump by far – now also has an opportunity of getting it by being more studious; by preaching more frequently and zealously; and, because the temper of the people requires it, by altering of some of his principles. For my part, I see no reason why a man may not do this, provided he has a call in addition to such a great opportunity, and yet be an honest man. Here is why:
“First, his desire of a greater benefice is lawful (this cannot be contradicted) since it is set before him by Providence; so then he may get it if he can, making no question for conscience’ sake.
“Second, besides, his desire after that benefice makes him more studious, a more zealous preacher, etc., and so makes him a better man, yes, this makes him better improve his qualification, which is according to the mind of God.
“Third, now as for his complying with the temper of his people by deserting, to serve them, some of his principles, this argues first that he is of a self-denying temper; second of a sweet and winning deportment; third much more fit for the ministerial function.
“Finally, I conclude, then, that a minister that changes a small for a great, should not be judged as covetous for so doing; but rather, since he is improving his qualifications and capacity, by doing this he should be counted as one that pursues his call and the opportunity put into his hand to do good.
“And now to the second part of the question, which concerns the tradesman you mentioned. Suppose such a person to have a very low income in the world, but by becoming religious they may improve their market, perhaps get a rich spouse or more and far better customers to their shop; for my part, I see no reason this may not be lawfully done. Here is why: (1) to become religious is a virtue by whatsoever means a person becomes so; (2) it not unlawful to get a rich spouse or more customers to my shop; (3) besides, the person that obtains these benefits by becoming religious obtains that which is good from those that are good by becoming good himself; so then, here is a good spouse, good customers, and good gain, and all of this by becoming religious, which is good. Therefore, to become religious to get these things is a good and profitable design,” Mr. Money-love concluded.
Pursuing an Argument
This answer, made by Mr. Money-love to Mr. By-ends’s question, was highly applauded by them all; then they concluded, all things considered, that it was most wholesome and advantageous. And because, as they thought, no one would be able to contradict it; and because Christian and Hopeful were yet within call, they jointly agreed to assault them with the question as soon as they overtook them; and even more so because they had opposed Mr. By-ends before. So, they called after them, and Christian and Hopeful stopped and stood still until the others came up to them; but they concluded as they went that not Mr. By-ends but old Mr. Hold-the-world should offer the question to them because, as they supposed, their answer to him would be without the remainder of that heat that was kindled between Mr. By-ends and them at their parting a little before.
So, they came up to each other, and after a short salutation, Mr. Hold-the-world set out the question to Christian and his fellow and then asked them to answer if they could.
Christian’s Reply
Then Christian said, “Even a babe in religion might answer ten thousand such questions. For if it is unlawful to follow Christ for loaves, and it is,235 much more abominable to make of him and of religion a false pretext to obtain and enjoy the world! Nor do we find anyone other than heathens, hypocrites, devils, and conjurers that are of this opinion.
“First, heathens: for when Hamor and Shechem desired the daughter and cattle of Jacob and saw that there was no way to obtain them but by being circumcised, they said to their companions, ‘If every male of us becomes circumcised as they are circumcised, shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours?’ Their daughters and their cattle were that which they sought to obtain, and their religion was the false pretext they made use of to come at them.236 Second, the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees were also of this religion: long prayers were their pretense and to get widows’ houses was their intent; and greater damnation was their judgment.237
“Third, Judas, a devil, was also of this religion: he was religious for the bag that he might be possessed of what was put therein; but he was lost, cast away, and the very son of perdition.238
“Fourth, Simon the conjurer was of this religion too: he desired to have the Holy Spirit that he might obtain money; and his sentence from Peter’s mouth was accordingly.239
“Fifth, this thought remains in my mind: the that man who takes up religion for the world will throw away religion for the world; for as surely as Judas desired the world in becoming religious, so surely did he also sell religion and his Master for the same. Therefore, to answer your question affirmatively, as I perceive you have done, and to accept this answer as authentic is heathenish, hypocritical, and devilish; and your reward will be according to your works.”
235 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye have seen the signs, but because ye ate of the loaves and were filled. (John 6:26)
236 Read the whole story in Genesis 34:20–24.
237 Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes and love greetings in the markets and the first seats in the synagogues and the first places at suppers; who devour the houses of the widows and for a pretext make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation (Luke 20:46–47).
238 John 6:71–72; 12:6
239 Acts 8:19–22
No Rebuttal
Then they stood staring one at another but did not have arguments to answer Christian. Hopeful also approved of the soundness of Christian’s answer; so, there was a great silence among them until Mr. By-ends and his company staggered and kept behind so that Christian and Hopeful might walk ahead of them.
Then Christian said to his fellow, “If these men cannot stand before the sentence of men, what will they do with the sentence of God? And if they are silent when dealt with by vessels of clay, what will they do when the flames of a devouring fire shall rebuke them?”
Then Christian and Hopeful outpaced them again and went until they came to a delicate plain called Ease, where they were very content; but that plain was narrow, so they were quickly over it. Now, at the far side of that plain was a little hill called Lucre, and in that hill a silver mine. Some of the pilgrims had formerly gone that way because of the rarity of it. When they turned aside to see but went too near the brim of the pit, the ground, being deceitful under them, gave way, and they died; others had been maimed there and could not, to their dying day, be whole again.
The Silver Mine.
Then I saw in my dream that a little off the road and opposite the silver mine stood Demas, like a gentleman, to call those who were passing by to come and see; he said to Christian and his fellow, “Ho! Turn aside here, and I will show you something.”
“What thing is so deserving as to turn us out of the way to see it?” Christian said.
“Here is a silver mine, and some are digging in it for treasure; if you will come, with little pain you may richly provide for yourselves,” Demas said.
Then Hopeful said, “Let us go see.”
“Not I,” said Christian. “I have heard of this place before now and of how many have been killed; and besides, that treasure is a snare to those that seek it, for it hinders them in their pilgrimage.”
Then Christian called to Demas, saying, “Is the place not dangerous? Has it not hindered many in their pilgrimage?”
“Not very dangerous,” he said, “except to those that are careless,” but with that he blushed as he spoke.
Then Christian said to Hopeful, “Let us not step aside but still keep on our way.”
“I will warrant you, when By-ends comes here, if he has the same invitation, he will turn in there to see,” Hopeful said.
“No doubt,” Christian said, “for his principles lead him that way, and a hundred to one that he dies there.”
Then Demas called again, saying, “But will you not come over and see?”
Then Christian roundly answered, saying, “Demas, you are an enemy to the right ways of the Lord of this way and have already been condemned by one of his Majesty’s justices for your own turning aside; and why do you seek to bring us into similar condemnation? Besides, if we at all turn aside, our Lord the King will certainly hear of it and will put us to shame, for we desire to stand with boldness before him.”
Demas cried again that he also was one of their fraternity, and that if they would tarry a little, he also himself would walk with them.
Then Christian said, “What is your name? Is it not the same by which I have called you?”
“Yes, my name is Demas; I am the son of Abraham.”
“I know you; Gehazi240 was your great-grandfather and Judas241 your father, and you have walked in their steps; for it is a devilish prank that you use. Your father was hanged for a traitor, and you deserve no better reward. Be assured, that when we come to the King, we will tell him of your behavior.” Then they went their way.
By this time By-ends and his companions had come within sight, and at the first beck and call, they went over to Demas. Now, whether they fell into the pit by looking over the brink, or whether they went down to dig, or whether they were smothered in the bottom by the harmful gasses that commonly arise, of these things I am not certain; but this I observed, that they were never seen again in the way.
Then Christian sang,
“By-ends and silver Demas both agree;
One calls, the other runs, that he may be
A sharer in his lucre; so these do
Take up in this world, and no farther go.”240 See 2 Kings 5:20–27.
241 See Matthew 26:14–15; 27:3–5.
The Monument of Salt
Now I saw that just on the other side of this plain the pilgrims came to a place where an old monument stood close by the highway side. They were both concerned at the sight of it because of the strangeness of its form; for it seemed to them as if it had been a woman transformed into the shape of a pillar. So, they stood looking and looking upon it but could not for a time tell what they should make of it. At last Hopeful saw written above upon its head, a writing in an unusual hand; but he, being no scholar, called to Christian – for he was educated – to see if he could decipher the meaning. So he came, and after a little laying of letters together, he found the writing to say this, “Remember Lot’s wife.”
So he read it to his fellow; after which they both concluded that this was the pillar of salt that Lot’s wife became for her looking back with a covetous heart when she was leaving Sodom for safety.242 The sudden and amazing sight gave them occasion for this discourse:
“Ah, my brother, this is an opportune sight,” Christian said. “It is fitting that we have seen this after the invitation which Demas gave us to come over to view the hill Lucre; and if we had gone over as he desired of us, and as you were inclined to do, my brother, for all I know we would have been made, like this woman, a spectacle for those that shall come after to behold.”
“I am sorry that I was so foolish and am made to wonder that I am not now as Lot’s wife; for where is the difference between her sin and mine? She only looked back, and I had a desire to go see. Let our God of grace be adored; and let me be ashamed that such a thing should have ever been in my heart,” Hopeful said.
“Let us take notice of what we see here, for our help in time to come. This woman escaped one judgment, for she did not fall by the destruction of Sodom; yet she was destroyed by another; for as we see, she is turned into a pillar of salt.”
“True, and she may be to us both a caution and an example; caution, that we should shun her sin; or a sign of what judgment will overtake those who shall not be warned by this caution. So also Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with the two hundred and fifty men that perished in their sin243 became a sign or example to others to beware. But above all, I wonder at one thing, and that is how Demas and his fellows can stand so confidently over there to look for that treasure, which this woman looked for behind her – for we read not that she did not step one foot out of the way – and was turned into a pillar of salt; particularly since the judgment that overtook her made her an example within sight of where they are; for they cannot choose but to see her if they would lift up their eyes.”
“It is a thing to be wondered at, and it argues that their hearts are completely focused on filthy lucre; and I cannot tell who to fitly compare them to. They are as those that pick pockets in the presence of the judge or that will cut purses under the gallows. It is said of the men of Sodom that they were sinners before the LORD exceedingly, that is, in his eyesight and notwithstanding the kindnesses that he had shown them; for the land of Sodom was now like the garden of Eden before them.244 This, therefore, provoked him the more to jealousy and made their plague as hot as the fire of the Lord out of heaven could make it. And it is most rationally to be concluded that such – even such as these that shall sin in his very presence are, yes, and that also despite such examples that are set continually before them to caution them to the contrary – must be partakers of the severest judgments,” Christian said.
“Doubtless you have said the truth; but what a mercy it is that neither you, but especially I, am not made myself this example! This ministers occasion to us to thank God, to fear before him, and always to remember Lot’s wife,” Hopeful said.
242 Then the wife of Lot looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26)
243 And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, who were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men and they became an example. (Numbers 26:9–10)
244 And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of the Jordan that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as a garden of the LORD like the land of Egypt as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed east; and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tents toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. (Genesis 13:10-13)
Green Pastures
I saw, then, that they went on their way to a pleasant river, which King David called the river of God and John called the river of water of life. 245 Now their way lay just beside the bank of this river; here, therefore, Christian and his companion walked with great delight; they also drank of the water of the river, which was pleasant and enlivening to their weary spirits. Besides, on the banks of this river, on either side, were green trees246 with all manner of fruit; and the leaves they ate to prevent overindulgence and other diseases that are incident to those that heat their blood by travel. On either side of the river was also a meadow curiously beautified with lilies; and it was green all the yearlong. In this meadow they lay down and slept,247 for here they might lie down safely.248 When they awoke, they gathered again of the fruit of the trees and drank again of the water of the river, and then they lay down again to sleep. This they did for several days and nights.
Then they sang:
“Behold ye, how these crystal streams do glide,
To comfort pilgrims by the highway side.
The meadows green, besides their fragrant smell,
Yield dainties for them; and he that can tell
What pleasant fruit, yea, leaves, these trees do yield,
Will soon sell all, that he may buy this field.”
So, when they were disposed to go on – for they were not as yet at their journey’s end – they ate, and drank, and departed.
245 Psalm 65:9, Revelation 22:1
246 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every fruitful tree for food, whose leaf shall not fall, neither shall its fruit be lacking; it shall bring forth mature fruit in its months, because their waters come forth out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:12)
247 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. (Psalm 23:2)
248 And the firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the needy shall lie down in safety. (Isaiah 14:30)
The River Path
Now I beheld in my dream that they had not journeyed far when the river and the way parted for a time. This made them not a little sad, yet they dared not go out of the way. Now, the way from the river was rough and their feet tender by reason of their travels; so, the souls of the pilgrims were quite discouraged because of the way.249 Therefore, as they went on, they still wished for a better way. Now, a little before them there was on the left hand of the road a meadow and a stile to go over into it, and that meadow is called By-path meadow.
Then said Christian to his fellow, “If this meadow lies along by our wayside, let’s go over into it.”250
Then he went to the stile to see and found a path that lay along by the way on the other side of the fence. “It is according to my wish,” said Christian. “Here is the easiest going; come, good Hopeful, and let us go over.”
“But what if this path should lead us out of the way?”
“That is not likely,” said Christian. “Look, does it not go along by the wayside?”
So Hopeful, being persuaded by his fellow, went after him over the stile.251 When they had gone over and were on the path, they found it very easy for their feet. Then, looking ahead of them, they saw a man walking as they did, and his name was Vain-confidence; so they called after him, and asked where that way led.
He said, “To the Celestial Gate.”
“Look,” said Christian, “did not I tell you so? By this you may see we are right.”
So, they followed, and Vain-confidence went ahead of them. But then the night came on, and it grew very dark so that those that came behind lost sight of the one that went ahead.252
Then the one that went ahead, Vain-confidence by name, not seeing the way before him, fell into a deep pit, which was made on purpose by the prince of those grounds to catch vain-glorious fools withal, and he was dashed in pieces with his fall.
Now, Christian and his fellow heard him fall. So, they called to know the matter, but there was no answer; they only heard a groaning.
Then Hopeful said, “Where are we now?”
Then his fellow was silent, wondering if he had led him out of the way; and now it began to rain, and thunder, and lightening in a most dreadful manner, and the water rose upon them.253
249 And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. (Numbers 21:4)
250 Observe how one temptation makes way for another.
251 Strong Christians may lead weaker ones out of the way.
252 See what it is to suddenly to fall in with strangers.
253 For the governors of this people are deceivers, and those who are governed by them are lost. (Isaiah 9:16)
Regret
Then Hopeful groaned in himself, saying, “Oh that I had kept on my way!”
“Who could have thought that this path should have led us out of the way?” Christian said.
“I was afraid of this at the very first, and therefore, gave you that gentle caution. I would have spoke plainer but that you are older than I.”254
“Good brother, be not offended; I am sorry I have brought you out of the way and that I have put you into such imminent danger. Please, my brother, forgive me; I did not do it of an evil intent,” Christian said.
“Be comforted, my brother, for I forgive you; and believe, too, that this shall be for our good.”
“I am glad I have with me a merciful brother. But we must not stand here; let us try to go back again.”
“But, good brother, let me go ahead,” Hopeful said.
“No, if you please, let me go first so that if there is any danger, I may be first to enter because by my means we have both gone out of the way,” Christian said.
“No,” said Hopeful, “you shall not go first, for your mind being troubled may lead you out of the way again.”
Then for their encouragement they heard the voice of someone saying, “Let thine heart be toward the highway, even the way which thou didst come: turn again.”255
254 Mark the meekness of Hopeful’s reply.
255 Establish signs, make thee high markers; consider the highway with great care, even the way which thou didst come; return, O virgin of Israel, return unto these thy cities. (Jeremiah 31:21)
Turning Back
But by this time the waters had risen greatly, by reason of which the way going back was very dangerous. (Then I thought that it is easier going out of the way when we are in than going in when we are out.) Still, they took great risks to go back; but it was so dark, and the flood was so high that in their going back they were almost drowned nine or ten times.
Neither could they, with all the skill they had, make it back to the stile that night. Therefore, at last taking cover under a little shelter, they sat down there till the day broke; but being weary, they fell asleep. Now there was not far from the place where they lay a castle called Doubting Castle; its owner was Giant Despair, and it was in his grounds they were now sleeping. So he, getting up early in the morning and walking up and down in his fields, caught Christian and Hopeful asleep in his grounds. Then with a grim and surly voice, he woke them, and asked them where they were from and what they did in his grounds.
They told him they were pilgrims and that they had lost their way.
Then the giant said, “You have trespassed on me by trampling in and lying on my grounds this night, and therefore, you must come along with me.
So, they were forced to go because he was stronger than them. They also had but little to say, for they knew they were at fault. The giant, therefore, drove them ahead of him, and put them into his castle, into a very dark dungeon, nasty and stinking to the spirits of these two men.
Here then, they lay from Wednesday morning until Saturday night without one bit of bread, or drop of drink, or light, or anyone to ask how they did; they were, therefore, in serious trouble and were far from friends and acquaintances.256 In this place, Christian had double sorrow because it was through his unadvised counsel that they were brought into this distress.
Now Giant Despair had a wife, and her name was Diffidence. So when he was gone to bed, he told his wife what he had done in that he had taken a couple of prisoners and cast them into his dungeon for trespassing on his grounds. Then he asked her advice as to what he had best do further to them. So, she asked him what they were, where they came from, and where they were bound, and he told her. Then she counseled him that when he arose in the morning, he should beat them without mercy.
So, when he arose, he took a grievous crab-tree cudgel and went down into the dungeon and began beating them as if they were dogs, although they never gave him a word of distaste.
Then he fell upon them and continued to beat them fearfully, so that they were not able to help themselves or even to turn themselves upon the floor. This done, he withdrew and left them there to condole their misery and to mourn under their distress. So all that day they spent the time in nothing but sighs and bitter lamentations. The next night, she, talking with her husband further about them and understanding that they were yet alive, advised him to counsel them to do away with themselves.
So when morning came, he went to them in a surly manner as before, and perceiving them to be very sore with the stripes that he had given them the day before, he told them that since they would never come out of that place, their only way would be to promptly make an end of themselves either with knife, halter, or poison. “For why,” said he, “should you choose to live, seeing it is accompanied with so much bitterness?”
But they asked him to let them go. With that, he gave an ugly look and rushing to them, he would have made an end of them himself, but then he fell into one of his fits – for sometimes in sunshiny weather he fell into fits – and lost for a time the use of his hands; so he withdrew and left them as before to consider what to do.
256 Thou hast put lover and friend far from me, and placed my acquaintances into darkness. (Psalm 88:18)
The Dilemma
Then the prisoners consulted between themselves whether it was best to take his counsel or not; and so, they began a discussion:
“Brother,” said Christian, “what shall we do? The life that we now live is miserable. For my part, I do not know not whether it is best to live like this or to die out of hand. My soul chooses strangling rather than life,257 and the grave is easier for me than this dungeon. Shall we be ruled by the giant?”
Hopeful said, “Indeed our present condition is dreadful, and death would be far more welcome to me than to abide forever like this; but yet, let us consider the Lord of the country to which we are going has said, Thou shalt not murder; so, if not to another man’s person, much more then, are we forbidden to take his counsel to kill ourselves. Besides, he that kills another can but commit murder upon his body; but for one to kill himself is to kill body and soul at once. And furthermore, my brother, you speak of ease in the grave; but have you forgotten the hell where for certain the murderers go? For ‘no murderer has eternal life,’ etc.”
He continued, “And let us consider again that all the law is not in the hand of Giant Despair; others, so far as I can understand, have been taken by him, like us, and yet have escaped out of his hands. Who knows but that God who made the world may cause Giant Despair to die; or that, at some time or other, he may forget to lock us in; or that he may, in a short time, have another of his fits in front us and may lose the use of his limbs? And if that should ever come to pass again, for my part, I am resolved to take courage and to try my utmost to get out from under his hand. I was a fool that I did not try to do it before. However, my brother, let us be patient and endure a while. The time may come that may give us a happy release, but let us not be our own murderers.” With these words, Hopeful encouraged the mind of his brother; so, they continued together in the dark that day in their sad and doleful condition.
Well, toward evening the giant came down into the dungeon again to see if his prisoners had taken his counsel. But when he arrived there, he found them alive; and truly alive was all; due to lack of bread and water and by reason of the wounds they received when he beat them, they could do little but breathe. But I say, he found them alive, at which he fell into a grievous rage and told them that seeing they had disobeyed his counsel, it should be worse for them than if they had never been born.
At this they trembled greatly, and I think that Christian fell into a swoon; but coming a little to himself again, they renewed their discussion about the giant’s counsel and whether yet they should take it or not. Now Christian again seemed for doing it; but Hopeful made his second reply as follows:
“My brother,” he said, “do you not remember how valiant you have been up until now? Apollyon could not crush you, nor could all that you heard, or saw, or felt in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Look what hardship, terror, and bewilderment you have already gone through; and are you now nothing but fears! You see that I am in the dungeon with you, a far weaker man by nature than you are. Also, this giant has wounded me as well as you and has also cut off bread and water from my mouth, and with you I mourn without the light. But let us exercise a little more patience. Remember now how manly you were at Vanity Fair, and how you were not afraid of the chain or the cage or even of bloody death; therefore, let us at least avoid the shame of not acting like a Christian and bear up with patience as well as we can.”
Now when the night came again and the giant and his wife were in bed, she asked him concerning the prisoners and if they had taken his advice; to which he replied, “They are sturdy rogues; they choose rather to bear all hardships than to do away with themselves.”
Then she said, “Take them into the castle yard tomorrow and show them the bones and skulls of those that you have already dispatched, and make them believe that before the week comes to an end, you will tear them in pieces as you have done with their fellows before them.”
So, when morning came, the giant went to them again and took them into the castle yard and showed them as his wife had bidden him. “These,” he said, “were once pilgrims as you are, and they trespassed on my grounds as you have done; and when I thought fit, I tore them in pieces; and so within ten days, I will do to you. Get down to your den again. And with that he beat them all the way there.
They lay, therefore, all day on Saturday in a lamentable case, as before. Now, when night was come and when Mrs. Diffidence and her husband the giant went to bed, they began to renew their discussion of their prisoners; and with all that had happened, the old giant wondered that he could not bring them to an end by his blows nor by his counsel.
And with that his wife replied, “I fear that they live in hope that someone will come to deliver them; or that they have picklocks about them by means of which they hope to escape.”
“If you say so, my dear,” said the giant; “I will, therefore, search them in the morning.”
Well, on Saturday, about midnight they began to pray and continued in prayer until almost break of day.
Now, a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half stunned, broke out into this passionate speech: “What a fool am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my pocket called Promise that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in
Doubting Castle.
Then Hopeful said, “That is good news; good brother, take it out of your pocket and try.”
Then Christian pulled it out of his pocket, and began to try at the dungeon door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out. Then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle yard, and with his key opened that door also. Then he went to the Iron Gate, for that must be opened too; but the lock went desperately hard, yet the key did open it. They then thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed; but that gate, as it opened, made such a creaking that it woke Giant Despair who, hastily rising to pursue his prisoners, felt his limbs fail, for his fits took him again so that he could by no means go after them. Then they went on and came to the King’s highway and so were safe because they were out of his jurisdiction.
Now, when they had gone over the stile, they began to question themselves what they should do at that stile to prevent those that shall come after from falling into the hands of Giant Despair. So they decided to erect a pillar and to engrave upon its side this sentence: “Over this stile is the way to Doubting Castle, which is kept by Giant Despair who despises the King of the Celestial country and seeks to destroy His holy pilgrims.”
Many, therefore, that followed after read what was written and escaped the danger. This done, they sang as follows:
“Out of the way we went, and then we found
What ‘twas to tread upon forbidden ground;
And let them that come after have a care,
Lest heedlessness makes them as we to fare;
Lest they, for trespassing, his prisoners are,
Whose castle’s Doubting and whose name’s Despair.”
257 And my soul thought it better to be strangled and desired death more than my bones. (Job 7:15)
Chapter 8. The Delectable Mountains.
They journeyed until they came to the Delectable Mountains. These mountains belong to the Lord of that hill of which we have spoken before. So, they went up to the mountains to observe the gardens and orchards, the vineyards, and fountains of water, where they drank and washed themselves and ate freely of the vineyards. On the tops of these mountains there were shepherds feeding their flocks, and they stood by the highway side. The pilgrims, therefore, went to them, and leaning upon their staffs – as is common with weary pilgrims when they stand to talk with anyone by the way – they asked, “Whose Delectable Mountains are these; and whose are the sheep that feed upon them?”
“These mountains are Emmanuel’s land, and they are within sight of his city; the sheep also are his, and he laid down his life for them,” the shepherds said.
“Is this the way to the Celestial City?” Christian asked.
“You are just on your way.”
“How far is it?”
“Too far for any but those who shall get there indeed,” the shepherds said.
“Is the way safe or dangerous?” Christian asked.
“Safe for those for whom it is to be safe; but transgressors shall fall therein.”258
“Is there in this place any relief for pilgrims that are weary and faint on the way?”
“The Lord of these mountains has given us a charge not to be forgetful to entertain strangers;259 therefore, the good of this place is before you.”
Rest Among the Shepherds
I saw also in my dream that when the shepherds perceived that Christian and Hopeful were travelers, they asked them some questions – to which they gave answer as in other places. The shepherds asked:
“Where did you come from?”
“How did you enter the way?”
“By what means have you persevered all along this way? For only a few of those that begin to come here actually show their face on these mountains.”
But when the shepherds heard Christian’s and Hopeful’s answers, being very pleased, they looked very lovingly upon them and said, “Welcome to the Delectable Mountains.”
The shepherds, whose names were Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sincere, took them by the hand and led them to their tents and made them partake of that which was ready at present. They said furthermore, “We invite you to stay here a while, to be acquainted with us, and even more, to comfort yourselves with the good of these Delectable Mountains.”
Then the pilgrims told them that they were content to stay. So, they laid down to rest that night because it was very late.
What Might Have Been
Then I saw in my dream that in the morning the shepherds called Christian and Hopeful to walk with them upon the mountains. So, they went with them and walked quite a while, having a pleasant panorama on every side. Then the shepherds said one to another, “Shall we show these pilgrims some wonders?” So, when they had concluded to do it, they took them first to the top of a hill called Error, which was very steep on the farthest side, and told them to look down to the bottom.
So Christian and Hopeful looked down and saw at the bottom several men dashed all to pieces by a fall that they’d had from the top.
Then Christian asked, “What does this mean?”
The shepherds answered, “Have you not heard of those that were made to err by listening to Hymenius and Philetus260 as concerning the faith of the resurrection of the body?”
They answered, “Yes.”
Then the shepherds said, “It is them that you see lying dashed in pieces at the bottom of this mountain; and they have continued to this day unburied, as you see, for an example to others to pay attention to how they may clamber too high or how they may come too near the brink of this mountain.”
Then I saw that they took them to the top of another mountain, and the name of that is Caution, and they asked them to look afar off; which, when they did, they perceived, as they thought, several men walking up and down among the tombs that were there; and they perceived that the men were blind because they stumbled repeatedly upon the tombs and because they could not get out from among them.
Then Christian asked, “What does this mean?”
The shepherds then answered, “Did you not see, a little below these mountains, a stile that led into a meadow on the left hand of this way?”
They answered, “Yes.”
Then the shepherds said, “From that stile there is a path that leads directly to Doubting Castle, which is kept by the Giant Despair; and these men (pointing to them among the tombs) once came on a pilgrimage as you do now, even until they came to that same stile. And because the right way was rough in that place, they chose to go out of it into that meadow and there were taken by Giant Despair and cast into Doubting Castle; where, after they had been kept for a while in the dungeon, he at last put out their eyes and led them among those tombs where he has left them to wander to this very day that the saying of the wise man might be fulfilled, The man that wanders out of the way of wisdom shall end up in the congregation of the dead.261 Then Christian and Hopeful looked at one another with tears gushing out, but they said nothing to the shepherds.
The Low Area
Then I saw in my dream that the shepherds took them to another place in a low area, where there was a door on the side of a hill; and the shepherds opened the door and asked the pilgrims to look in. They looked in, therefore, and saw that inside it was very dark and smoky; they also thought that they heard a rumbling noise as of fire, and a cry of some being tormented, and that they smelled the scent of brimstone.
Then Christian asked, “What does this mean?”
The shepherds told them, “This is a by-way to hell, a way that hypocrites go in at; namely, ones that sell their birthright, as with Esau; ones that sell their Master, as with Judas; ones that blaspheme the gospel, as with Alexander; and that lie and mislead, as with Ananias and Sapphira his wife.”
Then Hopeful said to the shepherds, “I perceive that all of these had on them, even every one, an appearance of pilgrimage as we have now; is this not so?”
“Yes, and they held it a long time, too,” the shepherds said.
“How far might they have gone on in pilgrimage in their day since they, notwithstanding, were miserably cast away?” Hopeful asked.
“Some farther, and some not so far as these mountains.”
Then the pilgrims said one to the other, “We have need to cry to the Strong One for strength.”
“Aye,” said the shepherds, “and you will have need to use it when you have it, too.”
A Glimpse of the City
By this time, the pilgrims had a desire to continue forward, and the shepherds also desired that they should; so, they walked together toward the end of the mountains. Then the shepherds said one to another, “Now is a good time to show the pilgrims the gates of the Celestial City if they have skill to look through our perspective glass.”
The pilgrims lovingly accepted the motion; so, they took them to the top of a high hill called Clear and gave them the glass to look.
Then they tried to look; but the remembrance of that last thing that the shepherds had shown them made their hands shake, impeding them so that they could not look steadily through the glass; yet they thought they saw something like the gate and also some of the glory of the place. Then they went away, and sang:
“Thus by the shepherds secrets are revealed,
Which from all other men are kept concealed;
Come to the shepherds, then, if you would see
Things deep, things hid, and that mysterious be.”
When they were about to depart, one of the shepherds gave them a map of the way. Another warned them to beware of the Flatterer. The third told them to pay attention not to sleep upon Enchanted Ground. And the fourth bid them Godspeed. So, I awoke from my dream.
258 Who is wise that he might understand this? and prudent that he might know this? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the rebellious shall fall therein. (Hosea 14:9)
259 Do not forget to show hospitality; for thereby some, having entertained angels, were kept. (Hebrews 13:2)
260 And that word will eat away as gangrene, of whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have erred from the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past and have overthrown the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:17–18)
261 Proverbs 21:16
Chapter 9. Fellowship and the Enchanted Ground.
And I slept and dreamed again, and I saw the same two pilgrims going down the mountains along the highway toward the city. Now, a little below these mountains, on the left hand, lies the country of Conceit, and from that country a little crooked lane comes into the way in which the pilgrims walked. Here, therefore, they met with a very energetic lad that came out of that country, and his name was Ignorance. So, Christian asked him from what parts he came, and where he was going.
“Sir, I was born in the country that lies over there, a little on the left hand, and I am going to the Celestial City,” Ignorance said.
“But how do you think to get in at the gate? For you may find some difficulty there,” Christian said.
“As other good people do,” he said.
“But what do you have to show at that gate so that the gate should be opened to you?”
“I know my Lord’s will and have lived doing good; I pay every man his own; I pray, fast, pay tithes, and give alms, and have left my country for where I am going.”
Shortcut of Ignorance
Christian said, “But you did not come in at the narrow gate that is at the head of this way; you came in here through that crooked lane over there, and therefore, I fear that how[1]ever you may think of yourself, when the day of reckoning shall come, you will have laid to your charge that you are a thief and a robber instead of getting admittance into the city.
“Gentlemen, you are utter strangers to me; I do not know you: therefore, be content to follow the religion of your country, and I will follow the religion of mine. I hope all will be well. And as for the gate that you talk of, everyone knows that it is a great way off from our country. I cannot think that anyone in all our parts even knows the way to it; nor need they bother whether they do or not, since we have, as you see, a fine, pleasant, green lane that comes down from our country that branches into the way.”
When Christian saw that the man was wise in his own conceit, he whispered to Hopeful, “There is more hope of a fool than of him.262 Furthermore, Even when the fool walks by the way, he lacks prudence, and he says unto every one that he is a fool.263 What, shall we talk further with him? Or shall we outpace him and so leave him to think of what he has already heard and then stop again for him afterwards and see if by degrees we can do any good to him?”
Then Hopeful said,
“Let Ignorance a little while now muse
On what is said, and let him not refuse
Good counsel to embrace, lest he remain
Still ignorant of what’s the chiefest gain.
God saith, those that no understanding have,
Although he made them, them he will not save.”
Hopeful further added, “It is not good, I think, to say everything to him all at once; let us pass him by, if you will, and talk to him later even as he is able to bear it.”
262 Proverbs 26:12
263 Ecclesiastes 10:3
Ignorance and Little-faith
So they both went on, and Ignorance came after. Now, when they had passed him a little way, they entered into a very dark lane where they met a man whom seven devils264 had bound with seven strong cords265 and were carrying him back to the door that they saw on the side of the hill. Now good Christian began to tremble and so did Hopeful, his companion; even as the devils led the man away, Christian looked to see if he knew him; and he thought it might be a man named Turn-away that lived in the town of Apostasy. But he did not perfectly see his face, for the man hung his head like a thief that is discovered; but having gone past, Hopeful looked around and saw on his back a paper with this inscription: “Sexually indiscriminate professor, and damnable apostate.”
Then Christian said to his fellow, “Now I remember what was told me of a thing that happened to a good man in these parts. The name of the man was Little-faith, but a good man, and he lived in the town of Sincere. The thing was this: from Broadway-gate, a lane called Dead-man’s lane – so called be cause of the murders that are commonly done there – comes down and enters this passage of this way; and this Little-faith, going on a pilgrimage as we do now, happened to sit down there at the intersection and sleep. Now, at that time, there happened to come down the lane from Broad-way-gate three sturdy rogues, and their names were Faintheart, Mistrust, and Guilt – three brothers; and they, spying Little-faith where he was, came galloping up with speed.
“Now the good man was just awaked from his sleep and was getting up to go on his journey. So, they all came up to him and with threatening language told him to stop. At this, Little-faith looked as white as a sheet and had neither power to fight nor flee. Then Faint-heart said, ‘Give up your purse.’ But he made no haste to do it – for he was not willing to lose his money – and Mistrust ran up to him, thrust his hand into his pocket, and pulled out from there a bag of silver. Then Little-faith cried out, ‘Thieves, thieves!’
“With that, Guilt, with a great club that was in his hand, struck Little-faith on the head and with that blow felled him flat to the ground, where he lay bleeding as one that would bleed to death. All this while, the thieves stood by. But at last, hearing someone upon the road and fearing lest it should be one named Great-grace that lives in the town of Good-confidence, they took to their heels and left this good man to shift for himself. Now, after a while, Little-faith came to, and getting up, began to scramble on his way. This was the story.”
“But did they take everything that he had?” Hopeful asked.
Christian said, “No, they never ransacked the place where his jewels were, so he kept those. But, as I was told, the good man was greatly afflicted with his loss, for the thieves got most of his spending money. They did not get, as I said, his jewels; also, he had a little odd money left but scarcely enough to bring him to his journey’s end. No, if I was not misinformed, he was forced to beg as he went in order to keep himself alive and so that he might not sell his jewels. So, begging and doing what he could, he went, as we say, with many a hungry belly most of the rest of the way.”266
“It is a wonder they did not take his certificate from him by which he is to receive his admittance at the Celestial Gate.”
“It is a wonder; but they did not get that, though they did not miss it through any good cunning of his; for he, being dismayed by their coming upon him, had neither the power nor the skill to hide anything; so it was more by good providence267 than by his endeavor that they missed that good thing.
“But it must be a comfort to him they did not get this jewel from him,” Hopeful said.
“It might have been of great comfort to him had he used it as he should; but those that told me the story said that because of the dismay that he had in their taking away his money, he made but little use of it all the rest of the way. Indeed, he forgot it a great part of the rest of his journey; and besides, when at any time it came into his mind and he began to be comforted, then fresh thoughts of his loss would come again upon him, and these thoughts would swallow up all else.”
264 Then it goes and takes with itself seven other spirits worse than itself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it also be unto this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:45)
265 His own iniquities shall take hold of the wicked, and he shall be imprisoned with the cords of his sins. (Proverbs 5:22)
266 And if the righteous are saved with difficulty, where shall the unfaithful and the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18)
267 Keep the good deposit committed unto thee by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us. (2 Timothy 1:14)
Little-faith has enough faith to hold on to his jewels
“Alas, poor man, this was certainly a great grief to him,” Hopeful said.
“Grief? Yes, a grief indeed!” Christian said. “Would it not have been so to any of us had we been robbed and wounded in a strange place like he was? It is a wonder he did not die with grief, poor soul. I was told that he scattered almost all the rest of the way with nothing but doleful and bitter complaints, telling all that overtook him – or that he overtook in the way as he went – where he was robbed and how, who they were that did it and what he had lost, how he was wounded, and that he hardly escaped with life.”
“But it is a wonder that his necessity did not cause him to sell or pawn some of his jewels so that he might have where-withal to relieve himself in his journey.”
“You speak like one who is completely unaware of the circumstances like a hatchling running around with the shell still upon his head. For what should he pawn them? Or to whom should he sell them? In all that country where he was robbed his jewels were not worth much; nor was he interested in that type of relief. Besides, had his jewels been missing at the gate of the Celestial City, he would have – and that he knew well enough – been excluded from an inheritance there, and that would have been worse to him than the appearance and villainy of ten thousand thieves.”
“Why are you so tart, my brother? Esau sold his birthright, and that for a mess of stew;268 that birthright was his greatest jewel. And if he did this, why might not Little-faith do so too?”
“Esau did indeed sell his birthright and so do many besides, and by so doing they exclude themselves from the chief blessing, as also that coward did; but you must put a difference between Esau and Little-faith and also between their estates. Esau’s birthright was typical; but Little-faith’s jewels were not so. Esau’s belly was his god; but Little-faith’s belly was not so. Esau’s desire lay in his fleshy appetite; Little-faith’s did not so. Besides, Esau could see no further than to the fulfilling of his lusts: Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall this birthright do to me?269
“But Little-faith, though it was his lot to have but a little faith, was by his little faith kept from such extravagances and made to see and prize his jewels more than to sell them like Esau did his birthright. You do not read anywhere that Esau had faith, no, not so much as a little; therefore, it is no wonder that where only the flesh upholds – as it will in that person where no faith is there to resist – if they sell their birthright and soul and everything to the devil of hell; for it is with them as it is with the ass who in her occasions cannot be turned away;270 when their minds are set upon their lusts, they will have them whatever they cost.
“But Little-faith was of another temper; his mind was on things divine; his livelihood was upon things that were spiritual and from above; therefore, to what end should he that is of such a temper sell his jewels – had there been anyone that would have bought them – to fill his mind with empty things? Will a man give a penny to fill his belly with hay? Or can you persuade the turtledove to live upon carrion like the crow does? Though faithless ones can, for carnal lusts, pawn or mortgage or sell what they have, and themselves outright to boot; yet those that have faith, saving faith, though but a little of it, cannot do so. Here, therefore, my brother, is your mistake.”
“I acknowledge it; but your severe reflection almost made me angry,” Hopeful said.
“Why, I did but compare you to some of the birds that are of the hurried sort who will run to and fro in untraveled paths with the shell upon their heads; but pass by that and consider the matter under debate, and all shall be well between you and me,” Christian said.
268 Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. (Hebrews 12:16)
269 Genesis 25:32
270 A wild ass used to the wilderness that breaths according to the desire of her soul; from her lust, who shall stop her? All those that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. (Jeremiah 2:24)
Courage or Cowardice
“But Christian, these three fellows, I am persuaded in my heart, are but a company of cowards; why else do you think they would run as they did at the noise of someone coming on the road? Why did not Little-faith pluck up greater courage? He might, I think, have stood one brush with them and have yielded when there had been no remedy.”
“That they are cowards, many have said, but few have found it so in the time of trial. As for a great courageous heart, Little-faith had none; and I perceive by you, my brother, had you been the man concerned, you are but for a brush and then to yield. And truly, since this is the height of your stomach now that they are at a distance from us, should they appear to you as they did to him, they might put you to second thoughts.
“But consider again that they are but common delinquents; they serve under the king of the bottomless pit, who, if needs be, will come to their aid himself, and his voice is as the roaring of a lion. I myself have been engaged as this Little-faith was, and I found it a terrible thing. Three villains set upon me, and as I began to resist like a Christian, they gave a call, and in came their master. I thought at the time, as the saying goes, that my life was not worth a penny; but as God would have it, I was clothed with impermeable armor. Yes, and even though I was so harnessed, I found it hard work to acquit myself like a man; no one can tell what that combat shall be like unless they have personally been in the battle,” Christian said.
“Well, but they ran, you see, when they thought that Great-grace was on the way,” Hopeful said.
“True, they have often fled, both they and their master, when Great-grace has appeared; and no marvel, for he is the King’s champion. But I know you will put some difference between Little-faith and the King’s champion. All the King’s subjects are not his champions; nor can they, when tried, do such feats of war as he. Is it appropriate to think that a little child should handle Goliath as David did? Or that there should be the strength of an ox in a songbird? Some are strong, and some are weak; some have great faith, and some have little. This man was one of the weak, and therefore, he went to the wall.”
“I wish it would have been Great-grace, for their sakes,” Hopeful said.
“If it had been him, he might have had his hands full; for I must tell you that though Great-grace is extremely good with his weapons and has and can, so long as he keeps them at sword’s point, overcome them; yet if they get inside him, even Faint-heart, Mistrust, or the other, it shall go hard but eventually they will knock him off balance. And when a man is down, you know, what can he do?”
Christian continued, “Whoever looks intently upon Great-grace’s face will see those scars and cuts there that shall easily demonstrate what I say. Once I even heard that he said when he was in combat, ‘We despaired even of life.’ How these sturdy rogues and their fellows made David groan, mourn, and roar! Yes, Heman271 and Hezekiah too, though champions in their days, were forced into action when assaulted by them; and yet, notwithstanding, they took quite a beating. At one time Peter went to try what he could do; but though some do say of him that he is the prince of the apostles, they handled him so that at last he was made afraid of a sorry girl.272
“Besides, their king is at their whistle; he is never out of hearing; and if at any time they are put to the worst, he, if possible, comes in to help them; and of him it is said, When one catches up to him, no sword or spear or dart or coat of mail shall endure against him.. He esteems iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee; with him, slingstones are turned with into stubble. He counts any weapon as stubble; he laughs at the shaking of a spear. 273
“What can a man do in this case? It is true, if a man could at every turn have Job’s horse and had the skill and courage to ride him, he might do notable things. For his neck is clothed with thunder. He can leap as a grasshopper; the glory of his nostrils is formidable. He paws at the earth and rejoices in his strength; he goes forth to meet the armed men. He mocks at fear and is not afraid; neither does he turn his face from the sword. The quiver rattles against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage; the sound of the shofar does not trouble him; for the blasts of the shofar fill him with courage; he smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the princes and the sound of the battle-cry. 274
“But for such footmen as you and I are, let us never desire to meet with an enemy, nor brag as if we could do better when we hear of others that have been foiled, nor be tickled at the thoughts of our own manhood; for such normally come out the worst when tried. Witness Peter, of whom I made mention before; he would swagger, yes, he would; he would boast as his vain mind prompted him to say, to do better and stand more for his Master than anyone else; but who was so foiled and run down by those villains as he?
“When, therefore, we hear that such robberies are done on the King’s highway, it is important that we do two things: (1) To go out harnessed with full armor and be sure to take a shield with us; for it was for lack of that, that he who laid so energetically into Leviathan could not make him yield; for, indeed, if that is lacking, he does not fear us at all. Therefore, he that had skill has said, Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.275 (2) It is good, also, that we desire of the King an escort, yes, that he will go with us himself. This made David rejoice when in the valley of the shadow of death;276 and Moses was rather for dying where he stood than to go one step without his God.277
“O, my brother, if he will go along with us, we need not be afraid of ten thousands that shall set themselves against us.278 But without him, the proud helpers fall under the slain.279
“I, for my part, have been in the fray before now; and though through the goodness of Him that is best, I am, as you see, alive, yet I cannot boast of any manhood. I shall be glad if I never meet with such villains again; though I fear we are not yet beyond all danger. However, since the lion and the bear have not as yet devoured me, I hope God will also deliver us from the next uncircumcised Philistine.”
Then Christian sang:
“Poor Little-faith! has been among the thieves?
Wast robbed? Remember this: whoso believes
And get more faith; then shall you victors be
Over ten thousand else scarce over three.”
271 Psalm 88
272 Now Peter sat outside in the patio; and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. (Matthew 26:69–70)
273 Job 41:26–29
274 Job 39:20–25
275 Ephesians 6:16
276 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff shall comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
277 And he said unto him, If thy presence is not to go before us, do not bring us out of here. (Exodus 33:15)
278 I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the jawbone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs unto the LORD; thy blessing shall be upon thy people. Selah. (Psalm 3:5–9) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. (Psalm 27:1–3)
279 They shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 10:4)
Forgetting the Map
So, they went on, and Ignorance followed. They went then until they came to a place where they saw a way join into their way that seemed overall to be as straight as the way that they should go; and here they did not know which of the two to take, for both seemed straight before them; therefore, here they stood still to consider. And as they were thinking about the way, they saw a swarthy man covered with a very light robe come to them, and he asked them why they stood there. They answered that they were going to the Celestial City but did not know which of these ways to take.
“Follow me,” said the man, “It is there that I am going.”
So they followed him on the way that now came into the road, which by degrees turned and turned them so far from the city that they desired to go to, that in a little time, their faces were turned away from it; yet they followed him. But by and by, before they were aware, he led them both within the breadth of a net, in which they were both so entangled that they did not know what to do; and with that, the white robe fell off the swarthy man’s back. Then they saw where they were. So, there they lay crying some time, for they could not get themselves out.
Then Christian said to his fellow, “Now I do see myself in an error. Did the shepherds not warn us to beware of the Flatterer? As is the saying of the wise man, so we have found it this day: The man that flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.”280
“They also gave us a map of directions about the way so that we might not lose our way; but we have also for-gotten to read it and have not kept ourselves from the paths of the destroyer. Here David was wiser than we, for he said, Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have observed the ways of the violent.”281
So, they lay in the net bewailing themselves. At last they saw a Shining One coming toward them with a whip of small cords in his hand. When he came to the place where they were, he asked them where they came from and what they were doing there. They told him that they were poor pilgrims going to Zion but were led out of their way by a swarthy man clothed in white “who told us,” they said, “to follow him, for he was going there too.”
Then the one with the whip said, “It is the Flatterer, a false apostle that has transformed himself into an angel of light.”282
So, he tore the net and let the men out. Then said he to them, “Follow me that I may set you in your way again.”
So, he led them back to the way, which they had left to follow the Flatterer. Then he asked them, saying, “Where did you sleep last night?”
They said, “With the shepherds upon the Delectable Mountains.”
He asked them, then, if they had not received a map of direction from the shepherds for the way.
They answered, “Yes.”
“But did you not,” he asked, “when you were at a standstill, pull out your map and read it?”
They answered, “No.” He asked them, “Why?”
They said they forgot.
He asked, further, if the shepherds did not warn them to beware of the Flatterer? They answered, “Yes, but we did not imagine that this fine-spoken man was he.”
Consequence for Indiscretion
Then I saw in my dream that he commanded them to lie down;283 which when they did, he whipped them sore to teach them the good way in which they should walk; and as he chastised them, he said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent.”284
This done, he told them to go on their way and pay attention to the other directions of the shepherds. So, they thanked him for all his kindness and went softly along the right way, singing,
“Come hither, you that walk along the way,
See how the pilgrims fare that go astray:
They catched are in an entangling net,
‘Cause they good counsel lightly did forget.
’Tis true, they rescued were; but yet, you see,
They’re scourged to boot; let this your caution be.”
280 Proverbs 29:5
281 Psalm 17:4
282 For these false apostles are deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is no marvel, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:13–14)
283 And it shall be if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten in his presence, according to his fault, by a certain number. (Deuteronomy 25:2)
284 Revelation 3:19.
More Flattery
Now, after a while, they perceived afar off someone coming softly and alone, all along the highway to meet them. Then said Christian to his fellow, “There is a man with his back toward Zion, and he is coming to meet us.”
“I see him,” Hopeful said. “Let us take heed to ourselves now, lest he should prove a Flatterer also.”
So, he drew nearer and nearer and at last came up to them. His name was Atheist, and he asked them where they were going.
“We are going to Mount Zion,” Christian said. Then Atheist fell into a very great laughter.
“What’s the meaning of your laughter?” Christian asked.
“I laugh to see what ignorant persons you are to take upon yourselves so tedious a journey, and yet you are like to have nothing but your travel for your pains,” Atheist said.
“Why, man, do you think we shall not be received?” Christian said.
“Received! There is not such a place as you dream of in this entire world,” Atheist said.
“But there is in the world to come.”
“When I was at home in my own country, I heard as you now affirm, and from that hearing I went out to see and have been seeking this city these twenty years; but I have found no more of it than I did the first day I set out.”285
“We have both heard and believe that there is such a place to be found.”
“Had not I believed when at home, I would not have come this far seeking; but finding nothing – and yet I should have, had there been such a place to be found, for I have gone to seek it farther than you – I am going back again and will seek to refresh myself with the things that I then cast away for hopes of that which I now see is not.”
Then said Christian to Hopeful, his companion, “Is what this man has said true?”
“Be careful,” Hopeful said, “he is one of the Flatterers. Remember what listening to this kind of fellows already cost us. What! No Mount Zion? Did we not see the gate of the city from the Delectable Mountains? Also, are we not now to walk by faith?286 Let us go on, lest the man with the whip over take us again. You should have taught me that lesson, which I will sound you in the ears nevertheless: Cease, my son, to hear the teaching that induces one to deviate from the reasons of wisdom.287 I say, my brother, cease to listen to him, and let us believe unto the saving of the soul.”288
“My brother, I did not ask you the question because I doubted the truth of our belief myself but to prove you and to bring forth from you a fruit of the honesty of your heart. As for this man, I know that he is blinded by the god of this world. Let you and I go on, knowing that we believe the truth; and no lie is of the truth,”289 Christian said.
“Now I rejoice in the hope of the glory of God,” Hopeful said. So, they turned away from the man; and he, laughing at them, went his way.
285 The labour of the foolish wearies all of them because they do not know how to go to the city. (Ecclesiastes 10:15)
286 For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
287 Proverbs 19:27
288 But we are not of those who draw back unto perdition, but faithful unto the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:39)
289 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. (1 John 1:6)
Lure of Slumber in the Enchanted Ground
Then I saw in my dream that they went on until they came into a certain country whose air naturally tended to make one drowsy if he came as a stranger into it. And here Hopeful began to be very dull and heavy with sleep; therefore, he said unto Christian, “I am growing so drowsy that I can scarcely hold my eyes open; let’s lie down here, and take a nap.”
“By no means, said Christian, “lest, sleeping, we never again awake.”
“Why, my brother? Sleep is sweet to the laboring man; we may be refreshed if we take a nap.”
“Do you not remember that one of the shepherds warned us to beware of the Enchanted Ground? He meant by that, that we should beware of sleeping; therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”290
“I acknowledge myself in a fault; and had I been here alone, by sleeping I would be in danger of death. I see it is true that the wise man said, Two are better than one. 291 Until now, your company has been my mercy, and you shall have a good reward for your labor,” Hopeful said.
“Now, then,” said Christian, “to prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into a good discussion.”
“With all my heart,” said Hopeful.
“Where shall we begin?”
“Where God began with us. But you begin, if you please.”
Christian said, “I will sing you first this song:
“When saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither
And hear how these two pilgrims talk together;
Yea, let them learn of them in any wise,
Thus to keep ope’ their drowsy, slumb’ring eyes.
Saints’ fellowship, if it be managed well,
Keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell.”
Then Christian began the discussion and said, “I will ask you a question. How did you first come to think of doing what you are doing now?”
“Do you mean, how I first came to look after the good of my soul?” Hopeful asked.
“Yes, that is my meaning.”
“I continued a great while in the delight of those things that were seen and sold at our fair; things which I now believe would have drowned me in perdition and destruction had I continued in them.”
“What things were they?” Christian said.
“All the treasures and riches of the world. I also had delight in rioting, reveling, drinking, swearing, lying, uncleanness, blasphemy, and whatnot that tend to destroy the soul. But I found at last, by hearing and considering the things that are divine, which, indeed I heard from you – as also from beloved Faithful who was put to death for his faith and clean living in Vanity Fair – that the end of these things is death;292 and that for these things’ sake, the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience,”293 Hopeful said.
“And did you, then, fall under the power of this conviction?”
“No, I was not willing at that time to know the evil of sin nor the damnation that follows upon the commission of it; but I endeavored, when my mind at first began to be shaken with the Word, to shut my eyes against the light,” Hopeful said.
“But what was the cause of your carrying of it thus to the first workings of God’s blessed Spirit upon you?” Christian said.
“The causes were: (1) I was ignorant that this was the work of God upon me. I never thought that by awaking me to become conscious of sin, God at first might begin the conversion of a sinner. (2) Sin was yet very sweet to my flesh, and I was not willing to leave it. (3) I did not know how to part with my old companions because their presence and actions were so desirable to me. (4) The hours in which conviction was upon me were so troublesome and struck such fear into my heart that I could not bear to bring them to remembrance upon my heart.”
“Then, as it seems, sometimes you got rid of your trouble?”
“Yes, this was true,” Hopeful said, “but it would come into my mind again; and then I would be as bad or worse than I was before.”
290 1 Thessalonians. 5:6
291 Ecclesiastes 4:9
292 What fruit had ye then in those things of which ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now freed from sin and made slaves to God, ye have as your fruit sanctification and as the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the grace of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:21–23)
293 Let no one deceive you with vain words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 5:6)
Conviction of Sin
“Why, what was it that brought your sins to mind again?” Christian said.
“Many things, such as: if I met a good man in the streets; if I heard anyone read from the Bible; if my head began to ache; if I was told that some of my neighbors were sick; if I heard the bell toll for someone that was dead; if I thought of dying myself; or if I heard that sudden death had happened to others. But especially when I thought of myself and that I must soon face judgment.”
“And could you at any time, with ease, get out from under the guilt of sin when by any of these ways conviction came upon you?” Christian said.
“No, I could not; for then conviction got a stronger hold on my conscience; and then, if I began to think of going back to sin, though my mind was turned against it, this would be double torment to me.”
“And what did you do then?” Christian said.
“I thought I must endeavor to mend my life; for else, I thought, I am sure to be damned,”294 Hopeful said.
“And did you endeavor to mend?”
“Yes, and fled from not only my sins but sinful company too and took upon myself religious duties such as praying, reading, weeping for sin, speaking truth to my neighbors, etc. These things I did with many others, too much here to relate.”
“And did you think yourself well then?” Christian said.
“Yes, for a while; but at the last, my trouble came tumbling upon me again and over the top of all my reformations,” Hopeful said.
“How did that come about, since you were now reformed?” Christian said.
“There were several things that brought it upon me, especially sayings such as these: All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.295 By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.296 When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable;297 with many more like these. So I began to reason with myself like this: if all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags; if by the deeds of the law no man can be justified; and if when we have done all we are commanded to do we are yet unprofitable, then is it but a folly to think of obtaining heaven by the law. I further thought this: if a man runs a hundred pounds into the shopkeeper’s debt and after that shall pay for all that he shall consume; yet if his old debt stands still in the book uncrossed, the shopkeeper may sue him for it and cast him into prison until he shall pay the debt,” Hopeful said.
294 Note: when he can no longer shake off his guilt from sinful activity, then he endeavors to mend.
295 But we were all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses as filthy rags; and we all fell as the leaves of a tree; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
296 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16)
297 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are command[1]ed you, say, We are unprofitable slaves: we have done that which was our duty to do. (Luke 17:10)
Impossible Debt
“Well, and how did you apply this to yourself?” Christian asked.
“Why, I thought like this with myself: by my sins I have run a great debt way into God’s book, and by reforming now I cannot pay off that score; therefore, even under all my present amendments, how shall I be freed from the damnation that I brought myself in danger of by my former transgressions?”
“A very good application; please go on,” Christian said.
“Another thing that has troubled me ever since my late amendments is that if I look narrowly into the best of what I do now, I still see sin in the form of wrong desires mixing itself with the best of what I do; so that now I am forced to conclude that notwithstanding my former fond conceits of myself and my religious duties, I may have committed enough sin in one day to send me to hell, even if my former life had been faultless.”
“And what did you do then?”
“Do! I could not tell what to do until I spoke my mind to Faithful; for he and I were well acquainted. And he told me that unless I could obtain the righteousness of a man that had never sinned, neither mine own nor all the righteousness of the world could save me.”
“And did you think he spoke true?” Christian said.
“If he had told me so when I was pleased and satisfied with my own amendments, I would have called him a fool for his pains; but now, since I see my own infirmity and the sin that cleaves to my best performance, I have been forced to be of his opinion,” Hopeful said.
“But did you think when he first suggested it to you that there was such a man to be found, of whom it might justly be said that he never committed sin?”
Reconciliation with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
“I must confess that at first the words sounded somewhat strange; but after a little more talk and company with him, I had full conviction about it,” Hopeless said.
“And did you ask him what man this was and how he must justify you?” Christian said.
“Yes, and he told me it was the Lord Jesus that is seated at the right hand of God.298 ‘And so,’ he said, ‘you must be justified299 by him, even by trusting him who, in the days of his flesh, suffered and died when he hung on the tree.’300 I asked him further how that man’s righteousness could be of that efficacy to justify another before God. And he told me he was the incarnate Son of God and did what he did and died the death also, not for himself but for me; to whom his doings and the worthiness of them should be imputed if I believed on him.”
“And what did you do then?” Christian asked.
“I made my objections against my believing, for that I thought he was not willing to save me.”
“And what did Faithful say to you then?”
“He told me go to him and see,” Hopeful said. “Then I said it was presumption. He said, no, for I was invited to come.301 Then he gave me a book of Jesus’s words to encourage me the more freely to come; and he said concerning that book, ‘Every jot and tittle therein stands firmer than heaven and earth.’302 Then I asked him what I must do when I came; and he told me I must entreat the Father upon my knees303 with all my heart304 and soul to reveal Jesus to me.
“Then I asked him further how I must make my supplications to him; and Faithful said, ‘Go, and you shall find him upon a throne of mercy,305 where he sits all year long to give pardon and forgiveness to those that come.’306
“I told him that I did not know what to say when I came; and he told me to pray to this effect: ‘God be merciful to me a sinner and make me to know and believe in Jesus Christ; for I see, that if his righteousness had not been, and if I do not have faith in him, I am utterly cast away. Lord, I have heard that you are a merciful God and have ordained that your Son Jesus Christ should be the Savior of the world; and even that you are willing to impart him upon such a poor sinner as I am (and I am a sinner indeed!). Lord, therefore, take this opportunity, and magnify your grace in the salvation of my soul through your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.’”
298 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, is seated at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:12)
299 And you, that were in another time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel. (Colossians 1:21–23)
300 He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose wound ye were healed. For ye were as sheep that had gone astray, but are now converted unto the Shep[1]herd and Bishop of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24–25)
301 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
302 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35)
303 O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our maker. (Psalm 95:6)
304 Then ye shall call upon me, and ye shall walk in my ways and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, for ye shall seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12–13)
305 And in mercy shall the throne be established; and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and hastening righteousness. (Isaiah 16:5)
306 And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee from above the seat of reconciliation, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the sons of Israel. (Exodus 25:22) Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of his grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
Persistent Prayer for Revelation
“And did you do as you were bidden?” Christian said.
“Yes, over, and over, and over,” Hopeful said.
“And did the Father reveal the Son to you?”
“Not at the first, nor second, nor third, nor fourth, nor fifth,
no, nor at the sixth time either.”
“What did you do then?” Christian said.
“What? Why, I could not tell what to do,” Hopeful said.
“Did you think about giving up on prayer?”
“Yes, a hundred times twice told.”
“And what was the reason you did not?”
“ I believed that I had been told the truth; that is, without the righteousness of this Christ, all the world could not save me; and therefore, I thought within myself that if I stop seeking, I die, and I must die at the throne of grace. And withal this came into my mind: Though it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come; wait for it.307 So I continued praying until the Father showed me his Son.”
“And how was he revealed unto you?” Christian asked.
“I did not see him with my bodily eyes but with the eyes of my understanding.308 And thus it was: one day I was very sad, I think sadder than at any one time in my life, and this sadness was due to a fresh revelation of the greatness and vileness of my sins. And as I was then looking for nothing but hell and the everlasting damnation of my soul, suddenly as I thought, I saw the Lord Jesus looking down from heaven upon me and saying, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”309
“But I replied, ‘Lord, I am a great, a very great sinner.’ And he answered, My grace is sufficient for thee.310 Then I said, ‘But, Lord, what is believing?’ And then I saw from that saying, He that comes to me shall never hunger, and he that believes in me shall never thirst, 311 that believing and coming was all one; and that he that came, that is, that ran out in his heart and affections after salvation by Christ, he indeed believed in Christ.
“Then the water stood in mine eyes, and I asked further, ‘But, Lord, may such a great sinner as I am be indeed accepted of you and be saved by you?’ And I heard him say, And he that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.312
“Then I said, ‘But how, Lord, must I consider of you in my coming to you that my faith may be placed rightly upon you?’ Then he said, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 313 Christ is the end of the law, to give righteousness to every one that believes314 who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.315 He loved us and washed us from our sins with his own blood. 316 He is the Mediator between God and us.317 He ever lives to make intercession for us.318 Therefore, I gathered from all of this that I must look for righteousness in his person and for satisfaction for my sins by his blood; that what he did in obedience to his Father’s law and in submitting to the penalty thereof was not for himself but for whoever will accept him for salvation and be thankful. And now was my heart full of joy, my eyes full of tears, and my affections running over with love to the name, people, and ways of Jesus Christ,” Hopeful said.
“This was a revelation of Christ to your soul indeed. But tell me particularly what effect this had upon your spirit,” Christian said.
“It made me see that the entire world, notwithstanding all of its own righteousness, is in a state of condemnation. It made me see that God the Father, though he is just, can justly justify the sinner who comes. It made me greatly ashamed of the vileness of my former life and confounded me with the sense of my own ignorance; for there had never come a thought into my heart before now that so showed me the beauty of Jesus Christ. It made me love a holy life and long to do something for the honor and glory of the name of the Lord Jesus. Yes, I thought that if I had now a thousand gallons of blood in my body, I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”
307 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come; wait for it. (Habakkuk 2:3)
308 Illuminating the eyes of your understanding, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power in us who believe, by the operation of the power of his strength. (Ephesians 1:18–19)
309 Acts 16:31
310 2 Corinthians 12:9
311 John 6:35
312 John 6:37
313 1 Timothy 1:15
314 Romans 10:4
315 Romans 4:25
316 Revelation 1:5
317 See 1 Timothy 2:5.
318 See Hebrews 7:25.
Good Notions
I saw then in my dream that Hopeful looked back and saw Ignorance, whom they had left behind, coming after. “Look,” he said to Christian, “how far that youngster loiters behind.”
“Yes, I see him; he does not care for our company.”
“But I know it would not have hurt him if he had kept pace with us up to here,” Hopeful said.
“That is true; but I guarantee you he thinks otherwise,” Christian said.
“That I think he does; however, let us wait for him.” So they did.
Then Christian said to Ignorance, “Come away, man; why do you stay so behind?”
“I take my pleasure in walking alone, even more so than in company, unless I like it better,” Ignorance said.
Then Christian said to Hopeful, but softly, “I told you he does not care for our company; however, he said, ‘come up and let’s talk away the time in this solitary place.’” Then directing his speech to Ignorance, he said, “Come, how do you do? How does it stand between God and your soul now?”
“I hope, well; for I am always full of good notions that come into my mind to comfort me as I walk.”
“What good notions? Please tell us,” Christian said.
“Why, I think of God and heaven,” Ignorance said.
“So do the devils319 and damned souls,” Christian said.
“But I think of them and desire them,” Ignorance said.
“So do many that are never likely to come there. The soul of the sluggard desires, and attains nothing,”320 Christian said.
“But I think of them321 and leave all for them,” Ignorance said.
“That I doubt, for to leave all is a very hard matter; yes, a harder matter than many are aware of. But why, or by what, are you persuaded that you have left all for God and heaven?” Christian said.
“My heart tells me so,” Ignorance said.
“The wise man says, He that trusts in his own heart is a fool,”322 Christian said.
“That is spoken of an evil heart; but mine is a good one.”
“But how do you prove that?”
“It comforts me in hope of heaven.”
“That may be through its deceitfulness; for a man’s heart may minister comfort to him in the hope of that thing for which he has yet no ground to hope,” Christian said.
319 Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well; the demons also believe and tremble. (James 2:19)
320 Proverbs 13:4
321 For example, God and Heaven. Ignorance sticks fast by his own proposition and avoids giving an immediate reply to the argument adduced by Christian.
322 Proverbs 28:26
What is a Good Heart?
“But my heart and life agree together; and therefore, my hope is well grounded,” Ignorance said.
“Who told you that you heart and life agree together?”
“My heart tells me so.”
“Ask my fellow if I am a thief. Thy heart tells thee so! Unless the Word of God bears witness in this matter, other testimony323 is of no value.”
“But is it not a good heart that has good thoughts? And is that not a good life according to God’s commandments?” Ignorance said.
“Yes, a good heart has good thoughts, and a good life is according to God’s commandments; but it is one thing indeed to have these and another thing only to think so,” Christian said.
“Please, what do you count a s good thoughts and as a life according to God’s commandments?”
“There are good thoughts of different kinds; some concerning ourselves, some about God, some about Christ, and some about other things,” Christian said.
“What are good thoughts concerning ourselves?” Ignorance said.
“Such as agree with the Word of God.”
“When do our thoughts concerning ourselves agree with the Word of God?”
“When we pass the same judgment upon ourselves that the Word passes. To explain myself, the Word of God says concerning persons in a natural condition: There is no one righteous,324 there is no one that does good. 325 It also says every imagination of the thoughts of the heart of man is only evil, and that continually.326 And again, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his childhood.327 Now then, when we think of ourselves like this, then our thoughts are good ones because they are according to the Word of God.”
“I will never believe that my heart is so bad.”
“Therefore, you have never had one good thought concerning yourself in your life. But let me go on. As the Word passes a judgment upon our hearts, it also passes judgment upon our ways; and when the thoughts of our hearts and ways agree with the judgment that the Word gives of both, then both are good because agreeing they agree.”
“Explain yourself.”
“Why, the Word of God says that man’s ways are crooked ways;328 they are not good but perverse; it says they are naturally out of the good way and that they have not known it.329 Now, when a person thinks like this of his own ways, that is, when they sensibly and with heart-humiliation think like this, then they have good thoughts of their own ways because their thoughts now agree with the judgment of the Word of God,” Christian said.
323 To the law and to the testimony! (Isaiah 8:20). Up to here in all of our doubts, we must have recourse; we must not presumptuously say in our hearts, Who shall ascend into heaven (Romans 10:6) for us to see if our names are written there; or Who will bring the book of life down to us that we may see whether we are entitled therein. No, no: the proof of the matter is very near us if the word of faith is truly in our mouth and in our heart (Romans 10:8). This is explained to us even in the very book of Scripture, which we hold in our hands. Let us bring our lives and actions to their test; and then ignorance and infidelity will flee far from us, if it shall please the Lord to open our blind eyes, and let us see the glorious things out of his law. Then we shall be enabled with the psalmist to exclaim: This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes (Psalm 118:23). Ignorance piques himself upon his own doings.
324 Romans 3:10
325 Romans 3:12
326 See Genesis 6:5.
327 Genesis 8:21
328 Psalm 125:5; Proverbs 2:15.
329 They are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is no one that does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:12–18)
Thoughts About God
“What are good thoughts about God?” Ignorance said.
“Just as I have said concerning ourselves, when our thoughts about God agree with what the Word says about him; that is, when we think of his being and attributes as the Word teaches, of which I cannot now discuss at large. But to speak of him with reference to us, then we have right thoughts about God when we think that he knows us better than we know ourselves and can see sin in us when and where we can see none in ourselves; when we think he knows our inmost thoughts and that our heart, with all its depths, is always open unto his eyes; also when we think that all our righteousness stinks in his nostrils and that, therefore, he cannot abide to see us stand before him in any confidence, even in all our best performances.”
“Do you think that I am such a fool as to think that God can see no further than I, or that I would come to God in the best of my performances?” Ignorance said.
“Why, how do you think in this matter?” Christian said.
“Why, to be short, I think I must believe in Christ for justification,” Ignorance said.
Warped Confession of Faith
“How may you think that you must believe in Christ when you do not see your need for him!” Christian said. “You do not see your original nor actual infirmities, but you have such an opinion of yourself and of what you do, as plainly renders you to be one that has never seen the necessity of Christ’s person and righteousness to justify you before God. How, then, can you say, ‘I believe in Christ’?”
“I believe well enough, for all that,” Ignorance said.
“How do you believe?”
“I believe that Christ died for sinners and that I shall be justified before God from the curse through his gracious acceptance of my obedience to his laws. Or thus, Christ makes my duties that are religious acceptable to his Father by virtue of his merits, and so shall I be justified.”
Christian said, “Let me give an answer to this confession of your faith. (1) You believe with an imaginary faith; for this faith is nowhere described in the Word. (2) You believe with a false faith because it takes justification from the personal righteousness of Christ and applies it to your own. (3) This faith does not make Christ a justifier of your person but of your actions and of your person for your action’s sake, which is false. (4) Therefore, this faith is deceitful, so as to leave you under wrath in the day of God Almighty; for true, justifying faith makes the soul aware of its lost condition by the law so that it flees for refuge unto Christ and his righteousness. This righteousness of his is not an act of grace by which he pretends, for the sake of justification, that your obedience is accepted by God; but it is his personal obedience to the law in doing and suffering for us what should have been required at our hands so that by grace we might participate in the power of his very life and spirit. This spirit of righteousness, or Holy Spirit, I say, true faith embraces. The soul being shrouded under this covering, and by it presented as spotless in Christ before God, is accepted and acquitted from condemnation.”
“What! Would you have us trust to what Christ in his own person has done without us? This conceit would loosen the reins of our lust and allow us to live as we please, for it would not matter how we live if we may be justified by Christ’s personal righteousness from all we have done when we believe it,” Ignorance said.
Justifying Righteousness
“Ignorance is your name, and as your name is, so are you; this answer of yours demonstrates what I say. You are ignorant of what justifying righteousness is and as ignorant of how to secure your soul, through faith, from the heavy wrath of God. Yes, you are also ignorant of the true effects of saving faith in Christ and his righteousness, which is, by his mercy and grace, to circumcise and convert the heart to God in Christ, to love his name, his Word, ways, and people, and not as you ignorantly imagine,” Christian said.
“Ask him if he ever had Christ revealed to him from heaven,” Hopeful said.
“What! You are a man for revelations! I do believe that what both you and all the rest of you say about that matter is but the fruit of distracted brains,” Ignorance said.
“Why, man, Christ is so hidden in God from the natural ability of the flesh to understand that he cannot be known to anyone unto salvation unless God the Father reveals him to them,” Hopeful said.
“That is your faith, but not mine; yet mine, I do not doubt, is as good as yours, though I do not have so many eccentricities in my head as you,” Ignorance said.
“Give me leave to put in a word,” Christian said. “You ought not to speak so lightly of this matter; for this I will boldly affirm, even as my good companion has done, that no one can know Jesus Christ but by the revelation of the Father.330 Yes, and faith too, by which the soul lays hold upon Christ, if it is right, must be wrought by the exceeding greatness of his mighty power;331 the working of which faith I perceive, poor Ignorance, you are ignorant of. Be awakened, then, see your own wretchedness, and flee to the Lord Jesus; and by his righteousness, which is the righteousness of God, for he himself is God, you shalt be delivered from condemnation.”
“You go so fast I cannot keep pace with you; go on ahead now. I must stay a while behind,” Ignorance said.
Then they said,
“Well, Ignorance, wilt thou yet foolish be
To slight good counsel, ten times given thee?
And if thou yet refuse it, thou shalt know,
Ere long, the evil of thy doing so.
Remember, man, in time: stoop, do not fear.
Good counsel, taken well, saves; therefore, hear.
But if thou yet shalt slight it, thou wilt be
The loser, Ignorance, I’ll warrant thee.”
330 All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no one has known the Son but the Father, neither has anyone known the Father except the Son and he unto whom the Son will reveal him. (Matthew 11:27)
331 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; illuminating the eyes of your understanding, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power in us who believe, by the operation of the power of his strength, which operated in the Christ, raising him from the dead and setting him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:17–20)
Chapter 10. Beulah Land and Beyond .
Then Christian addressed himself to his fellow like this, “Well, come, my good Hopeful, I perceive that you and I must walk by ourselves again.”
So, I saw in my dream that they went on ahead, and Ignorance came hobbling after them. Then Christian said to his companion, “I greatly pity this poor man; it will certainly go ill with him in the end.”
“Alas! there are so many in our town in his condition – whole families, yes, entire neighborhoods, and that of pilgrims too. And if there are so many in our parts, how many do you think must there be in the place where he was born?” Hopeful said.
“Indeed, the Word says: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see.332 But, now that we are by ourselves, what do you think of such men? Do you think they ever have convictions of sin and so, consequently, fears that their state is dangerous?”
“No, but you should answer that question yourself, for you are the elder man.”
“Then I say, I think sometimes they may; but they, being naturally ignorant, do not understand that such convictions tend to their good; and therefore, they desperately seek to stifle them and presumptuously continue to flatter themselves in the way of their own hearts.”
“I do believe, as you say, that fear tends much to men’s good and to make them right at their beginning to go on a pilgrimage.”
“Without all doubt it does, if it is right; for the Word says: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.333
“How will you describe right fear?” Hopeful said.
Christian said, “True or right fear is discovered by three things: (1) By its rise; it is caused by conviction of sin unto salvation. (2) It drives the soul to lay fast hold of Christ for salvation. (3) It brings about a great reverence in the soul of God, his Word, and ways; and continues keeping it tender, and making it afraid to turn from them to the right hand or to the left – to anything that may dishonor God, break its peace, grieve the Spirit, or cause the enemy to speak reproachfully.”
“ Well said; I believe you have said the truth. Have we now almost past the Enchanted Ground?” Hopeful said.
“Why? Are you weary of this discourse?”
“No, I am not, just that I would like to know where we are.”
“We have less than two miles further to go upon it. But let us return to our matter.”
332 John 12:40; see also Isaiah 6:10.
333 Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10.
Holy Fear
“Now, the ignorant do not know that such convictions as tend to put them in fear are for their good, and therefore, they seek to stifle them,” Christian said.
“How do they seek to stifle them?” Hopeful said.
“First, they think that those fears are wrought by the devil – though indeed they are wrought of God – and thinking so, they resist them as things that directly tend to their overthrow. Second, they also think that these fears tend to the spoiling of their faith; when, alas for them, poor men that they are, they have none at all; and therefore, they harden their hearts against them. Third, they presume they ought not to fear, and therefore, in spite of them, wax presumptuously confident. Finally, they see that those fears tend to strip them of their pitiful old self-holiness, and therefore, they resist them with all their might.”
“I know something of this myself; for before I knew myself it was so with me,” Hopeful said.
“Well, at this time we will leave our neighbor Ignorance by himself and fall upon another profitable question.”
“With all my heart; please begin.”
Backsliding
“Well then, did you know, about ten years ago, someone named Temporary in your parts who was a forward man in religion then?” Christian asked.
“Know him! Yes, he was from Graceless, a town about two miles off of Honesty, and he lived next door to a man named Turnback.”
“Right; he lodged under the same roof with him. Well, that man was much awakened once; I believe that then he had some idea of his sins and of the wages that were due because of them.”
“I am of your mind, for my house was not more than three miles from him, and he would often come to me, and that with many tears. Truly I pitied the man and was not altogether without hope of him; but one may see, it is not every one that cries, Lord, Lord!”334
“He told me once that he was resolved to go on a pilgrim[1]age like we are doing now; but all of a sudden he grew acquainted with one named Save-self, and then he became a stranger to me,” Christian said.
“Now, since we are talking about him, let us inquire a little into the reason of the sudden backsliding of him and such others,” Hopeful said.
“It may be very profitable; please begin.”
“Well, then, there are, in my judgment, four reasons for it: First, though the consciences of such men are awakened, yet their hearts and minds are not changed; therefore, when the power of guilt wears away, that which provoked them to be religious ceases. So they naturally return to their own course again; even as we see the dog that is sick of what he has eaten, so long as his sickness prevails, he vomits and casts it all up, not that he does this of a free mind – if we may say a dog has a mind – but because it troubles his stomach. But now, when his sickness is over and so his stomach eased, his desires being not at all alienated from his vomit, he turns about, and licks up all; and so it is true which is written: The dog returns unto his own vomit. 335 Thus, I say, being hot for heaven by virtue only of the sense and fear of the torments of hell, as their sense and fear of damnation chills and cools, so their desires for heaven and salvation cool also. So then, it comes to pass that when their guilt and fear is gone, their desires for heaven and happiness die, and they return to their old course again.
“A second reason is they have mindless fears that overmaster them; I speak now of the fears that they have of men; The fear of man brings a snare.336 So then, though they seem to be hot for heaven so long as the flames of hell are about their ears, yet when that terror is a little over, they have second thoughts, namely, that it is good to be wise and not to run – for they know not what – the hazard of losing everything, or at least of bringing themselves into unavoidable and unnecessary troubles; and so they fall in with the world again.
“Thirdly, the shame that attends religion also lies as a block in their way; they are proud and haughty, and religion in their eye is low and contemptible. Therefore, when they have lost their sense of hell and the wrath to come, they return again to their former course.
“Fourth, guilt and meditating terror are grievous to them; they do not like to see their misery before they come into it; though perhaps the sight of at it first, if they loved that sight, might make them flee where the righteous flee and are safe; but because they do, as I hinted before, avoid all thoughts of guilt and terror, therefore, once they are rid of their awakenings about the terrors and wrath of God, they harden their hearts gladly and choose such ways as will harden them more and more.”
“You are right on the mark, for the bottom of all is for lack of a change in their heart and mind. And therefore, they are like the felon that stands before the judge; he quakes and trembles and seems to repent most heartily, but the bottom of all is the fear of being hanged, not that he has any detestation of the offense, as it is evident; because, let this man have his liberty, and he will yet be a thief and a rogue; whereas, if his heart and mind were changed, he would be otherwise.”
“Now I have showed you the reason of their going back; now show me how this comes about,” Hopeful said.
“So I will, willingly,” Christian said. “First, they cease to glorify God for all that he has done and to be thankful for all that he has given them and so draw off their thoughts, all that they may, from the remembrance of God, death, and judgment to come. Second, they cast off by degrees private duties such as closet prayer, curbing their lusts, watching, sorrow for sin, and the like.
“Then, they shun the company of Christians that are lively and on fire for God. After that, they grow cold to public duty such as hearing, reading, godly conference, outreach to the lost, and the like. Next, they begin to pick holes, as we say, in the coats of some of the godly, and that devilishly, that they may have a seeming reason to throw religion – for the sake of some infirmities they have spied in them – behind their backs.
“Then they begin to adhere to and associate themselves with those who are carnal, loose, and sexually indiscriminate. Next they give way to carnal and immoral discourses in secret and are glad if they can see such things in any that are count[1]ed honest, that they may the more boldly do it through their example.
“After this, they begin to play with little sins openly. And then, being hardened, they openly reveal themselves for what they are. So, being launched again into the gulf of misery, unless a miracle of grace prevents it, they everlastingly perish in their own deception,” Christian said.
334 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens. (Matthew 7:21)
335 2 Peter 2:22
336 Proverbs 29:25
The Borders of Heaven
Now I saw in my dream that by this time, the pilgrims were past the Enchanted Ground and entering into the country of Beulah,337 whose air was very sweet and pleasant; the way lying directly through it, they solaced themselves there for a season. Yes, here they heard continually the singing of birds and saw every day the flowers appear in the earth, and they heard the voice of the turtle dove in the land.
In this country, the sun shines night and day, for this was beyond the Valley of the Shadow of Death and also out of the reach of Giant Despair; neither could they from this place so much as see Doubting Castle. Here they were within sight of the city they were going to; they also met here with some of its inhabitants; for in this land the shining ones338 frequently walked because it was upon the borders of heaven. In this land also, the contract between the Bride and the Bridegroom was renewed; yea, here, as the bridegroom rejoices with the bride, so shall thy God rejoice with thee.339 Here they had no shortage of corn and wine, for in this place they met with abundance of what they had sought for in all their pilgrimage. Here they heard voices from out of the city, loud voices saying, Say unto the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy Saviour comes; behold that his reward is with him, and his work before him!” Here all the inhabitants of the country called them The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD . . . Sought out, etc.340
Now, as they walked in this land, they had more rejoicing than in the places more remote from the kingdom to which they were bound; and drawing near to the city, they had a more perfect view of it. It was built of pearls and precious stones, also its streets were paved with gold; so that, by reason of the natural glory of the city and the reflection of the sunbeams upon it, Christian fell sick with desire; Hopeful also had a fit or two of the same disease, wherefore, here they lay by it a while, crying out because of their pangs, If ye should find my beloved that ye cause him to know how sick I am with love.341
But, being a little strengthened and better able to bear their sickness, they walked on their way and came yet nearer and nearer, where there were orchards, vineyards, and gardens, and their gates opened into the highway. Now, as they came up to these places, the gardener stood in the way; to him the pilgrims said, “Whose goodly vineyards and gardens are these?”
He answered, “They are the King’s and are planted here for his own delight and also for the solace of pilgrims.”342
So, the gardener took them into the vineyards and had them refresh themselves with the dainties; he also showed them there the King’s walks and arbors where he delighted to be. And here they tarried and slept.
337 Thou shalt no longer be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any longer be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah [Heb. my will in her] and thy land Beulah; [Heb. married]; for the will of the LORD shall be in thee, and thy land shall be married. (Isaiah 62:4) I am my beloved’s, and with me he has his contentment. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vines flourish, whether the tender flowers appear, if the pomegranates bud forth; there I will give thee my loves. (Song of Solomon 7:10–12)
338 The angels.
339 Isaiah 62:5
340 Behold, the LORD has caused it to be heard unto the end of the earth; Say unto the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy Saviour comes; behold that his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD; and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. (Isaiah 62:11–12)
341 Song of Solomon 5:8
342 When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou may eat grapes, thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel. (Deuteronomy 23:24)
Angels to Guide
Now I beheld in my dream that they talked more in their sleep at this time than they ever did in all their journey; and as I was wondering about this, the gardener said to me, “Why do you wonder at the matter? The nature of the fruit of the grapes of these vineyards goes down sweetly and causes the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 343
So, I saw that when they awoke, they prepared themselves to go up to the city. But, as I said, the reflection of the sun upon the city – for the city was pure gold344 – was so extremely glorious that they could not yet with open face gaze upon it except through an instrument made for that purpose.345 So I saw that as they went on, two men in raiment that shone like gold met them, also their faces shone as the light.
These men asked the pilgrims where they came from; and they told them. They also asked them where they had lodged, what difficulties and dangers and what comforts and pleasures they had met with on the way; and they told them. Then the men that met them said, “You only have two more difficulties to meet with, and then you are in the City.”
Then Christian and his companion asked the men to go along with them; so, they told them that they would. “But,” said they, “you must obtain it by faith.”
So, I saw in my dream that they went on together until they came in sight of the gate.
Now I further saw that between them and the gate was a river; but there was no bridge to go over, and the river was very deep. At the sight of this river, therefore, the pilgrims were stunned;346 but the men that went with them said, “You must go through, or you cannot come to the gate.”347
343 Song of Solomon 7:9
344 Revelation 21:18
345 Therefore we all, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord with uncovered face, are transformed from glory to glory into the same likeness, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
346 Death is not welcome to our nature, though by it we pass out of this world into glory.
347 … it is appointed unto men to die once, and after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
A River in the Way.
The pilgrims then began to inquire if there was no other way to the gate; to which the men answered, “ Yes; but there have not been any, except two – that is, Enoch and Elijah – permitted to tread that path since the foundation of the world, nor shall any others until the last trumpet shall sound.”348
The pilgrims, then, especially Christian, began to lose hope in their mind and looked this way and that, but no way could be found by them by which they might escape the river. Then they asked the men if the waters were all the same depth.
They said, “No,” yet they could not help them in that case. “For,” they said, “You shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the King of the place.”
Then they faced the water, and upon entering, Christian began to sink and to cry out to his good friend Hopeful. He said, “I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head; all his waves go over me. Selah.”
Then Hopeful said, “Be of good cheer, my brother: I feel the bottom, and it is good.”
Then Christian replied, “Ah! my friend, the sorrows of death have compassed me about; I shall not see the land that flows with milk and honey.”349 And with that, a great darkness and horror fell upon Christian so that he could not see ahead of him. Also, in a great measure, here he lost his senses so that he could neither remember nor speak logically of any of those sweet refreshments that he had met with in the way of his pilgrimage. So all the words that he spoke still tended to uncover that he had horror of mind and fear in his heart that he should die in that river and never obtain entrance at the gate. Here also, as those that stood by perceived, he was constantly bombarded in these troublesome thoughts with the sins that he had committed, both since and before he began to be a pilgrim. It was also observed that he was troubled with apparitions of demons and evil spirits; every now and then, he would announce so much by words.”
Hopeful, therefore, had his work cut out to keep his brother’s head above water; for sometimes he would go completely under, and then before long he would rise up again half dead. Hopeful tried his best to comfort him, saying, “Brother, I see the gate and men standing by to receive us.”
But Christian would answer, “It is you, it is you they wait for; for you have been hopeful ever since I knew you.”
“And so have you,” he told Christian.
“Ah, brother,” he said, “surely if I was just he would now arise to help me; because of my sins he has brought me into the snare and has left me.”
Then Hopeful said, “My brother, you have quite forgot the text where it is said of the wicked: there is no restraint that would bring about their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.350 This trouble and distress that you are going through in these waters is no sign that God has forsaken you; but it is sent to try you, whether you will call to mind that which you have received up until now of his goodness and depend upon him in your distress.”
348 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised without corruption, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)
349 See Numbers 14:8.
350 Psalm 73:4–5
Be of Good Cheer
Then I saw in my dream that Christian was in a quandary for a while. Hopeful also added these words for him: “Be of good cheer; Jesus Christ makes you whole.”
And with that, Christian broke out with a loud voice, “Oh, I see him again; and he tells me, When thou dost pass through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.351 Then they both took courage, and after that the enemy was as still as a stone until they had crossed over. Christian, therefore, presently found ground to stand upon, and so it followed that the rest of the river was shallow. So, they got over.
Now, upon the bank of the river, on the other side, they saw the two shining men again who waited there for them. Then, as the pilgrims came out of the river the shining men greeted them saying, “We are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those that shall be the heirs of salvation.”352 So Christian and Hopeful went along toward the gate.
351 Isaiah 43:2
352 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth in service for the love of those who are the heirs of saving health? (Hebrews 1:14)
A City on a Hill
Now you must note that the city stood upon a mighty hill; but Christian and Hopeful went up that hill with ease because they had these two men to lead them up by their arms; they had also left their mortal garments behind them in the river, for though they went in with them, they came out without them. Therefore, they went up the hill with much agility and speed, though the foundation upon which the city was framed was higher than the clouds; so they went up through the region of the air, sweetly talking as they went and being comforted because they got safely over the river and had such glorious companions to attend them.
The talk that they had with the shining ones was about the glory of the place; they told the pilgrims that the beauty and glory of it was inexpressible. “There,” they said, “is Mount Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumerable company of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect.353 You are going now to the paradise of God where you shall see the tree of life354 and eat of its never-fading fruits; and when you arrive there, you shall be given white robes,355 and every day you shall walk and talk with the King for all the days of eternity. There you shall never see again some of the things that you saw when you were in the lower region upon earth; things such as, sorrow, sickness, affliction, and death.356 For the former things are passed away. 357 You are going now to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob, and to the prophets – men that God has taken away from the evil to come358 who now rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. 359
The pilgrims then asked, “What must we do in this most holy place?”
It was answered to them, “You must there receive the comfort of all your toil and have joy for all your sorrow; you must reap what you have sown, even the fruit of all your prayers, and tears, and sufferings for the King along the way. In that place, you must wear crowns of gold and enjoy the perpetual sight and vision of the Holy One; for there you shall see him as he is. 360 There you shall serve him continually with praise, with shouting and thanksgiving, whom you desired to serve in the world, though with much difficulty because of the infirmity of your flesh. There your eyes shall be delighted with seeing and your ears with hearing the pleasant voice of the Mighty One. There you shall enjoy your friends again that have gone there before you; and there you shall joyfully receive with joy each and every one that follows after you into the most holy place. There you shall be clothed with glory and majesty and properly equipped so that you are fit to ride out with the King of Glory.
“When he shall come with the sound of the trumpet in the clouds, as upon the wings of the wind, you shall come with him; and when he shall sit upon the throne of judgment, you shall sit by him;361 and when he shall pass sentence upon all the workers of iniquity – let them be angels or men362 – you shall also have a voice in that judgment because they were his and your enemies. Also, when he shall return again to the city, you shall go too with the sound of the trumpet and be with him forever.”
353 But ye are come unto Mount Sion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the congregation of the called out ones of the firstborn, who are registered in the heavens and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect. (Hebrews 12:22–23)
354 He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the congregations; To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)
355 Yet thou hast a few persons in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcomes shall likewise be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (Revelation 3:4–5)
356 See Isaiah 25:8; 35:10.
357 Revelation 21:4
358 The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. (Isaiah 57:1)
359 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. (Isaiah 57:2)
360 1 John 3:2
361 See 1 Thessalonians 4:12–17; Jude 14; Daniel 7:9–10.
362 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more the things that pertain to this life? (1 Corinthians 6:2–3)
Escort by Heavenly Host
Now, as they were drawing near toward the gate, I saw a company of the heavenly host come out to meet them, to whom it was said by the other two shining ones, “These are the men that have loved our Lord when they were in the world and that have left all for his holy name; and he has sent us to go and get them, and we have brought them this far on their desired journey that they may go in and look their Redeemer in the face with joy.”
Then the heavenly host gave a great shout, saying, “Blessed are those who are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”363 There came out also at this time to meet them several of the King’s trumpeters clothed in white and shining apparel who, with loud and melodious noises, made even the heavens to echo with their sound. These trumpeters greeted Christian and his fellow with ten thousand welcomes from the world to come; and this they did with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.
This done, they placed themselves around the pilgrims on every side; some went ahead, some behind, some on the right hand, and some on the left – as it were, to guard them through the upper regions – continually sounding as they went with melodious noise in notes on high; so that the very sight was, to those that could see it, as if heaven itself had come down to meet them.
So they walked on like this together; and as they walked, every now and then these trumpeters, with joyful sounds, would, by mixing their music with looks and gestures, continue to demonstrate to Christian and his brother how welcome they were into their company and with what gladness they came to meet them. And now, these two men were, or so it seemed, in heaven even before they came to it, being absorbed with the sight of angels and with hearing their melodious notes.
Now they had the city itself in view, and they thought they heard all the bells within ring to welcome them there. But above all, the warm and joyful thoughts that they had about living there with such company, and that for ever and ever; oh, by what tongue or pen can their glorious joy be expressed! So they came up to the gate.
363 Revelation 19:9
Arrival
Now when they came up to the gate, they saw written over it in letters of gold: Blessed are those who do his commandments, that their power and authority might be in the tree of life, and they may enter in through the gates into the city.364
Then I saw in my dream that the shining men told them to call at the gate, and when they did so, some from above looked over the gate, and among them were: Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, to whom it was said, “These pilgrims have come from the city of Destruction for the love that they bear to the King of this place.”
And then, each of the pilgrims gave them his certificate, which they had received at the beginning; those, therefore, were carried in unto the King who, when he had read them, said, “Where are the men?”
It was answered to him, “They are standing outside the gate.” The King then commanded the gate to be opened, “That the righteous nation,” said he, “which keeps the truth may enter in.”365
Now I saw in my dream that these two men went in through the gate; and lo, as they entered, they were transfigured, and they had apparel put on that shone like gold. There were also those that met them with harps and crowns and gave them to them º– the harps to praise with, and the crowns in token of honor. Then I heard in my dream that all the bells in the city rang again for joy, and that it was said unto them, “Enter ye into the joy of your Lord.”366
I also heard the men themselves, that they sang with a loud voice saying, “Blessing and honor and glory and power, be unto him that is seated upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.”367
Now, just as the gates were opened to let the men in, I looked in after them and saw that the city shone like the sun; the streets were paved with gold, and in them walked many men with crowns on their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps; there were singing and praises.
There were also some of them that had wings, and they continually answered one another saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD.”368
And after that, they closed the gates; which, when I had seen this, I wished myself among them.
364 Revelation 22:14
365 Isaiah 26:2
366 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful slave; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou didst deliver unto me two talents; behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful slave; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matthew 25:21–23)
367 And I heard every creature which is in heaven and upon the earth and under the earth and such as are upon the sea and all that are in it, saying, Blessing and honour and glory and power, be unto him that is seated upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)
368 Isaiah 6:3
Ignorance Approaches the Gate
Now, while I was gazing upon all these things, I turned my head to look back and saw Ignorance come up to the riverside; but he soon got over, and that without half the difficulty that the other two men met with. For it happened that there was then in that place a person named Vain-hope, a ferryman, that with his boat helped him over; so he, as the others I saw, ascended the hill to come up to the gate; only he came alone, neither did anyone meet him with the least encouragement.
When he had come up to the gate, he looked up at the writing that was above and then began to knock, supposing that entrance should have been quickly administered to him; but he was asked by the men that looked over the top of the gate, “ Where do you come from? And what would you have?”
He answered, “I have ate and drank in the presence of the King, and he has taught in our streets.”
Then they asked him for his certificate that they might go in and show it to the King. So, he fumbled in his bosom for one and found none.
Then they said, “Do you not have one?”
But the man did not answer a word.
So they told the King, and he would not come down to see him, but he commanded the two shining ones that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the city to go out and take Ignorance, bind him hand and foot, and remove him.
Then they took him up and carried him through the air to the door that I saw in the side of the hill, and they put him in there. Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gate of heaven, as well as from the city of Destruction. So, I awoke and, behold, it was a dream.
Conclusion (Part I)
Now, reader, I have told my dream to thee,
See if thou canst interpret it to me,
Or to thyself, or neighbor: but take heed
Of misinterpreting; for that instead
Of doing good, will but thyself abuse:
By misinterpreting, evil ensues.
Take heed, also. That thou be not extreme
In playing with the outside of my dream;
Nor let my figure or similitude
Put thee into a laughter or a feud.
Leave this for boys and fools; but as for thee,
Do thou the substance of my matter see.
Put by the curtains, look within the veil,
Turn up my metaphors, and do not fail.
There, if thou seekest them, such things thou’lt find
As will be helpful to an honest mind.
What of my dross thou findst there, be bold
To throw away, but yet preserve the gold.
What if my gold be wrapped up in ore?
None throw away the apple for the core:
But if thou shalt cast all away as vain,
I know not but ‘twill make me dream again.
END OF THE FIRST PAR
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
PART II
PART II.
Herein is set forth the manner of the setting out of Christian’s wife and children; their dangerous journey and safe arrival at the desired country.
I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes. —Hosea 12:10
THE AUTHOR’S WAY
OF
SENDING FORTH HIS SECOND PART
OF
THE PILGRIM
Go now, my little book, to every place
Where my first pilgrim has but shown his face:
Call at their door; if any say, Who’s there?
Then answer thou, Christiana is here.
If they bid thee come in, then enter thou,
With all thy boys; and then, as thou know’st how,
Tell who they are, also from whence they came;
Perhaps they’ll know them by their looks or name.
But if they should not, ask them yet again,
If formerly they did not entertain
One Christian, a pilgrim? If they say
They did and were delighted in his way,
Then let them know that these related were
Unto him; yea, his wife and children are.
Tell them that they have left their house and home;
Are turned pilgrims; seek a world to come;
That they have met with hardships in the way;
That they do meet with troubles night and day;
That they have trod on serpents; fought with devils;
Have also overcome a many evils;
Yea, tell them also of the next who have,
Of love to pilgrimage been stout and brave
Defenders of that way; and how they still
Refuse this world to do their Father’s will.
Go tell them also of those dainty things
That pilgrimage unto the pilgrim brings.
Let them acquainted be, too, how they are
Beloved of their King under his care;
What goodly mansions he for them provides;
Tho’ they meet with rough winds and swelling tides;
How brave a calm they will enjoy at last
Who to their Lord and by his ways hold fast.
Perhaps with heart and hand they will embrace
Thee, as they did my firstling; and will grace
Thee and thy fellows with such cheer and fare,
As show well, they of pilgrims lovers are.
First Objection
But how if they will not believe of me
That I am truly thine? ‘Cause some there be
That counterfeit the Pilgrim and his name,
Seek, by disguise, to seem the very same;
And by that means have wrought themselves into
The hands and houses of I know not who?
Answer
’Tis true, some have, of late, to counterfeit
My Pilgrim, to their own my title set;
Yea, others half my name and title too,
Have stitched to their books to make them do.
But yet they, by their features, do declare
Themselves not mine to be, whose’er they are.
If such thou meet’st with, then mine only way
Before them all is to say out thy say
In thine own native language, which no man
Now useth, nor with ease dissemble can.
If, after all, they still of you shall doubt,
Thinking that you, like gypsies, go about,
In naughty wise the country to defile;
Or that you seek good people to beguile
With things unwarrantable; then send for me,
And I will testify you pilgrims be;
Yea, I will testify that only you
My pilgrims are, and that alone will do.
Second Objection
But yet, perhaps, I may enquire for him
Of those who wish him damned life and limb.
What shall I do, when I at such a door
For pilgrims ask, and they shall rage the more?
Answer
Fright not thyself, my book, for such bugbears
Are nothing else but groundless fears.
My Pilgrim’s book has traveled sea and land;
Yet could I never come to understand
That it was slighted or turned out of door
By any kingdom, were they rich or poor.
In France and Flanders, where men kill each other,
My Pilgrim is esteemed a friend, a brother.
In Holland, too, ‘tis said, as I am told,
My Pilgrim is with some, worth more than gold.
Highlanders and Wild-Irish can agree,
My Pilgrim should familiar with them be.
’Tis in New England under such advance,
Receives there so much loving countenance,
As to be trimmed, new clothed, and decked with gems,
That it might show its features and its limbs.
Yet more: so comely doth my Pilgrim walk,
That of him thousands daily sing and talk.
If you draw nearer home, it will appear
My Pilgrim knows no ground of shame or fear;
City and country will him entertain
With “Welcome, Pilgrim;” yea, they can’t refrain
From smiling if my Pilgrim be but by
Or shows his head in any company.
Brave gallants do my Pilgrim hug and love,
Esteem it much, yea, value it above
Things of greater bulk; yea, with delight,
Say, my lark’s leg is better than a kite.
Young ladies and young gentlewomen too,
Do no small kindness to my Pilgrim show;
Their cabinets, their bosoms, and their hearts
My Pilgrim has; ’cause he to them imparts
His pretty riddles in such wholesome strains,
As yield them profit double to their pains
Of reading; yea, I think I may be bold
To say some prize him far above their gold.
The very children that do walk the street,
If they do but my holy Pilgrim meet,
Salute him will; will wish him well and say,
He is the only stripling of the day.
They that have never seen him, yet admire
What they have heard of him and much desire
To have his company and hear him tell
Those pilgrim stories, which he knows so well.
Yea, some that did not love him at first
But called him fool and noddy, say they must,
Now they have seen and heard him, him commend;
And to those whom they love they do him send.
Wherefore, my second part, thou need’st not be
Afraid to show thy head; none can hurt thee
That wish but well to him that went before;
’Cause thou com’st after with a second store
Of things as good, as rich, as profitable,
For young, for old, for stagg’ring, and for stable.
Third Objection
But some there be that say he laughs too loud
And some do say his head is in a cloud;
Some say his words and stories are so dark,
They know not how, by them, to find his mark.
Answer
One may, I think, say both his laughs and cries
May well be guessed at by his wat’ry eyes.
Some things are of that nature as to make
One’s fancy chuckle while his heart doth ache.
When Jacob saw his Rachel with the sheep,
He did at the same time both kiss and weep.
Whereas some say a cloud is in his head;
That doth but show his wisdom’s covered
With his own mantle, and to stir the mind
To search well after what it fain would find.
Things that seem to be hid in words obscure,
Do but the godly mind the more allure,
To study what those sayings should contain
That speak to us in such a cloudy strain.
I also know a dark similitude
Will on the curious fancy more intrude,
And will stick faster in the heart and head
Than things from similes not borrowed.
Wherefore, my book, let no discouragement
Hinder thy travels; behold, thou art sent
To friends, not foes; to friends that will give place
To thee, thy pilgrims, and thy words embrace.
Besides, what my first pilgrim left concealed,
Thou, my brave second pilgrim hast revealed;
What Christian left locked up and went his way,
Sweet Christiana opens with her key.
Fourth Objection
But some love not the method of your first;
Romance they count it; throw’t away as dust.
If I should meet with such, what should I say?
Must I slight them as they slight me, or nay?
Answer
My Christiana, if with such thou meet,
By all means, in all loving wise them greet.
Render them not reviling for revile;
But if they frown, I pr’ythee on them smile;
Perhaps ’tis nature or some ill report,
Has made them thus despise or thus retort.
Some love no fish, some love no cheese, and some
Love not their friends nor their own house or home;
Some start at pig, slight chicken, love not fowl
More than they love a cuckoo or an owl.
Leave such, my Christiana, to their choice,
And seek those who to find thee will rejoice;
By no means strive, but in most humble wise
Present thee to them in thy pilgrim’s guise.
Go then, my little book, and show to all
That entertain and bid thee welcome shall,
What thou shalt keep close shut up from the rest
And wish what thou shalt show them may be blessed
To them for good, and make them choose to be
Pilgrims, by better far than thee and me.
Go then, I say, tell all men who thou art,
Say, “I am Christiana, and my part
Is now, with my four sons, to tell you what
It is for men to take a pilgrim’s lot.”
Go also, tell them who and what they be,
That now do go on pilgrimage with thee.
Say, “Here’s my neighbor Mercy; she is one
That has long time with me a pilgrim gone.
Come, see her in her virgin face and learn
’Twixt idle ones and pilgrims to discern.
Yea, let young damsels learn of her to prize
The world which is to come, in any wise.
When little tripping maidens follow God
And leave old doting sinners to his rod,
’Tis like those days wherein the young ones cried
Hosanna! when the old ones did deride.”
Next tell them of old Honest, whom you found
With his white hairs treading the Pilgrim’s ground.
Yea, tell them how plain-hearted this man was,
How after his good LORD he bore the cross;
Perhaps with some gray-head this may prevail
With Christ to fall in love and sin bewail.
Tell them also how Master Fearing went
On pilgrimage; and how the time he spent
In solitariness with fears and cries;
And how, at last, he won the joyful prize.
He was a good man, though much down in spirit;
He is a good man and doth life inherit.
Tell them of Master Feeble-mind also
Who not before, but still behind, would go.
Show them also how he had like been slain
And how one Great-heart did his life regain.
This man was true of heart, though weak in grace;
One might true godliness read in his face.
Then tell them of Master Ready-to-halt,
A man with crutches but much without fault.
Tell them how Master Feeble-mind and he
Did love and in opinion much agree.
And let all know, though weakness was their chance,
Yet sometimes one could sing, the other dance.
Forget not Master Valiant-for-the-truth,
That man of courage, though a very youth.
Tell everyone his spirit was so stout
No man could ever make him face about;
And how Great-heart and he could not forbear,
But pull down Doubting Castle, slay Despair!
Overlook not Master Despondency,
Nor Much-afraid, his daughter, though they lie
Under such mantles, as may make them look
(With some) as if their God had them forsook.
They softly went, but sure; and at the end
Found that the LORD of pilgrims was their friend.
When thou hast told the world of all these things,
Then turn about, my book and touch these strings,
Which, if but touched, will such music make
They’ll make a cripple dance, a giant quake.
Those riddles that lie couched within my breast,
Freely propound, expound; and for the rest
Of thy mysterious lines, let them remain
For those whose nimble fancies shall them gain.
Now may this little book a blessing be
To those who love this little book and me;
And may its buyer have no cause to say
His money is but lost or thrown away.
Yea, may this second pilgrim yield that fruit
As may with each good pilgrim’s fancy suit.
And may it some persuade that go astray
To turn their feet and heart to the right way,
Is the hearty prayer of
The author,
JOHN BUNYAN.
Chapter One. Christiana Becomes a Pilgrim .
Courteous Companions,
Some time ago, it was pleasant to me and profitable to you to tell you my dream that I had of Christian the pilgrim and of his dangerous journey toward the celestial country. I also told you what I saw concerning his wife and children and how unwilling they were to go with him on pilgrimage then; insomuch that he was forced to go on his progress without them; for he dared not run the danger of that destruction that he feared would come by staying with them in the City of Destruction. Therefore, as I then showed you, he left them and departed.
Now it has so happened, through the multiplicity of business, that I have been much hindered and kept back from my desired travels into those parts where he went and so could not, until now, obtain an opportunity to make further inquiry after those whom he left behind, that I might give you an account of them. But having had some concerns that way of late, I went down there again. Now, having taken up my lodgings in a wood about a mile off the place, as I slept, I dreamed again.
And as I was in my dream, behold, an aged gentleman came by where I lay; and because he was to go some part of the way that I was traveling, I got up and went with him. So, as we walked, and as travelers usually do, it was as if we fell into a discussion; and our talk happened to be about Christian and his travels; for thus I began with the old man:
“Sir,” said I, “what town is that there below that lies on the left hand of our way?”
Then said Mr. Insight – for that was his name, “It is the City of Destruction, a populous place but possessed with a very ill-conditioned and idle sort of people.”
“I thought that was that city,” I said, “I went once myself through that town; and therefore, I know that this report you give of it is true.”
“Too true! I wish I could speak truth in speaking better of those that live there.”
“Well, sir, then I perceive you to be a well-meaning man, one that takes pleasure to hear and tell of that which is good. Please, did you ever hear what happened to a man some time ago of this town, whose name was Christian, that went on a pilgrimage up toward the higher regions?”
Word of the Pilgrim’s Destination
“Hear of him?” Insight said. “Ay, and I also heard of the molestations, troubles, wars, captivities, cries, groans, frights, and fears that he met with and had on his journey. Besides, I must tell you, all our country rings of him; there are but few houses that have heard of him and his doings and have not sought after and got the records of his pilgrimage. Yes, I think I may say that news of his hazardous journey has produced many well-wishers to his ways; for, although when he was here he was a fool in every man’s mouth, yet now that he is gone he is highly commended of all. For it is said he lives bravely where he is; yes, many of those that are resolved never to run his hazards still have their mouths water at his gains.”
“They may,” I said, “think well, if they think anything that is true, that he lives well where he is; for he now lives at, and in, the fountain of life and has what he has without labor and sorrow, for there is no grief mixed in with living there. But please, what talk have the people about him?”
“Talk! The people talk strangely about him! Some say that he now walks in white;369 that he has a chain of gold about his neck; that he has a crown of gold beset with pearls upon his head. Others say that the shining ones, who sometimes showed themselves to him in his journey, have become his companions and that he is as familiar with them in the place where he is, as here one neighbor is with another. Be[1]sides, it is confidently affirmed concerning him that the King of the place where he is has already bestowed upon him a very rich and pleasant dwelling at court; and that every day Christian eats and drinks and walks and talks with Him and receives the smiles and favors of Him that is judge of all there.370 Moreover, it is expected of some that this Prince, the Lord of that country, will shortly come into these parts and will know the reasons, if they can give any, why his neighbors set so little by him and had him so much in derision when they perceived that he would be a pilgrim.
“For they say that now he is so in the affections of his Prince, that His Sovereign is so much concerned with the indignities that were cast upon Christian when he became a pilgrim,371 that He will look upon it all as if done unto Him self; and no marvel, for it was for the love that Christian had for his Prince that made him venture as he did,” Insight said.
“I dare say,” I said, “I am glad of it; I am glad for the poor man’s sake that now he has rest from his labor;372 and that he now reaps the benefit of his tears with joy;373 and that he is now beyond the gunshot of his enemies and out of the reach of those that hate him. I also am glad that a rumor of these things is noised abroad in this country; who can tell but that it may work some good effect on some that are left behind? But please, sir, while it is fresh in my mind, do you hear anything of his wife and children? Poor hearts! I wonder in my mind, how are they doing?”
“Who? Christiana and her sons?” Insight said. “They are like to do well as did Christian did himself; for though they all played the fool at first and would by no means be persuaded by either the tears or entreaties of Christian, yet second thoughts have wrought wonderfully with them; so they have packed up, and gone after him.”
“Better and better,” I said. “But, what! wife and children, and all?”
“It is true. I can give you an account of the matter, for I was on the spot at the instant and was thoroughly acquainted with the whole affair.”
“Then a man may report it for truth?”
“You need not fear to affirm it. I mean, that they are all gone on pilgrimage, both the good woman and her four boys. And being we are, as I perceive, going some considerable way together, I will give you an account of the whole matter.”
369 Yet thou hast a few persons in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4) And white robes were given unto each one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little while until their fellow servants and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:11)
370 Thus saith the LORD of the hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also govern my house and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee a place among these that are here. (Zechariah 3:7)
371 Note: the Christian’s king knows those that are his and will take their part against every adversary.
372 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. (Revelation 14:13)
373 Those that sow with tears shall reap with joy. He that goes forth and weeps, bearing the precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. (Psalm 126:5–6)
Insight’s Story
Insight began to tell the story of the pilgrim’s wife and children. This Christiana – for that was her name – from the day that she and her children betook themselves to a pilgrim’s life after her husband was gone over the river, and she could hear of him no more, her thoughts began to work in her mind. First, that she had lost her husband and that the loving bond of that relation was utterly broken between them. For you know, nature can do no less but entertain the living with many a heavy contemplation in the remembrance of the loss of loving relatives. This, therefore, of her husband cost her many tears.
But this was not all; for Christiana also began to consider within herself whether her unbecoming behavior toward her husband was why she saw him no more; that because of this he was taken away from her. And upon this came into her mind, by swarms, all her unkind, unnatural, and ungodly behavior to her dear friend, which also clogged her conscience and loaded her with guilt. She was, moreover, much broken with recalling to remembrance the restless groans, brinish tears, and self-bemoanings of her husband, and how she had hardened her heart against all his entreaties and loving persuasions of her and her sons to go with him. Yes, there was not anything that Christian either said to her or did before her, all the while that his burden hung upon his back, but that it returned upon her like a flash of lightning and broke the hardness of her heart; especially that bitter outcry of his, “What shall I do to be saved?” rang in her ears most dolefully.
Then said she to her children, “Sons, we are all undone. I have sinned away your father, and he is gone. He would have had us with him, but I would not go myself. I also have hindered you of life.”
With that the boys fell into tears and cried to go after their father. “Oh,” said Christiana, “if we had gone with him, then it would have gone well with us, beyond what it is possible to do now. For, though I formerly foolishly imagined, concerning the troubles of your father, that they proceeded of an unwise fancy that he had or that he was overrun with bad temper; yet now it will not go out of my mind but that they sprang from another cause: that the light of life was given him by the help of which, as I perceive, he has escaped the snares of death.”
Then they all wept again, and cried out, “Oh, woe worth the day!”
The next night, Christiana had a dream and, behold, she saw as if a broad scroll or book was opened before her in which were recorded the sum of her ways; she saw that the crimes looked very black upon her. Then she cried out aloud in her sleep, “Lord, have mercy upon me a sinner!”374 And the little children heard her.
After this she thought she saw two very ill-favored ones standing by her bedside and saying, “What shall we do with this woman? For she cries out for mercy, waking and sleeping. If she is allowed to go on like this, we shall lose her as we have lost her husband. Therefore, we must, by one way or another, seek to stop her from thinking of what shall be hereafter, or else she will become a pilgrim in spite of all that this world has to offer.”
Now she awoke in a great sweat, also a trembling was upon her; but after a while, she fell asleep again. And then she thought she saw Christian, her husband, in a place of bliss among many immortals, with a harp in his hand, standing and playing upon it before One that sat on a throne with a rainbow over His head. She saw also, as if he bowed his head with his face to the paved work that was under his Prince’s feet, saying, “I heartily thank my Lord and King for bringing me into this place.” Then a company of those that stood round about and harped with their harps shouted; but no man living could tell what they said except for Christian and his companions.
The next morning when she was up, had prayed to God, and talked with her children a while, someone knocked hard at the door. She spoke out to them, saying, “If you come in God’s name, come in.”
So, he said amen and opened the door and greeted her with, “Peace on this house.” When he had done this, he said, “Christiana, do you know why I have come?”
Then she blushed and trembled; also, her heart began to wax warm with desires375 to know where he came from and what his errand was to her. So, he said unto her, “My name is Secret; I dwell with those that are on high. It is talked of where I live as if you have a desire to go there. Also, there is a report that you are aware of the evil you have formerly done to your husband in hardening your heart against his way and in keeping these babes in their ignorance. Christiana, the Merciful One has sent me to tell you that he is a God ready to forgive, and that he takes delight to multiply the pardon of offenses. He also would have you know that he invites you to come into his presence, to his table, and that he will feed you with the fat of his house and with the inheritance of Jacob your father. Christian, that was your husband, is there with legions more, his companions, ever gazing upon that face that ministers life to beholders; and they will all be glad when they shall hear the sound of your feet step over your Father’s threshold.”
At this, Christiana was greatly humbled in herself and bowed her head to the ground. This vision proceeded, and he said, “Christiana, here is also a letter for you, which I have brought from your husband’s King.”
She took it and opened it; but it smelled after the manner of the best perfume.376 Also, it was written in letters of gold. The contents of the letter said that the King would have her to do as Christian her husband had done; for that was the way to come to his city and to dwell in his presence with joy forever.
At this, the good woman was quite overcome; so, she cried out to her visitor, “Sir, will you carry me and my children with you, that we also may go and worship the King?”
Then said the visitor, “Christiana! The bitter is before the sweet. You must enter this Celestial City through troubles, as did he that went before you. Therefore, I advise you to do as your husband Christian did: go to the narrow gate yonder, over the plain, for that stands at the head of the way up which you must go; and I wish you all good speed. Also I advise that you keep this letter close, that you read from it to yourself and to your children until you have got it by heart; for it is one of the songs377 that you must sing while you are in this house of your pilgrimage, also you must deliver this and hand it in at the further gate.”
***
Now I saw in my dream that this old gentleman, Insight, seemed to be greatly affected with the story as he told it to me. Then he proceeded with his account.
374 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, reconcile me, a sinner. (Luke 18:13)
375 Convictions, seconded with fresh tidings of God’s readiness to pardon, filled her mind.
376 Because of the savour of thy good ointments (ointment poured forth is thy name), therefore have the virgins loved thee (Song 1:3).
377 I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law. (Psalm 119:55)
A Change of Heart
So Christiana called her sons together and began thus to address herself unto them. “My sons, I have, as you may perceive, been under much exercise in my soul of late about the death of your father; not that I doubt at all of his happiness, for I am satisfied now that he is well. I have also been much affected with due thoughts of my own state and yours, which I verily believe is by nature miserable. My behavior also to your father in his distress is a great load to my conscience; for I hardened both my own heart and yours against him and refused to go with him on pilgrimage. The thoughts of these things would now kill me outright, but for a dream that I had last night, and but for the encouragement this stranger has given me this morning. Come, my children, let us pack up and be gone to the gate that leads to the celestial country, that we may see your father and be with him and his companions in peace, according to the laws of that land.”
Then her children burst out into tears for joy that the heart of their mother was so inclined. So, the visitor bade them farewell, and they began to prepare to set out for their journey
But while they were preparing to be gone, two of the women that were Christiana’s neighbors came up to her house and knocked at the door. She said to them as before.378 At this, the women were stunned, for they were not used to hearing this kind of language drop from the lips of Christiana; yet they came in. But behold, they found the good woman preparing to be gone from her house.
So, they began, and said, “Neighbor, please, what is your meaning by this?”
Christiana answered and said to the eldest of them, whose name was Mrs. Timorous, “I am preparing for a journey.” This Timorous was daughter to him that met Christian upon the Hill of Difficulty and would have had him go back for fear of the lions.379
378 “If you come in God’s name, come in.”
379 Part I page 29.
Interrogation by Friends
“For what journey, may I ask?” Mrs. Timorous said.
“Even to go after my good husband,” Christiana said, and with that she fell a weeping.
“I hope not so, good neighbor; please, for your poor children’s sake, do not so unwomanly cast yourself away.”
“No, my children shall go with me; not one of them is willing to stay behind.”
“I wonder in my very heart what or who has brought you into this mind!”
“Oh neighbor, if you knew as much as I do, I do not doubt but that you would go along with me.” Christiana said.
“Please, what new knowledge do you have that takes your mind off of friends and that tempts you to go nobody knows where?” Mrs. Timorous said.
Then Christiana replied, “ I have been sorely afflicted since my husband’s departure from me; but especially since he went over the river.380 But that which troubles me most is my rude behavior to him when he was under his distress. Besides, I am now as he was then; nothing will serve me but going on pilgrimage. I was a dreaming last night that I saw him. Oh that my soul were with him! He lives in the presence of the King of the country; he sits and eats with Him at His table; he has become a companion of immortals and has a house381 now given him to dwell in, to which the best palace on earth, if compared, seems to me but a dunghill. The Prince of the place has also sent for me with promises of entertainment if I shall come to him; his messenger was here even now and has brought me a letter that invites me to come.” And with that, she plucked out her letter and read it, and she said to them, “What now will you say to this?”
Mrs. Timorous replied, “Oh! The insane madness that has possessed you and your husband! To run yourselves upon such difficulties! You have heard, I am sure, what your husband met with, even in a manner at the first step that he took on his way, as our neighbor Obstinate can testify, for he went along with him; yes, and Pliable too; until they, like wise men, were afraid to go any further. We also heard, over and above, how he met with the lions, Apollyon, the Shadow of Death, and many other things. Nor should you forget the danger that he met with at Vanity Fair. For if he, though a man, was so hard put to it, what can you, being but a poor woman, do? Consider also that these four sweet babes are your children, your flesh and your bones. Therefore, though you should be so rash as to cast away yourself, yet for the sake of the fruit of your body, stay at home.”382
But Christiana said unto her, “Tempt me not, my neighbor. I now have a treasure put within reach that I may gain, and I should be a fool of the greatest sort if I should have no heart to seize the opportunity. And since you tell me of all these troubles that I am likely to meet with in the way, they are so far from being to me a discouragement that they show I am in the right. The bitter must come before the sweet, and that also will make the sweet the sweeter. Therefore, since you did not come to my house in God’s name, as I said, please be gone, and do not disquiet me further.”
Then Timorous reviled her, and said to her fellow, “Come, neighbor Mercy, let us leave her in her own hands since she scorns our counsel and company.”
But Mercy was at a stand and could not so readily comply with her neighbor; and that for a twofold reason. First, her insides longed over Christiana. So, she said within herself, “If my neighbor will be gone, I will go a little way with her and help her.” Secondly, her insides longed over her own soul; for what Christiana had said had taken some hold upon her mind. Therefore, she said within herself again, “I will yet have more talk with Christiana about this; and if I find truth and life in what she shall say, I myself with my heart shall also go with her.”
Therefore, Mercy replied to her neighbor Timorous. “Neighbor, I did, indeed, come with you to see Christiana this morning,” Mercy said, “and since she is, as you see, taking of her last farewell of the country, I think to walk this sunshiny morning a little with her to help her on her way.” But she did not tell her second reason and kept it to herself.
“Well, I see you have a mind to go a fooling too,” Mrs. Timorous said. “But take heed in time, and be wise; while we are out of danger, we are out; but when we are in, we are in.”
380 Death.
381 For we know that if the earthly house of this our habitation were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1) For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, for we do not desire to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon with life swallowing up that which is mortal. (2 Corinthians 5:4)
382 Such are the reasonings of the flesh: this is a pertinent reply to fleshly reasons.
Gossip and Rumor
So, Mrs. Timorous returned to her house, and Christiana betook herself to her journey. But when Timorous arrived home to her house, she sent for some of her neighbors such as, Mrs. Bat’s-eyes, Mrs. Inconsiderate, Mrs. Light-mind, and Mrs. Know-nothing. So, when they had come to her house, she fell to telling of the story of Christiana and of her intended journey. And thus, she began her tale:
“Neighbors, having but little to do this morning, I went to give Christiana a visit; and when I came at the door I knocked, as you know it is our custom, and she answered, ‘If you come in God’s name, come in.’ So, in I went thinking all was well; but when I came in, I found her preparing to depart the town; she, and also her children. So, I asked her what was her meaning by that? And she told me, in short, that she was now of a mind to go on pilgrimage, as did her husband. She told me also of a dream that she had and how the King of the country where her husband was had sent her a letter of invitation to come there.”
Then said Mrs. Know-nothing, “And what, do you think she will go?”
“Ay, go she will, whatever comes of it; and I think I know it by this; for that which was my great argument to persuade her to stay at home – that is, the troubles she was likely to meet with in the way – is one great argument with her to put her forward on her journey. For she told me in so many words, ‘The bitter goes before the sweet,’ Yes, and inasmuch as it does, it makes the sweet the sweeter.”
Mrs. Bat’s-eyes said, “Oh, this blind and foolish woman! And will she not take warning by her husband’s afflictions? For my part, I see, if he were here again, he would rest himself content in a whole skin and never run so many hazards for nothing.”
Mrs. Inconsiderate also replied, saying, “Away with such fantastical fools from the town; a good riddance, for my part, I say of her! Should she stay where she dwells and retain this mind, who could live quietly by her? For she will either be dumpish, or unneighborly, or talk of such matters as no wise body can abide. Therefore, for my part, I shall never be sorry for her departure; let her go and let someone better come in her place. It was never a good world since these whimsical fools dwelled in it.”
Then Mrs. Light-mind added, “Come, put this kind of talk away. I was yesterday at Madam Unrestrained’s, where we were as merry as the maids. For who do you think should be there but I and Mrs. Love-the-flesh, and three or four more with Mrs. Lechery, Mrs. Filth, and some others. So, there we had music and dancing and whatever else was necessary to fill up the pleasure. And I dare say, my lady herself is an admirable well-bred gentlewoman, and Mr. Lechery is as pretty a fellow.”383
383 The man of Belial digs in search of evil, and in his lips there is as a burning fire. The perverse man sows strife, and the tale bearer separates princes. The evil man flatters his neighbour and leads him into the way that is not good. He shuts his eyes to devise perverse things; moving his lips he brings evil to pass. (Proverbs 16:27-30)
Chapter Two. The Entrance to The Way of the King is a Narrow Gate.
By this time, Christiana was on her way, and Mercy went along with her; so, as they went, her children being there also, Christiana began a discussion. “And, Mercy,” said Christiana, “I take this as an unexpected favor that you should set forth out of doors with me to accompany me a little in the way.”
Then said young Mercy – for she was but young, “If I thought it would be best to go with you, I would never go near the town anymore.”
“Well, Mercy,” said Christiana, “cast in your lot with me. I well know what will be the end of our pilgrimage; my husband would not have remained behind for all the gold in the Spanish mines. Nor shalt you be rejected, though you go but upon my invitation. The King, who has sent for me and my children, is one that delights in mercy. Besides, if you will, I will hire you, and you shalt go along with me as my servant. Yet we will have all things in common between you and me; only go along with me.”
“But how shall I be certain that I also should be well received?” Mercy said. “If I had this hope from one that can tell, I would not hesitate at all, but would go, being helped by Him that can help, even though the way is so tedious.
“Well, loving Mercy, I will tell you what you shalt do: go with me to the narrow gate,384 and there I will further inquire for you; and if you shall not meet with encouragement there, I will be content that you return to your place. I will also pay you for your kindness, which you show to me and my children by accompanying us in the way that you do.”
“Then will I go there and will take what shall follow; and the Lord grant that my lot may fall there, even as the King of heaven shall have his heart upon me.”
Christiana then was glad at heart, not only that she had a companion but also for that she had prevailed with this poor maid to fall in love with her own salvation. So, they went on together, and Mercy began to weep. Then said Christiana, “Why does my sister weep so?”
“Alas! who can but lament that shall but rightly consider what a state and condition my poor relatives are in, that yet remain in our sinful town? And that which makes my grief the heavier is because they have no instructor, nor any to tell them what is to come.”
“Compassion becomes pilgrims; and you weep for your friends, as my good Christian did for me when he left me. He mourned that I would not heed nor regard him; but his Lord and ours gathered up his tears and put them into his bottle;385 and now both you and I, and these my sweet babes, are reaping the fruit and benefit of them. I hope, Mercy, that these tears of yours will not be lost; for the truth has said that those that sow with tears shall reap with joy. And he that goes forth and weeps, bearing the precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”386
Then Mercy said,
“Let the Most Blessed be my guide,
If it be his blessed will,
Unto his gate, into his fold,
Up to his holy hill.
And let him never suffer me
To swerve or turn aside
From his free grace and holy ways,
Whate’er shall me betide;
And let him gather them of mine,
That I have left behind;
Lord, make them pray they may be thine,
With all their heart and mind.”
***
Now, my old friend Insight proceeded, and said, “But when Christiana came to the Slough of Hopelessness, she began to slow down. ‘For,’ said she, ‘This is the place in which my dear husband was almost smothered with mud.’387 She perceived, also, that notwithstanding the command of the King to make this place good for pilgrims, still it was much worse than before.”
So, I asked if that were true.
“Yes,” said the old gentleman, “too true; for there are many that pretend to be the King’s laborers and that claim to be mending the King’s highways who bring dirt and dung instead of stones, and so mar instead of mend.
384 The gate is Christ.
385 Thou tellest my wanderings; put my tears into thy bottle; are they not in thy book? (Psalm 56:8)
386 Psalm 126:5-6.
387 Observe the effect of them having recourse to their own carnal conclu[1]sions instead of to the Word of Life.
The Mire of Hopelessness
Here Christiana, with her boys, stopped.
But Mercy said, “Come, let us venture; only let us be wary.”
Then they looked carefully where they stepped and made a shift to get staggering over. Yet Christiana almost fell in, and that not once or twice.
Now they had no sooner got over, but they thought they heard words that said unto them, Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.388
Then they went on again, and Mercy said to Christiana, “If I had as good ground to hope for a loving reception at the narrow gate as you, I think no Slough of Hopelessness would discourage me.”
“Well,” said Christiana, “you know your weakness, and I know mine; and, good friend, we shall all have enough evil before we come to our journey’s end. For we cannot imagine the people who design to attain such excellent glories as we do and who are so begrudged that happiness as we are; we cannot imagine with what fears and snares we shall meet, with what troubles and afflictions those that hate us can possibly assault us.”
388 Luke 1:45
Arrival at the Gate
And now Mr. Insight left me to dream out my dream by myself. Therefore, I thought I saw Christiana, Mercy, and the boys all go up to the gate. To which, when they had arrived, they betook themselves to a short debate about how389 they must manage their protocol at the gate and what should be said unto the one who would open to them. So it was concluded, since Christiana was the eldest, that she should knock for entrance and that she should speak for the rest to the one that opened.
So, Christiana began to knock, and just as her poor husband did, she knocked and knocked again. But instead of anyone that answered, they all thought they heard as if a dog came barking upon them: a dog, and a great one too! And this made the women and children afraid, nor did they dare for a while to knock anymore for fear the mastiff should fly upon them. Now, therefore, they were greatly tumbled up and down in their minds and did not know what to do; they dared not knock for fear of the dog; they must not go back for fear the keeper of that gate should spy them as they left and should be offended with them. At last, they thought of knocking again, and they knocked more vehemently than they did at first.
Then the keeper of the gate said, “Who is there?”
The dog left off barking, and the gatekeeper opened unto them.
Then Christiana made low obeisance and said, “ Let not our Lord be offended with his handmaidens, for that we have knocked at his princely gate.”
Then said the keeper, “Where do you come from? And what is it that you would have?”
Christiana answered, “We have come from where Christian came from and are upon the same errand as he; that is, to be, if it shall please you, graciously admitted by this gate into the way that leads unto the Celestial City. And I answer, my Lord, in the next place, that I am Christiana, once the wife of Christian who now resides above.”
With that, the keeper of the gate marveled, saying, “What, is she now become a pilgrim that but a while ago abhorred that life?”
Then she bowed her head and said, “Yes; and so are these my sweet babes also.”
Then he took her by the hand and led her in and said also, “Suffer the little children to come unto me;”390 and with that he shut up the gate. This done, he called to a trumpeter that was above over the gate to entertain Christiana with shouting and the sound of trumpet, for joy. So, he obeyed and sound[1]ed and filled the air with his melodious notes.
Now all this while, poor Mercy stood outside trembling and crying for fear that she was rejected. But when Christiana received admittance for herself and her boys, then she began to make intercession for Mercy.
389 Note: prayer should be made with consideration and fear as well as in faith and hope.
390 Matthew 19:14
Admittance for a Friend
And Christiana said, “My Lord, I have a companion that stands yet without, and she is come here upon the same account as myself; one that is very dejected in her mind be[1]cause she comes, as she thinks, without having been sent for; whereas the King of my husband sent for me to come.”
Now Mercy began to be very impatient,391 and each minute was as long to her as an hour; therefore, she prevented Christiana from a fuller interceding for her by knocking at the gate herself; and she knocked then so loud that she startled Christiana. Then the keeper of the gate said, “Who is there?”
And Christiana said, “It is my friend.”
So, he opened the gate and looked out; but Mercy had fallen down outside in a swoon, for she fainted and was afraid that no gate should be opened to her.
Then he took her by the hand and said, “Damsel, I bid thee arise.”
“Oh, sir,” she said. “I am faint; there is scarce life left in me.”
But he answered, “That one once said, ‘When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer entered in unto thee, in thy holy temple.’392 Fear not, but stand upon your feet and tell me why you have come.”
“I have come for that unto which I was never invited as my friend Christiana was. Hers was from the King, and mine was but from her. Therefore, I fear I presume.”
“Did she desire for you to come with her to this place?” the keeper said.
“Yes; and, as my Lord sees, I have come. And if there is any grace and forgiveness of sins to spare, I beseech that your poor handmaid may be a partaker thereof.”
Then he took her again by the hand and led her gently in and said, “I pray for all those that believe on me,”393 Then said he to those that stood by, “Bring something for Mercy to smell on to stop her fainting.” So they brought her a bundle of myrrh; and a while after she was revived.
And now Christiana and her boys and Mercy were received by the Lord at the head of the way and spoken kindly unto by him. Then they further said unto him, “We are sorry for our sins and beg of our Lord his pardon and further information what we must do.”
“I grant pardon,” he said, “by word and by deed: by word in the promise of forgiveness, by deed in the way I obtained it. Take the first from my lips with a kiss394 and the other as it shall be revealed.”
***
Now I saw in my dream, that he spoke many good words unto them, whereby they were greatly gladdened. He also took them up to the top of the gate and showed them by what deed395 they were saved; and he told them withal that they would have that sight396 again as they went along in the way, to their comfort.
So, he left them awhile in a summer parlor below, where they entered into talk by themselves; and so, Christiana began the discusson.
391 Note: delays make the hungering soul the more fervent.
392 Jonah 2:7 393 John 17:20 394 Oh! if he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! for thy love is better than wine. (Song of Solomon 1:2)
395 And having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disci[1]ples were glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20:20)
396 An ongoing revelation of Christ.
Inside the Gate
“O how glad I am that we got in here,” Christiana said.
“So, you well may; but I, of all, have cause to leap for joy,” Mercy said.
“I thought one time, as I stood at the gate, because I had knocked and no one answered, that all our labor had been lost, especially when that ugly cur made such a heavy barking at us.”
“But my worst fear was after I saw that you were taken into his favor and that I was left behind. I thought, ‘Now it is fulfilled that which is written: Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.’397 I had all I could do to keep from crying out, ‘I am undone!’ And I was afraid to knock anymore, but when I looked up to what was written over the gate, I took courage. I also thought that I must either knock again398 or die; so, I knocked, but I cannot tell how, for my spirit now struggled between life and death.”
“Can you not tell how you knocked?” Christiana said. “I am sure your knocks were so earnest that the very sound of them made me start. I thought I never heard such knocking in all my life;399 I thought you would come in by a violent hand, or take the kingdom by storm.”400
“Alas! To be in my case, could not anyone in my situation have done so? You saw that the door was shut upon me, and there was a most cruel dog thereabout. Who, I say, that was so fainthearted as I, would not have knocked with all their might? But please, did my Lord say anything concerning my rudeness? Was he angry with me?”
“When he heard your lumbering noise, he gave a wonderful innocent smile;401 I believe what you did pleased him well, for he showed no sign to the contrary. But I marvel in my heart why he keeps such a dog; had I known that before, I should not have had heart enough to have risked myself in this manner. But now we are in, we are in; and I am glad with all my heart.”
“I will ask, if you please, next time he comes down, why he keeps such a filthy cur in his yard; I hope he will not take it amiss,” Mercy said.
“Do so,” said the children, “and persuade him to hang him; for we are afraid he will bite us when we go out.”
So, at last he came down to them again; and Mercy fell to the ground on her face before him and worshiped, and she said, “Let my Lord accept the sacrifice of praise, which I now offer unto him with the words of my lips.”
So, he said unto her, “Peace be unto you; stand up.”
But she continued upon her face and said, “Righteous art thou, O LORD, even though I dispute with thee: even so, I will speak judgments with thee.402 Why do you keep so cruel a dog in your yard, at the sight of which such women and children as we are ready to flee from your gate in fear?”
He answered and said, “ That dog has another owner; he is kept close on another man’s ground. My pilgrims only hear his barking; he belongs to the castle that you see there at a distance, but he can come up to the walls of this place. He has frightened many an honest pilgrim from worse to better by the great voice of his roaring. Indeed, his owner does not keep him out of any goodwill to me or mine, but with intent to keep the pilgrims from coming to me, and that they may be afraid to come and knock at this gate for entrance. Sometimes he has also broken out and has worried some that I loved; but I take all at present patiently. I also give my pilgrims timely help403 so that they are not delivered to his power, to do with them what his doggish nature would prompt him to.
“But what, my purchased one, I trust if you had known a little more beforehand, you would not have been afraid of a dog. The beggars that go from door to door will, rather than lose a possible donation, run the hazard of the bawling, barking, and biting too of a dog; and shall a dog, a dog in another man’s yard, a dog whose barking I turn to the profit of pilgrims, keep any from coming to me? I deliver them from the lions and my darling from the power of the dog.”404
Then said Mercy, “I confess my ignorance; I speak what I do not understand; I acknowledge that you do all things well.”405
Then Christiana began to talk of their journey and to inquire after the way. So, he fed them and washed their feet, and set them in the way of his steps, according as he had dealt with her husband before.
397 Matthew 24:41
398 Part I page 11.
399 The apostle says, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in humility let each esteem others better than themselves, with each one not looking to their own things, but also to the things of others (Philippians 2:3–4). Christiana thinks her companion prays better than she does.
400 From the days of John the Baptist until now, life is given unto the kingdom of the heavens, and the valiant take hold of it. (Matthew 11:12)
401 Christ is well pleased with loud and restless prayer.
402 Jeremiah 12:1.
403 This promise should serve as a check to the carnal fear of pilgrims.
404 Psalm 22:20
405 Note: truly wise Christians acquiesce in the wisdom of the Lord.
Chapter Three. The Interpreter.
So, I saw in my dream that they walked on their way and had weather very comfortable to them.
Then Christiana began to sing, saying:
“Blessed be the day that I began
A pilgrim for to be;
And blessed also be the Man
That there unto moved me.
’Tis true, ’twas long ere I began
To seek to live forever.
But now I run fast as I can;
’Tis better late than never.
Our tears to joy, our fears to faith,
Are turned, as we see;
Thus our beginning (as one saith)
Shows what our end will be.”
Untoward Intentions
Now there was, on the other side of the wall that fenced in the way up which Christiana and her companions were to go, a garden; and that garden belonged to the owner of that barking dog of whom mention was made before. Some of the fruit trees that grew in that garden shot their branches over the wall; and being mellow, those that found them gathered them up and ate of them to their hurt. So, Christiana’s boys, as boys are apt to do, being pleased with the trees and with the fruit that hung upon them, plucked them, and began to eat. Their mother chided them for doing so; but still the boys went on.
“Well,” she said, “my sons, you transgress; for that fruit is none of ours.” But she did not know that it belonged to the enemy; I’ll warrant you, if she had, she would have been ready to die for fear. But that passed, and they went on their way.
Now, when they had gone about two bow shots from the place that led them into the way, they spied two very ill-favored ones coming down apace to meet them. With that, Christiana and her friend Mercy covered themselves with their veils and so kept on their journey. The children also went on ahead so that at last they met together. Then those that came down to meet them came close up to the women, as if they would embrace them; but Christiana said, “Stand back, or go peaceably as you should.”
Yet these two, like men that are deaf, did not regard Christiana’s words, but began to lay hands upon them. At that, Christiana becoming very angry and kicked at them with her feet. Mercy also, as well as she could, did what she could to shift them. Christiana again said to them, “Stand back and be gone, for we have no money to lose, being pilgrims as you see, and such too as live upon the charity of our friends.”
Then one of the two men said, “We make no assault upon you for money but are come out to tell you that if you will but grant one small request that we shall ask, we will make women of you forever.”
Now Christiana, imagining what they should mean, answered again, “We will neither hear, nor regard, nor yield to what you shall ask; we are in haste and cannot stay; our blessed is of life and death.” So again, she and her companion made a fresh essay to go past them, but they hindered them in their way.
And they said, “We intend no hurt to your lives; it is another thing we would have.”
“Ay,” said Christiana, “you would have us body and soul; for I know it is for that you have come; but we will rather die upon the spot than to suffer ourselves to be brought into such snares, and shall hazard our well-being hereafter.”
And with that they both shrieked out and cried, “Murder! Murder!” and so put themselves under those laws406 that are provided for the protection of women. But the men still made their approach upon them with design to prevail against them. They, therefore, cried out again.
Now they being, as I said, not far from the gate at which they came in, their voice was heard from where they had come. Therefore, some of the house came out, and knowing that it was Christiana’s voice, they made haste to her relief. But by the time that they were within sight of them, the women were in a very great scuffle; also, the children stood by crying.
Then he that came in for their relief called out to the ruffians, saying, “What are you doing? Would you make my Lord’s people to transgress?” He attempted to take them, but they made their escape over the wall into the garden of the man to whom the great dog belonged; so, the dog became their protector.
This Reliever then came up to the women and asked them how they were. So, they answered, “ Thanks to your Prince, pretty well; we have only been somewhat frightened. We thank you also for coming to our help, otherwise we would have been overcome.”
So, after a few more words, the Reliever said as follows: “I marveled much when you were entertained at the gate above, seeing you knew that you were but weak women, that you did not petition the Lord for a conductor; then you might have avoided these troubles and dangers, for he would have granted you one.”
“Alas!” said Christiana, “we were so taken with our present blessing that dangers to come were forgotten by us. Besides, who could have thought that so near the King’s palace there could have lurked such nasty ones? Indeed, it would have been well for us if we had asked our Lord for one; but since our Lord knew it would be for our profit, I wonder why he did not send one along with us!”
“It is not always necessary to grant things not asked for, lest by so doing they become of little esteem,” the Reliever said. “But when the lack of a thing is felt, it then comes under – in the eye of him that feels it – that estimate that properly is its due, and so, consequently, will be hereafter used. Had my Lord granted you a conductor, you would not now bewail that oversight of yours in not asking for one, as now you have occasion to do. So, all things work for good and tend to make you more wary.”
“Shall we go back again to my Lord, confess our folly, and ask for one?” Christiana said.
“Your confession of your folly I will present him with; you need not go back again, for in all places where you shall come, you will find no lack at all; for in every one of my Lord’s lodgings that he has prepared for the reception of his pilgrims, there is sufficient to furnish them against all attempts whatsoever. But, as I said, he will be inquired of, by those who are in his way, to do it for them.407 And most things are certainly worth asking for.”
When he had said this, he went back to his place, and the pilgrims went on their way.
Then Mercy said, “What a sudden blank is here! I thought that we were past all danger and that we should never see sorrow again.”
“Your innocence, my sister,” said Christiana, “may excuse you much; but as for me, my fault is so much the greater, for I saw this danger before I came out of the doors, and yet did not provide for it when provision might have been made. I am much to be blamed.”408
Then Mercy said, “How did you know this before you came from home? Please open this riddle to me.”
“Why, I will tell you,” Christiana said. “Before I set foot out of doors, one night as I lay in my bed, I had a dream about this; for I thought I saw two men, as like these as ever any in the world could look, stand at my bed’s feet, plotting how they might prevent my salvation. I will tell you their very words. It was when I was in my troubles. They said, ‘What shall we do with this woman? For she cries out when awake and when sleeping for forgiveness; if she is allowed to go on as she begins, we shall lose her as we have lost her husband.’ This, you know, might have made me take heed and have sought protection when provision might have been had.”
“Well,” said Mercy, “as by this neglect we have an occasion ministered unto us to behold our own imperfections; so our Lord has taken occasion thereby that he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us; 409 for he, as we see, has followed us with unasked kindness and has delivered us from hands that were stronger than ours, of his mere good pleasure.”
406 Deuteronomy 22:23, 26–27
407 Thus hath the Lord GOD said; I will yet be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will multiply men like flocks. (Ezekiel 36:37)
408 Observe: Christiana does not seek to hide or extenuate her guilt, but frankly, according to the apostle’s instruction, confesses her fault to her companion (James 5:16).
409 Ephesians 2:7
A Joyful Reception
Thus now, when they had talked away a little more time, they drew near to a house that stood in the way, a house built for the relief of pilgrims like you will find more fully related in the first part of the records of the pilgrim’s progress. So they drew on toward the house, the house of the Interpreter; and when they came to the door, they heard people talking in the house. Then they gave ear and heard, as they thought, Christiana mentioned by name. (For you must know that there went along, even before her, talk of she and her children going on pilgrimage; and this was the more pleasing to them because they had heard that she was Christian’s wife, that woman who was some time ago so unwilling to hear of going on pilgrimage.) Therefore, they stood still and heard the good people within commending her, whom they did not know stood at the door. At last Christiana knocked, as she had done at the gate before. Now, when she had knocked, a young damsel named Innocent came and opened the door; she looked, and behold, two women were there.
Then said the damsel to them, “With whom would you speak in this place?”
Christiana answered, “We understand that this is a privileged place for those that have become pilgrims; and we now at this door are such. Therefore, we pray that we may be partakers of that for which we at this time are come; for the day, as you see, is very far spent, and we are reluctant tonight to go any further.”
“Please, what may I call your name, that I may tell it to my Lord within?” Innocent asked.
“My name is Christiana. I was the wife of that pilgrim that some years ago traveled this way, and these are his four children. This maiden also is my companion and is going on pilgrimage too.”
Then Innocent ran in and said to those within. “Can you think who is at the door? There is Christiana and her children and her companion, all waiting for entertainment here.”
Then they leaped for joy and went and told their master, the Interpreter. So, he came to the door, and looking upon her, he said, “Are you that Christiana whom Christian the good man left behind him when he betook himself to a pilgrim’s life?”
“I am that woman that was so hard-hearted as to slight my husband’s troubles and that left him to go on in his journey alone, and these are his four children; but now I also have come, for I am convinced that no way is right but this.
“Then is fulfilled that which is written of the man that said to his son, ‘Go work today in my vineyard.’ And he said to his father, ‘I will not, ‘but afterward he repented and went.”410
Then Christiana said, “So be it; amen. God made it a true saying upon me, and grant that I may be found at last by him in peace, without spot, and blameless!”
“But why stand at the door?” Interpreter asked. “Come in, daughter of Abraham; we have been talking of you, for tidings have come to us of how you have become a pilgrim. Come, children, come in; come, maiden, come in.” So, he had them all into the house.
When they were inside, they were asked to sit down and rest; which, when they had done so, those that attended upon the pilgrims in the house came into the room to see them. And one smiled, and another smiled, and they all smiled for joy that Christiana had become a pilgrim. They also looked upon the boys; they stroked their faces with their hands in token of their kind reception of them; they also cared lovingly for Mercy and bid them all welcome into their master’s house.
After a while, because supper was not ready, the Interpreter took them into his Significant Rooms and showed them what Christian, Christiana’s husband, had seen some time before. Here, therefore, they saw the man in the cage, the man and his dream, the man that cut his way through his enemies, and the picture of the biggest of them all – together with the rest of those things that were then so profitable to Christian.
This done, and after those things had been somewhat digested by Christiana and her company, the Interpreter took them apart again and had them into a room where there was a man that could not look anywhere but down, and he had a muck-rake in his hand. Someone stood over his head with a celestial crown in his hand and proffered him that crown for his muck-rake; but the man did not look up nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor.
Then Christiana said, “I am inclined to think that I know somewhat the meaning of this; for this is a figure of a man of this world, is it not, good sir?”
“You have said right; and his muck-rake shows his carnal mind. And whereas you see him rather give heed to rake up straws and sticks and the dust of the floor than to do what He says that calls to him from above with the celestial crown in his hand; it is to show that heaven is but as a fable to some, and that things here are counted the only things substantial. Now, whereas it was also showed you that the man could look nowhere but down, this is to let you know that earthly things, when they have power upon men’s minds, completely carry their hearts away from God.”
Then Christiana said, “Oh deliver me from this muckrake!”
“That prayer,” said the Interpreter, “has lain by till it is almost rusty. ‘Give me not riches’411 is scarce the prayer of one in ten thousand. Straws and sticks and dust, with most, are the great things now looked after.”
With that, Christiana and Mercy wept and said, “It is, alas! too true.”
When the Interpreter had shown them this, he took them into the very best room in the house – a very brave room it was – so he bid them look round about and see if they could find anything profitable there. Then they looked round and round; for there was nothing to be seen but a very great spider on the wall, and that they overlooked.
Then said Mercy, “Sir, I see nothing.”
But Christiana held her peace.
“But,” said the Interpreter, “look again.”
She, therefore, looked again and said, “Here there is nothing but an ugly spider who hangs by her hands upon the wall.”
Then he said, “Is there but one spider in all this spacious room?”
Then the tears stood in Christiana’s eyes, for she was a woman quick of apprehension, and she said, “Yes, Lord, there are more here than one. Yes, and spiders whose venom is far more destructive than that which is in her.”
The Interpreter then looked pleasantly on her and said, “You have said the truth.”
This made Mercy to blush and the boys to cover their faces; for they all began now to understand the riddle.
410 Matthew 21:29–29
411 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread of my judgment. (Proverbs 30:8)
Mercies from Heaven
Then the Interpreter said again, “The spider takes hold with her hands, as you see, and is in kings’ palaces.412 And therefore, this is recorded to show you that however full of the venom of sin you may be, you may still, by the hand of faith, lay hold of and dwell in the best room that belongs to the King’s house above.”
“I thought,” Christiana said, “of some of this, but I could not imagine it at all. I thought that we were like spiders, and that we looked like ugly creatures in whatever fine room we might be, but that by this venomous and ill-favored spider, we were to learn how to act out faith. That did not come into my thoughts, that she works with hands and, as I see, dwells in the best room of the house. God has made nothing in vain.”
Then they seemed all to be glad, but the tears stood in their eyes; yet they looked one upon another and also bowed before the Interpreter.
He led them into another room where there were a hen and chicks; and he bade them observe a while. So, one of the chicks went to the trough to drink, and every time she drank, she lifted up her head and her eyes toward heaven.
The Interpreter said, “See what this little chicken does and learn of her to acknowledge from where your mercies come by receiving them with looking up. Yet again, observe and look.”
So, they watched and perceived that the hen walked in a fourfold method with her chicks: (1) She has a common call that she uses all day long. (2) She has a special call that she uses sometimes. (3) She has a brooding note. (4) She has an outcry.413
“Now,” he said, “compare this hen to your King and these chickens to his obedient ones. For, like her, he himself has his methods that he walks in with his people. By his common call, he gives nothing; by his special call, he always has something to give; he has also a brooding voice for those that are under his wing; and he has an outcry to give the alarm when he sees the enemy come. I chose, my darlings, to lead you into the room where such things are because you are women, and they are easy for you.”
“And, sir,” said Christiana, “please let us see some more.”
So, he took them into the slaughterhouse, where a butcher was killing a sheep; and behold, the sheep was quiet and took her death patiently. Then the Interpreter said, “You must learn of this sheep to suffer and to put up with wrongs without murmurings and complaints. See how quietly she takes her death; and without objecting,414 she allows her skin to be pulled over her ears. Your King calls you his sheep.”
After this, he led them into his garden, where there was a great variety of flowers; and he said, “Do you see all these?”
Christiana said, “Yes.”
Then said he again, “Observe, the flowers are different in stature, in quality and color, and smell and virtue; and some are better than others; also, where the gardener has set them, there they stand, and they do not quarrel with one another.”
Again, he took them into his field, which he had sown with wheat and corn; but when they beheld, the tops of all were cut off and only the straw remained. He said again, “This ground was dunged and plowed and sowed, but what shall we do with the crop?”
Then Christiana said, “Burn some, and make muck of the rest.”
Then the Interpreter said again, “Fruit, you see, is what you look for; and for lack of it you condemn it to the fire and to be trodden under foot of men.415 Beware that in this you do not condemn yourselves.”
412 Proverbs 30:28
413 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that didst kill the prophets and stone those who are sent unto thee, how often I desired to gather thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37)
414 Acts 8:32
415 John 15:6; Matthew 5:13
Pretentious Profession of Faith
Then, as they were coming in from abroad, they saw a little robin with a great spider in his mouth.
“Look here,” the Interpreter said.
So, they looked, and Mercy wondered, but Christiana said, “What a disparagement is it to such a pretty little bird as the robin redbreast is, he being also a bird above many that loves to maintain a kind of sociableness with men! I had thought they had lived upon crumbs of bread or upon other such harmless matter; I like him worse than I did.”
The Interpreter then replied, “This robin is an emblem, very apt to set forth some professors of faith; for they appear, as this robin, pretty of note, color, and behavior. They also seem to have a very great love for professors that are sincere; and above all others they desire to associate with them and to be in their company, as if they could live upon the good man’s crumbs. They also pretend that this is why it is that they frequent the house of the godly and the appointments of the Lord; but when they are by themselves, as the robin, they can catch and gobble up spiders; they can change their diet, drink iniquity, and swallow down sin like water.”
So, when they had come again into the house, because sup[1]per as yet was not ready, Christiana again desired that the Interpreter would either show or tell some other things that are profitable.416
416 Let the Christian pray, and he will get at the knowledge that as yet lies unrevealed.
Proverbs on Spiritual Maturity
Then the Interpreter began, and said:
“The fatter the sow is, the more she desires the mire; the fatter the ox is, the more playfully he goes to the slaughter; and the healthier the immoral man is, the more prone he is unto evil.
“There is a desire in women to go neat and fine; and it is a comely thing to be adorned with that which in God’s sight is of great price.
“It is easier watching a night or two than to sit up a whole year together; so, it is easier for one to begin to profess well than to hold out as he should to the end.
“Every shipmaster, when in a storm, will willingly cast that overboard which is of least value in the vessel; but who will throw the best out first? None but he that does not fear God.
“One leak will sink a ship, and one sin will destroy a sinner.
“He that forgets his friend is ungrateful unto him, but he that forgets his Savior is unmerciful to himself.
“He that lives in sin and looks for happiness hereafter is like him that sows thorns and briers and thinks to fill his barn with wheat or barley.
“If a man would live well, let him remember his last day and make it always his company-keeper.
“Whispering (gossip) and change of thoughts prove that sin is in the world.
“If the world, which God esteems but little, is counted a thing of such worth with men, what is heaven, which God commends?
“If this life that is attended with so many troubles is so reluctant to be let go by us, what is the life above?
“Everybody will tout the goodness of men; but who is there that is, as he should be, affected with the goodness of God?
“We seldom sit down to food, but we eat and leave. So there is in Jesus Christ more merit and righteousness than the whole world has need of.”
When the Interpreter was done, he took them out into his garden again and showed them a tree whose inside was all rot[1]ten and gone, and yet it grew and had leaves.
Then Mercy said, “What does this mean?”
“This tree,” he said, “whose outside is fair and whose inside is rotten, is that to which many may be compared that are in the garden of God; with their mouths they speak high in be-half of God, but indeed will do nothing for him; their leaves are fair, but their heart good for nothing but to be tinder for the devil’s tinderbox.”
***
Now supper was ready, the table spread, and all things set on the board; so, they sat down and ate after one had given thanks. The Interpreter usually entertained those that lodged with him with music at meals; so, the minstrels played. There was also one that sang who had a very fine voice. His song was this:
“The Lord is only my support,
And he that doth me feed;
How can I then want any thing
Whereof I stand in need?”
When the song and music were ended, the Interpreter asked Christiana what it was that at first moved her to take upon herself the life of a pilgrim.
A Pilgrim’s Passion
Christiana answered, “First, the loss of my husband came into my mind, at which I was heartily grieved; but all that was natural affection. Then after that the troubles and pilgrimage of my husband came into my mind and also how, like a fool, I had compounded his trouble. So, guilt took hold of my mind and would have drawn me to despair, except that opportunely I had a dream of the well-being of my husband, and I had letter sent to me by the King of that country where my husband dwells, asking me to come to him. The dream and the letter together so wrought upon my mind that they forced me to this way.”
“But did you meet with no opposition before you set out of doors?” the Interpreter said.
“Yes, a neighbor of mine named Mrs. Timorous; she is a relative of the man that would have persuaded my husband to go back for fear of the lions. She thought I was foolish for, as she called it, desiring such a desperate adventure; she also did what she could to dishearten me from it, mentioning the hardships and troubles that my husband met with in the way. But I got over all this pretty well. However, a dream that I had of two ill-looking ones that I thought were plotting how to make me miscarry in my journey has troubled me increasingly; it still runs in my mind and makes me afraid of everyone that I meet, lest they should do me mischief and turn me out of my way. Also, let me tell my Lord, though I would not have everyone know of it, that, between here and the gate by which we got into the way, we were both so sorely assaulted that we were made to cry bloody murder! And the two that assaulted us were like the two that I saw in my dream.”
Then the Interpreter said, “Your beginning is good; your latter end shall greatly increase.”
So, he addressed himself to Mercy and said unto her, “And what moved you to come here, sweet heart?”
Then Mercy blushed and trembled and for a while continued silent.
Then he said, “Do not be afraid; only believe and speak your mind.”
Then she began and said, “Truly, sir, my lack of experience is what makes me desire to be in silence and fills me with fears of coming up short in the end. I cannot tell of visions and dreams, as my friend Christiana can. Nor do I know what it is to mourn for my refusing the counsel of those that were good relatives.”
“What was it, then, dear heart, that has prevailed with you to do as you have done?”
“Why, when our friend here was packing up to be gone from our town, I and another went accidentally to see her. We knocked at the door and went in. When we were inside, and seeing what she was doing, we asked her what was her meaning. She said she was sent for to go to her husband; and then she up and told us how she had seen him in a dream dwelling in a curious place among immortals, wearing a crown, playing upon a harp, eating and drinking at his Prince’s table, and singing praises to him for bringing him there, etc. Now, I thought, while she was telling these things unto us, my heart burned within me. And I said in my heart, ‘If this is true, I will leave my father and my mother and the land of my nativity; and will, if I may, go along with Christiana.’ So, I asked her further of the truth of these things and if she would let me go with her; for now I saw that to continue dwelling in our town would keep me in danger of ruin. But yet I came away with a heavy heart; not because I was unwilling to come away, but for so many of my relations who were left behind. And I come with all the desire of my heart and will go, if I may, with Christiana unto her husband and his King.”
“Your setting out is good, for you have given credit to the truth; you are a Ruth, who did, for the love she had for Naomi and for the Lord her God, leave father and mother and the land of her nativity to come out and go with a people she did not know before. Let the LORD recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to cover thyself.”417
417 Ruth 2:12
Cleansing Before the Journey
Now supper was ended, and preparation was made for bed; the women slept singly alone and the boys by themselves. Now, when Mercy was in bed, she could not sleep for joy, for now her doubts of missing out at the end were removed further from her than ever before. So, she lay blessing and praising God who had such favor for her.
In the morning, they arose with the sun and prepared themselves for their departure; but the Interpreter would have them linger a while. “For you must go forth from here well ordered,” he said.
Then he said to Innocent, the damsel that first opened unto them, “Take them and have them into the garden to the bath; and there wash them and make them clean from the soil that they had gathered by traveling.”
Then Innocent took them and led them into the garden and brought them to the bath. She told them that there they must wash and be clean; for so the Master would have the women to do that called at his house as they were going on pilgrimage.
Then they went in and washed, the boys also; and they came out of that bath not only sweet and clean but also much enlivened and strengthened in their joints. So, when they came back out, they looked a great deal fairer than when they had gone in to the washing.
When they were returned out of the garden from the bath, the Interpreter took them and looked upon them and said unto them, “Fair as the moon.”418 Then he called for the seal with which those who are washed in his bath are to be sealed. So, the seal was brought, and he set his mark upon them that they might be known in the places where they were yet to go. Now the seal was the contents and sum of the Passover that the children of Israel ate419 when they came out of the land of Egypt. The mark was set between their eyes; this seal greatly added to their beauty, for it was an ornament to their faces; it also added to their gravity and made their countenance more like those of angels.”
Then the Interpreter said again to the damsel that waited upon these women, “Go into the vestry and bring out garments for these people.”
So, she went and brought out white raiment and laid it down before him; he commanded them to put it on. It was fine linen, white and clean.
When the women were thus adorned, they seemed to be a terror one to the other because they could not see the glory each one had in herself, which they could see in each other. Now therefore, they began to esteem each other better than themselves.420
“You are fairer than I am,” said one.
“You are more beautiful than I am,” said another.
The children also stood amazed to see into what fashion they were brought.
418 Song of Solomon 6:10
419 And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when he brought me out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand and for a memorial before thine eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought thee out of Egypt. (Exodus 13:8–9)
420 This is a sample of true humility, recommended by the apostle in Philippians 2:3
Chapter Four. Mr. Great-heart.
Then the Interpreter called for a servant of his named Great-heart and had him take sword, helmet, and shield. “Take these my daughters,” he said, “and conduct them to the house called Beautiful, where they will rest next.”
So, he took his weapons and went before them; and the Interpreter said, “Godspeed! Those that belonged to the family also sent them away with many a good wish. So, they went on their way, and sang:
“This place hath been our second stage.
Here we have heard and seen
Those good things, that from age to age
To others hid have been.
The dunghill raker, spider, hen,
The chickens, too, to me,
Have taught a lesson; let me then
Conformed to it be.
The butcher, garden, and the field,
The robin and his bait,
Also, the rotten tree do yield
Me argument of weight;
To move me for to watch and pray,
To strive to be sincere,
To take my cross up day by day
And serve the Lord with fear.”
***
Now I saw in my dream that they went on, and Greatheart led them. So they went and came to the place where Christian’s burden had fallen off his back and tumbled into a sepulchre. Here then, they made a pause, and they also blessed God.
“Now” said Christiana, “it comes to my mind what was said to us at the gate, which was, in effect, that we should have pardon by word and deed: by word, that is, by the promise; and by deed in fulfillment in the way it was obtained. I know something of what the promise is; but what is it to have pardon by deed or in the way that it was obtained, Mr. Great-heart, I suppose you know? Therefore, if you please, let us hear your discourse thereof.”
Righteousness Attained by Another
“Pardon by the deed done is pardon obtained by someone for another that has need thereof,” Great-heart said, “not by the person pardoned but in the way, said another, in which I have obtained it. So then, to speak to the question more at large, the pardon that you and Mercy and these boys have attained is by another; that is, by Him that let you in at that gate. And he has obtained it in this double way: he has performed righteousness to cover you and spilled blood to wash you in.”
“But if he parts with his righteousness to us, what will he have for himself?” Christiana asked.
“He has more righteousness than you have need of or than he needs himself,” Great-heart said.
“Please make that appear.”
“With all my heart, but first I must premise that He of whom we are now about to speak is unique; no one else is like him. He has two natures in one person, plain to be distinguished, impossible to be divided. Unto each of these natures a righteousness belongs, and each righteousness is essential to that nature; so that one may as easily cause the natures to be extinct as to separate its justice or righteousness from it. Of these righteousnesses, therefore, we are not made partakers in the aspect that they or any of them should be put upon us so that we might be made just and, thereby, live. Besides these, there is a righteousness that this person has because these two natures are joined in one. And this is not the righteousness of the Godhead, as distinguished from the Manhood; nor the righteousness of the Manhood, as distinguished from the Godhead; but it is a righteousness that stands in the union of both natures and may properly be called the righteousness that is essential to his being prepared of God to the capacity of the mediatory office, which he was to be entrusted with.
“If he parts with his first righteousness, he parts with his Godhead; if he parts with his second righteousness, he parts with the purity of his Manhood;421 if he parts with his third, he parts with that perfection that capacitates him to the office of mediation. He has, therefore, another righteousness, which stands in performance or obedience to a revealed will; that is what he puts upon sinners, and it is that by which their sins are covered. Therefore, he says, As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”422
“But are the other righteousnesses of no use to us?” Christiana asked.
Yes, for though they are essential to his natures and offices and cannot be communicated unto another, yet it is by virtue of them that the righteousness that justifies is for that purpose effective,” Great-heart said. “ The righteousness of his Godhead gives virtue (or power) to his obedience; the righteousness of his Manhood gives capability to his obedience to justify; and the righteousness that stands in the union of these two natures to his office gives authority to that righteousness to do the work for which it was ordained.
“So then, here is a righteousness that Christ, as God, has no need of; for he is God without it. Here is a righteousness that Christ, as man, has no need of to make him so; for he is perfect man without it. Again, here is a righteousness that Christ, as God-man, has no need of; for he is perfectly so without it. Here then is a righteousness that Christ, as God and as God-man, has no need of with reference to himself and, therefore, he can spare it; a justifying righteousness that he for himself does not lack and, therefore, gives it away. Consequently, it is called the gift of righteousness.
“ This righteousness, since Christ Jesus the Lord has placed himself under the law, must be given away; for the law does not only bind him that is under it to do justly but to use charity.423 Therefore, by the law, if he has two coats, he must or ought to give one to him that has none. Now, our Lord, indeed, has two coats – one for himself and one to spare; therefore, he freely bestows one upon those that have none. And in this way, Christiana and Mercy and the rest of you that are here, your pardon comes by deed or by the work of another man.
“Your Lord Christ is he that worked and has given away what he produced to the next poor beggar he meets. But again, in order to pardon by deed, something must be paid to God as a price; and also something must be prepared to cover us with. Sin has delivered us up to the just course of a righteous law; now from this course, we must be justified by way of redemption, a price being paid for the harms we have done. And this is by the blood of your Lord who came and stood in your place and stead and died your death for your transgressions. Thus, has he ransomed you from your transgressions by blood and covered your polluted and de[1]formed souls with righteousness,424 for the sake of which God passes by you and will not hurt you when he comes to judge the world.”425
Christiana said, “This is brave! Now I see that there was something to be learned by our being pardoned by word and deed. Good Mercy, let us labor to keep this in mind; and my children, you must remember it also. But, sir, was this what made my good Christian’s burden fall from off his shoulder and that made him give three leaps for joy?”
“Yes, it was the belief of this that cut those strings that could not be cut by other means; and it was to give him proof of the virtue (or power) of this that he was suffered to carry his burden to the cross,” Great-heart said.
“I thought so; for though my heart was buoyant and joyous before, yet it is ten times more buoyant and joyous now. And I am persuaded by what I have felt, though I have felt but little as yet, that if the most burdened person in the world were here and saw and believed as I now do, it would make their heart even more merry and cheerful.”
“There is not only comfort and the relief of a burden brought to us by the sight and consideration of these, but an endeared affection is birthed in us by it. For who can, if he even once thinks that pardon comes not only by promise but like this, not be affected with the way and means of redemption and also with the Man that has accomplished it for him?”
“True. I think it makes my heart bleed to think that he should bleed for me! Oh, thou loving One; oh, thou blessed One. You deserve to have me. You have bought me. You de[1]serve to have all of me; you have paid for me ten thousand times more than I am worth. It is no marvel that this made the tears stand in my husband’s eyes and that it made him trudge so nimbly on. I am persuaded he wished to have me with him; but vile wretch that I was, I let him come all alone. Oh, Mercy, what if your father and mother were here; yes, and Mrs. Timorous too. I even wish now with all my heart that Madam Unrestrained were here too. Surely, surely their hearts would be affected; nor could the fear of the one, nor the powerful lusts of the other prevail with them to go home again and to refuse to become good pilgrims.”
“You speak now in the warmth of your affections; do you think you will always feel like this?” Great-heard said. “Besides, this is not communicated to everyone, nor to everyone that saw your Jesus bleed. There were those that stood by and that saw the blood run from the heart to the ground, and yet they were so far off this that instead of lamenting, they laughed at him, and instead of becoming his disciples, they hardened their hearts against him.426 So that all that you have, my daughters, you have by unique impression made by a divine contemplating upon what I have spoken to you. Remember that it was told you that the hen, by her common call, gives no food to her chickens. This you have, therefore, by a special grace.”
421 Note: the purity of his Manhood refers to his humanity as the second Adam (as was Adam the first, prior to the fall, pure and innocent as long as he was in fellowship with God). Jesus remained in fellowship with and in perfect obedience to his Father all the way to his death on the cross.
422 Romans 5:19
423 For if by one offense, death reigned because of one man; much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of gifts and of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus the Christ. Therefore, in the same manner that by the iniquity of one guilt came upon all men unto condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, grace came upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:17–18)
424 Who is he that condemns them? Christ, Jesus, is he who died and, even more, he that also rose again, who furthermore is at the right hand of God, who also makes entreaty for us. (Romans 8:34)
425 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, (for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree), That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13–14)
426 Note: it is a special thing to be affected with Christ and with what he has done.
Those Who Turn Away
Now I saw still in my dream that they went on until they came to the place where Simple, Sloth, and Presumption lay and slept when Christian went by on pilgrimage; and lo and behold, they had been hung in irons a little way off on the other side.
Then Mercy said to their guide and conductor, “What are these three men, and why are they hanged there?”
“These three were men of bad qualities,” Great-heart said. They had no mind to be pilgrims themselves, and they hindered whoever they could. They were sloth and folly themselves, and whoever they could persuade they made so too, and then they taught others to presume that they should do well in the end. These three were asleep when Christian went by; and now as you go by, they are hanged.”
“But could they persuade anyone to be of their opinion?” Mercy said.
“Yes, they turned several out of the way,” Great-heart said. “There was Slow-pace that they persuaded to follow their example. They also prevailed with Short-wind, with No-heart, with Linger-after-lust, with Sleepy-head, and with a young woman named Dull; these turned out of the way and became like them. Besides, they brought up an ill report of your Lord, persuading others that he was a hard taskmaster. They also brought up an evil report of the good land, saying it was not half so good as some pretended it was. They also began to vilify his servants and to count the best of them meddlesome, troublesome busybodies. Further, they would call the bread of God, husks; the comforts of his children, fancies; the travel and labor of pilgrims, things to no purpose.”
Christiana said, “No, if they were such, they shall never be bewailed by me; they have what they deserve, and I think it is well that they stand so near the highway that others may see and take warning. But would it not be better if their crimes had been engraved on some pillar of iron or brass and left here, where they did their mischief, for a caution to other bad men?”
“So it is, as you may well perceive, if you will go over to the wall,” Great-heart said.
“No, no; let them hang and their names rot, and let their crimes live forever against them. I think it a high favor that they were hanged before we came here; who knows else what they might have done to such poor women as we are? Then she turned it into a song, saying,
“Now then you three hang there and be a sign,
To all that shall against the truth combine;
And let him that comes after fear this end,
If unto pilgrims, he is not a friend.
And thou, my soul, of all such men beware,
That unto holiness opposers are.”
Thus, they went on until they came to the foot of the hill Difficulty, where again their good friend Mr. Great-heart took an occasion to tell them what happened there when Christian himself went by. So, he took them first to the spring.
“Here,” he said, “this is the spring that Christian drank of before he went up this hill. Then it was clear and good; but now it is dirty with the feet of some that are not desirous that pilgrims should quench their thirst here.”427
427 Does it seem a small thing unto you that ye eat of the good pastures, but ye also tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and that in drinking of the deep waters, ye must also foul the residue with your feet? (Ezekiel 34:17). Note: here sets forth the difficulty of getting good doctrine in erroneous times.
Uphill Climb
At this, Mercy said, “This is unimaginable; why so spiteful?”
“But, it will do if taken up and put into a vessel that is sweet and good; for then the dirt will sink to the bottom, and the water will clear up by itself,” Great-heart said.
Therefore, Christiana and her companions were compelled to do so. They took it up and put it into an earthen pot, and they let it stand until the dirt was gone to the bottom, and then they drank of it.
Next, he showed them the two by-ways that were at the foot of the hill, where Formality and Hypocrisy lost themselves. Great-heart said, “And these are dangerous paths. The two were cast away here when Christian came by; and although, as you see these ways have since been stopped up with chains, posts, and a ditch,428 still there are those that will choose to adventure here rather than take the pains to go up this hill.”
Christiana said, “The way of transgressors is hard.429 It is a wonder that they can get into these ways without danger of breaking their necks.”
“They will venture,” Great-heart said, “and if at any time any of the King’s servants do happen to see them and call to them, tell them that they are in the wrong way, and bid them beware of the danger, then they rail at them and say, ‘As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the King, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth out of our own mouth …’430 If you look a little further, you shall see that these ways are made cautionary enough – not only by these posts and ditch and chain but also by being hedged up; yet they will choose to go there.”
“They are lazy; they do not like to take pains; going up hill is unpleasant to them. So, it is fulfilled unto them as it is written, The way of the slothful man is as a hedge of thorns,” Christiana said. “For they will rather choose to walk upon a snare than to go up this hill and the rest of this way to the City.”
Then they set forward and began to go up the hill, and up the hill they went; but before they got to the top, Christiana began to pant and said, “I dare say this hill has me out of breath; no marvel if those that love their ease more than their souls choose a smoother way.”
Then Mercy said, “I must sit down.” Also the least of the children began to cry.431
“Come, come,” said Great-heart, “do not sit down here; for a little above is the Prince’s arbor.” Then he took the little boy by the hand and led him up there.
428 By-paths, though barred up, will not keep all from going in them. The way of the slothful man is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the righteous is made plain (Proverbs 15:19).
429 Good understanding brings forth grace: but the way of transgressors is hard (Proverbs 13:15).
430 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth out of our own mouth to burn incense unto the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto her as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. (Jeremiah 44:16–17)
431 Though the pilgrims had Great-heart as their conductor, the hill still tired them out. The kingdom of heaven is not to be obtained by speculations and theoretical notions. He that is the Truth has declared to those that believe on him, In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
Refreshment in the Arbor
When they got to the arbor, they were very willing to sit down, for they were all exhausted. Then Mercy said, “How sweet is rest to those that labor.432 And how good is the Prince of Pilgrims to provide such resting places for them! I have heard a lot about this arbor, but I never saw it before. But here let us beware of sleeping; for, as I have heard, it cost poor Christian dear.”
Then Mr. Great-heart addressed the little ones: “Come, my handsome boys, how do you do? What do you think now of going on pilgrimage?”
“Sir,” said the least, “I was so beat I almost lost heart, but I thank you for lending me a hand when I needed it. And I remember now what my mother has told me, namely, that the way to heaven is as a ladder, and the way to hell is as down a hill. But I would rather go up the ladder to life than down the hill to death.”
Then Mercy said, “But the proverb is, ‘To go down the hill is easy.’”
But James (for that was his name) said, “The day is coming when, in my opinion, going down the hill will be the hardest of all.”
“It is a good boy,” said his master. “You have given her a right answer.”
Then Mercy smiled, but the little boy blushed.
“Come,” said Christiana, “will you eat a bit to sweeten your mouths while you sit here to rest your legs? For I have here a piece of pomegranate that Mr. Interpreter put into my hand just when I came out of his doors; he also gave me a piece of honeycomb and a little bottle of spirits.”
“I thought he gave you something, said Mercy, “because he called you aside.”
“Yes, so he did,” said Christiana, “but it shall still be as I said it should when at first we came from home: you shall be a sharer in all the good that I have because you so willingly became my companion.”
Then she gave to them, and they ate, both Mercy and the boys.
And Christiana turned to Mr. Great-heart, “Sir, will you do as we?”
But he answered, “You are going on pilgrimage, and presently I shall return; may what you have do you much good. At home, I eat the same every day.”
432 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
Chapter Five. The Palace Beautiful.
Now, after eating and drinking, they chatted a little longer; then their guide said to them, “The day wears away; if you think good, let us prepare to be going.”
So, they got up to go, and the little boys went ahead. But Christiana forgot to take her bottle of spirits with her, so she sent one of her boys back to get it.
Then Mercy said, “I think this is a losing place. Christian lost his roll here, and Christiana left her bottle behind. Sir, what is the cause of this?”
So their guide answered, “The cause is sleep or forgetfulness; some sleep when they should keep awake, and some forget when they should remember; and this is the very cause why often at the resting places, some pilgrims in some things come off losers. Pilgrims should watch and remember what they have already received under their greatest enjoyments. But for lack of doing so, oftentimes their rejoicing ends in tears and their sunshine in a cloud; witness the story of Christian at this place.”
The Stage, the Lions, and a Giant
When they came to the place where Mistrust and Timorous met Christian to persuade him to go back for fear of the lions, they perceived, as it were, a stage; and in front of it, toward the road, was a broad plaque with a copy of verses written upon it, and underneath was the reason for the raising up that stage in that place. The verses were these:
“Let him that sees this stage take heed
Unto his heart and tongue;
Lest, if he do not, here he speed
As some have long agone.”
The words underneath the verses were, “This stage was built to punish those upon it, who through timorousness or mistrust shall be afraid to go further on pilgrimage. Also on this stage, both Mistrust and Timorous were seared through the conscience with a hot iron for endeavoring to hinder Christian on his journey.”433
Then Mercy said, “This is much like to the saying of the Beloved: What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.”434
They went on until they came within sight of the lions. Now, Mr. Great-heart was a strong man, so he was not afraid of a lion; but still when they came up to the place where the lions were, the boys that went ahead were now glad to cringe behind, for they were afraid of the lions. So they stepped back and went behind.435
At this their guide smiled and said, “How now, my boys, do you love to go ahead when no danger approaches and love to come behind as soon as the lions appear?”
Now, as they went on, Mr. Great-heart drew his sword with intent to make a way for the pilgrims in spite of the lions. Then there appeared one that, it seems, had taken it upon himself to back the lions; and he said to the pilgrims’ guide, “What is the cause of your coming here?” The name of that man was Grim, or Bloody-man, because of his slaying of pilgrims; and he was of the race of the giants.”
Then Great-heart said, “These women and children are going on pilgrimage, and this is the way they must go; and go it they shall in spite of you and your lions.”
“This is not their way; neither shall they go past me,” Grim said. “I have come forth to withstand them, and to that end I will back the lions.”
Now, to say the truth, by reason of the fierceness of the lions and of the grim carriage of him that backed them, this way had, of late, lain much unoccupied and was almost all grown over with grass.
Then Christiana said, “Though the highways have been unoccupied until now, and though the travelers have been made in times past to walk through bypaths, it must not be so now that I am risen, now that I am risen a mother in Israel.”436
Then Grim swore by the lions that it should; and therefore, he ordered them to turn aside so that they should not have passage there.
But their guide made first his approach unto the giant and laid so heavily on him with his sword that he forced him to retreat.
Then he that attempted to back the lions said, “Will you slay me upon my own ground?”
Great-heart said, “It is the King’s highway that we are in; and it is in this way that you have placed the lions; but these women and these children, though weak, shall remain on their way in spite of your lions.”
And with that, he gave him again a downright blow and brought him upon his knees. With this blow he also broke his helmet, and with the next he cut off his arm. Then the giant roared so hideously that his voice frightened the women, and yet they were glad to see him lie sprawling upon the ground.
Now the lions were chained, and so, of themselves they could do nothing. Therefore, when old Grim that intended to back them was dead, Mr. Great-heart said to the pilgrims, “Come now, and follow me, and no harm shall happen to you from the lions.”
They went on, but the women trembled as they passed by; the boys also looked as if they would die, but they all got by without further hurt.
433 1 Timothy 4:2
434 Psalm 120:3–4
435 An emblem of those that go on bravely when there is no danger but shrink when troubles come.
436 In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways ceased, and those that walked went astray through crooked paths. The inhabitants of the villages ceased; they had ceased in Israel until I Deborah arose, I arose a mother in Israel. (Judges 5:6–7)
Handing Off the Charges
Now, when they were within sight of the porter’s lodge, they soon came up unto it; for they quickened their pace because it is dangerous traveling there in the night. So, when they came to the gate, the guide knocked, and Watchful, the porter, cried, “Who is there?”
But as soon as the guide had said, “It is I,” the porter knew his voice and came down, for the guide had often before that come there as a conductor of pilgrims. When he was come down, Watchful opened the gate; and seeing the guide standing just before it – for he did not see the women because they were behind him – he said unto him, “How now, Mr. Great-heart; what is your business here so late at night?”
“I have brought,” he said. “some pilgrims here; where, by my Lord’s commandment, they must lodge. I would have been here some time ago had I not been opposed by the giant that used to back the lions. But I, after a long and tedious combat with him, have cut him off and have brought the pilgrims here in safety.”
“Will you not go in, and stay till morning?” Watchful said.
“No, I will return to my Lord tonight,” Great-heart said.
“Oh, sir, I do not know how to be willing that you should leave us in our pilgrimage,” Christiana said. “You have been so faithful and loving to us; you have fought so stoutly for us; you have been so hearty in counselling of us that I shall never forget your favor toward us.”
Then Mercy said, “Oh that we might have your company to our journey’s end! How can such poor women as we hold out in a way so full of troubles as this way is without a friend and defender?”
Then said James, the youngest of the boys, “Please, sir, be persuaded to go with us and help us because we are so weak, and the way so dangerous as it is.”
“I am at my Lord’s commandment,” Great-heart said. “If he shall allot me to be your guide all the way through, I will willingly wait upon you, but here you failed at first; for when he ordered me to come this far with you, then you should have asked him to have me go all the way through with you, and he would have granted your request. However, at present I must withdraw; and so, good Christiana, Mercy, and my brave children, adieu!”
Then Mr. Watchful asked Christiana of her country and of her kindred. And she said, “I came from the City of Destruction. I am a widowed woman, and my husband is dead; his name was Christian, the pilgrim.”
“How!” said the porter, “Was he your husband?”
“Yes,” she said, “and these are his children; and this (pointing to Mercy) is one of my townswomen.”
Then the porter rang his bell, as at such times he is accustomed; and one of the damsels came to the door, whose name was Humble-mind; and to her the porter said, “Go announce that Christiana the wife of Christian and her children have come here on pilgrimage.”
She went in, therefore, and told it. But oh, what noise for gladness was there within when the damsel did but drop that out of her mouth!
So, they came with haste to the porter, for Christiana still stood at the door. Then some of the most serious said unto her, “Come in, Christiana, come in wife of that good man; come in blessed woman, come in with all that are with you.” So, she went in, and her children and companions followed her.
Welcomed by Friends
Now, when they had gone in, they were taken into a large room where they were told to sit down. So, they sat down, and the principal persons of the house were called to see and welcome the guests. Then they came in, and understanding who they were, they greeted each other with a kiss and said, “Welcome, ye vessels of the grace of God; welcome to us, your friends.”
Now, because it was somewhat late, and because the pilgrims were weary with their journey and also made faint with the sight of the fight and of the terrible lions,437 they desired, as soon as might be, to prepare to go to rest.
“Wait,” said those of the family, “refresh yourselves first with a morsel of meat,” for they had prepared for them a lamb with the accustomed sauce belonging thereto.438 For the porter had heard before of their coming and had told it to them within. So, when they had supped and ended their prayer with a psalm, they desired they might go to rest.
“But let us,” said Christiana, “if we may be so bold as to choose, be in that chamber that was my husband’s when he was here.”
So they took them up there, and they all lay in the room. When they were at rest, Christiana and Mercy entered into discourse about things that were convenient.
437 Psalm 35:17
438 Exodus 12:21; John 1:29
Thoughts of Pilgrim
“Little did I think once when my husband went on pilgrimage that I should ever have followed him,” Christiana said.
“And you thought as little of lying in his bed and in his chamber to rest as you do now,” Mercy said.
“And much less did I ever think of seeing his face with comfort and of worshiping the Lord the King with him; and yet now I believe I shall,” Christiana said.
“Listen, don’t you hear a noise?” Mercy said.
“Yes, it is, as I believe, the sound of music, for joy that we are here.”
“Wonderful! Music in the house, music in the heart, and music also in heaven, for joy that we are here! Thus, they talked a while and then betook themselves to sleep.”
In the morning when they were awake, Christiana said to Mercy, “What was the matter that you laughed in your sleep last night? I suppose you were in a dream.”
“So I was, and it was a sweet dream; but are you sure I laughed?”
“Yes, you laughed heartily; but please tell me, Mercy, your dream.”
“I was a dreaming that I sat all alone in a solitary place and was bemoaning the hardness of my heart. Now, I had not sat there long, but I thought many were gathered about me to see me and to hear what it was that I said. So, they listened, and I went on bemoaning the hardness of my heart. At this, some of them laughed at me, some called me a fool, and some began to push me around. With that, I thought I looked up and saw someone with wings coming toward me. He came directly to me, and said, ‘Mercy, what is wrong?’
“Now when he had heard me make my complaint, he said, ‘Peace be unto you!’ He also wiped my eyes with his handkerchief and clothed me in silver and gold. He put a chain about my neck, and earrings in my ears, and a beautiful crown upon my head. Then he took me by the hand, and said, ‘Mercy, come after me.’ So, he went up, and I followed until we came to a golden gate.
“Then he knocked; and when those within had opened, the man went in, and I followed him up to a throne, upon which One sat; and he said to me, ‘Welcome, daughter.’ The place looked bright and twinkling, like the stars, or rather, like the sun; and I thought that I saw your husband there. So I awoke from my dream. But did I laugh?”
“Laugh! Ay, and well you might to see yourself so well,” Christiana said. “For you must give me leave to tell you that it was a good dream; and that as you have begun to find the first part true, so you shall find the second, at last. God speaks to the one who does not see. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon the bed.439 When we are in bed, we need not lie awake to talk with God; he can visit us while we sleep and cause us, then, to hear his voice. Our heart oftentimes wakes when we sleep, and God can speak to that, either by words, by proverbs, or by signs and similitudes, as well as if one were awake.”
“Well, I am glad of my dream; for I hope before long to see it fulfilled, to make me laugh again.”
“I think it is now high time to rise and to know what we must do.”
“Please, if they invite us to stay a while, let us willingly accept of the offer. I am the more willing to stay a while here to grow better acquainted with these maids: I think Prudence, Piety, and Charity have very lovely and serious faces,” Mercy said.
“We shall see what they will do,” Christiana said.
When they were up and ready, they came down, and they asked one another of their rest and if it was comfortable or not.
“Very good,” said Mercy. It was one of the best night’s lodgings that ever I had in my life.”
Then said Prudence and Piety, “If you will be persuaded to stay here a while, you shall have what the house will afford.”
“Ay, and that with a very good will,” said Charity.
So, they consented and stayed there about a month or more; and they became very profitable one to another. Because Prudence would see how Christiana had brought up her children, she asked her permission to question them, so she gave her free consent.
439 Job 33:14–15
Questions for the Youth
Then Prudence began with the youngest, whose name was James. And she said, “Come, James, can you tell me who made you?”
“God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,” James said.
“Good boy. And can you tell who saved you?” Prudence said.
“God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”
“Good boy still. But how does God the Father save you?”
“By his grace,” James said.
“How does God the Son save you?” Prudence said.
“By his righteousness, death and blood, and life.”
“And how does God the Holy Spirit save you?”
“By his illumination, by his renovation, and by his preservation.”
Then Prudence told Christiana, “You are to be commended for thus bringing up your children. I suppose I need not ask the rest these questions, since the youngest of them can answer them so well. I will, therefore, now apply myself to the next youngest.”
Then she said, “Come, Joseph (for his name was Joseph), will you let me question you?”
“With all my heart,” Joseph said.
“What is man?”
“A rational creature, so made by God, as my brother said.”
“What is supposed by this word, saved?”
“That man, by sin, has brought himself into a state of captivity and misery and is headed for eternal perdition.”
“What is supposed by his being saved by God?” Prudence said.
“That sin is so great and mighty a tyrant that no one can pull us out of its clutches but God; and that God is so good and charitable to man as to have made provision to pull him, indeed, out of this miserable state,” Joseph said.
“What is God’s design in saving poor men?”
“The glorifying of his name, of his grace, and justice, etc., and the everlasting happiness of his creature.”
“Who are those that will be saved?”
“Those that receive his Son, Jesus.”
“Good boy, Joseph; your mother has taught you well, and you have hearkened unto what she has said unto thee.”
Then Prudence addressed Samuel, who was the second eldest one, “Come, Samuel, are you willing that I should question you?”
“Yes, indeed, if you please,” Samuel said.
“What is heaven?”
“A place and state most blessed because God dwells there.”
“What is hell?”
“A place and state most woeful; a lake of fire prepared for the devil and his followers, known as the second death.”440
“Why would you go to heaven?”
“That I may see God, and serve him without weariness,” Samuel said, “that I may see Christ and love him everlastingly; that I may have that fullness of the Holy Spirit in me that I can by no means enjoy here.”
“An excellent boy who has learned well,” Prudence said.
Then she addressed herself to the eldest, whose name was Matthew, and she said to him, “Come, Matthew, shall I also question you?”
“With a very good will,” he said.
“I ask, then, if there was ever anything that had a being antecedent to or before God?”
“No, for God is eternal,” Matthew said, “nor is there anything, excepting himself, that had a being until the beginning of the first day. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.”441
“What do you think of the Bible?” she asked.
“It is the Holy Word of God,” Matthew said.
“Is there anything written there that you do not understand?”
“Yes, a great deal.”
“What do you do when you meet with places therein that you do not understand?”
“I think God is wiser than I am. I pray also that he will be pleased to let me know all therein that he knows will be for my good.”
“How do you believe regarding the resurrection of the dead?”
“I believe the same person shall rise that was buried, though not in corruption. And I believe this upon a double account: first, because God has promised it; secondly, because he is able to perform it.”
Then Prudence told the boys, “You must continue to hear and obey your mother; for she can teach you more. You must also diligently give ear to what good talk you shall hear from others; for your sakes they shall speak good things. Observe also, and that with carefulness, what the heavens and the earth teach you; but especially be much in the meditation of that Book that was the cause of your father’s becoming a pilgrim. I, for my part, my children, will teach you what I can while you are here and shall be glad if you will ask me questions that tend to godly edifying.”
440 Read Revelation 20:10–15.
441 Exodus 20:11.
A Scheming Suitor
By now, these pilgrims had been at this place a week, and Mercy had a visitor that pretended some goodwill unto her, whose name was Mr. Brisk; he was a man of some breeding who pretended to religion, but a man that stuck very close to the world. So, he came once or twice or more to Mercy and offered love unto her.
Now Mercy was of a fair countenance and, therefore, the more alluring. Also, her mind was to be always doing something productive; for when she had nothing to do for herself, she would be making necessary items and garments for others and would bestow them upon those that had need. Mr. Brisk, not knowing where or how she disposed of what she made, seemed to be greatly taken, for he never found her idle. “I will warrant her a good housewife,” he said to himself.
Mercy then revealed the business to the maidens that were of the house and inquired of them concerning him, for they knew him better than she. They told her that he was a very busy young man, and one who pretended to religion, but was, as they feared, a stranger to the power of that which was good.
“No,” said Mercy, “I will look no more on him; for I purpose never to let anything choke my soul.”
Prudence then replied that she need not go out of her way to discourage him; her continuing on as she had begun to do for the poor would quickly cool his courage.
So, the next time he came, he found her at her old work making things for the poor. Then he inquired, “What, always at it?”
“Yes,” she said, “either for myself or for others.”
“And what can you earn in a day?” he asked.
“I do these things,” she said, “that I may be rich in good works; laying up in store for myself a good foundation against the time to come, that I may lay hold on eternal life.”442
“Why, please tell me, what you do with them?” he asked.
“Clothe the naked,” she replied.
With that his countenance fell. So, he did not come to her again. And when he was asked the reason why, he said, “That Mercy was a pretty lass, but she was troubled with ill conditions.”
When he had left her, Prudence said, “Did I not say that Mr. Brisk would soon forsake you? Also, he will soon raise up an ill report of you; for, notwithstanding his pretense to religion and his seeming love to Mercy, yet Mercy and he are of tempers so different that I believe they will never come together.”
“I might have had husbands before now, though I did not speak of it to any; but they were such as did not like my conditions, though none of them ever found fault with my person. So, they and I could not agree.”
“Mercy in our days is of small acclaim, other than as to its name; as for the practice that is set forth by your conditions, there are but few that can abide,” Prudence said.
“Well, if nobody will have me, I will die unmarried, or my conditions shall be unto me as a husband,” Mercy said. “For I cannot change my nature; and to have someone who is at cross purposes to me in this, that I resolve never to admit as long as I live. I had a sister named Bountiful that was married to one of these churls, but he and she could never agree; but because my sister was resolved to do as she had begun, that is, to show kindness to the poor, therefore, her husband first crucified her and then showed her the door.”
“And yet he was a professor of faith, I warrant you?” Prudence said.
“Yes, he was such a one, and of such as he the world is now full; but I am for none of them at all,” Mercy said.
442 Charge those that are rich in this world, that they not be highminded, not placing their hope in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; but charge them to do good, that they be rich in good works, liberal to distribute, willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the future, that they may lay hold on eternal life. (1 Timothy 6:17–19)
Mystery Sickness
Now Matthew, the eldest son of Christiana, fell sick, and his sickness was sore upon him, for he was much pained in his bowels, so much that at times he was with it pulled, as it were, both ends together.
Not far from there lived Mr. Skill, an old and well-approved physician. So, at Christiana’s desire, they sent for him; and he came. When he had entered the room and had observed the boy, he concluded that he was sick of the gripes.443 Then he said to his mother, “What diet has Matthew lately fed upon?”
“Diet!” said Christiana, “nothing but what is wholesome.”
The physician answered, “This boy has been tampering with something that lies in his stomach undigested and that will not go away on its own. And I tell you he must be purged, or else he will die.”
Then Samuel said, “Mother, what was it that my brother gathered up and ate as soon as we came from the gate that is at the head of this way? You know that there was an orchard on the left hand on the other side of the wall, and some of the trees hung over the wall, and my brother plucked some and ate.”
“True, my child, he did take and eat; naughty boy as he was, I scolded him, and yet he ate of them.”
Mr. Skill said, “I knew he had eaten something that was not wholesome food; and that food, that is, that fruit, is even the most hurtful of all. It is the fruit of Beelzebub’s orchard. I marvel that no one warned you of it; many have died of this.”
Then Christiana began to cry, and she said, “Oh, naughty boy! And oh, careless mother! What shall I do for my son?”
“Come, do not be too much dejected; the boy may do well again, but he must purge and vomit,” Mr. Skill said.
“Please, sir, try the utmost of your skill with him, whatever it costs.”
“Nay, I hope I shall be reasonable.” So, he made him a purge, but it was too weak;444 it was said it was made of the blood of a goat, the ashes of a heifer, and some of the juice of hyssop.445 When Mr. Skill had saw that the purge was too weak, he made one to the purpose. It was made ex carne et sanguine Christi446 (you know physicians give strange medicines to their patients), and it was made into pills, with a promise or two and a proportionable quantity of salt. Now, he was to take them three at a time, fasting, in half a quarter of a pint of the tears of repentance.
When this potion was prepared and brought to the boy, he was reluctant to take it, though torn with the gripes as if he should be pulled in pieces.
“Come, come,” said the physician, “you must take it.”
“It goes against my stomach,” said the boy.
“I must have you take it,” said his mother.
“I shall vomit it up again,” said the boy.
“Please, sir,” said Christiana to Dr. Skill, “how does it taste?”
“It has no ill taste,” said the doctor. And with that she touched one of the pills with the tip of her tongue.
“Oh, Matthew,” she exclaimed, “this potion is sweeter than honey. If you love your mother, if thou love your brothers, if you love Mercy, if you love your life, take it.”
So, with much ado, after a short prayer for the blessing of God upon it, he took it, and it worked kindly on him. It caused him to purge, to sleep, and rest quietly; it put him into a fine heat and breathing sweat, and did quite rid him of his gripes. In a little time he got up and walked about with a staff,447 he went from room to room and spoke with Prudence, Piety, and Charity of his distemper and how he was healed.
When the boy was healed, Christiana asked Mr. Skill, saying, “Sir, what will satisfy you for your pains and care to and of my child?”
And he said, “You must pay homage to the Master of the college of physicians according to rules made in that case and provided.”448
“But, sir, what else is this pill good for?”
“It is a universal pill; it is good against all the diseases that pilgrims are incident to; and when it is well prepared, it will keep good for time out of mind.”
“Please, sir, make me up twelve boxes of them; for if I can get these, I will never take another physic,” Christiana said.
“These pills are good to prevent diseases as well as to cure when one is sick,” Mr. Skill said. “Yes, I dare say it and stand to it that if a man will but use this physic [medicine] as he should, it will make him live forever.449 But, good Christiana, you must give these pills no other way but as I have prescribed; for unless you do, they will do no good.”
So, he gave Christiana physic for herself and her boys and for Mercy; and he told Matthew to take care how he ate any more green plums. Then he kissed them and went his way.
443 Gripes of conscience.
444 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never make perfect those who come by the same sacrifices which they offer year by year continually. Otherwise, they would cease to offer them, because those that sacrifice, once purged, would have no more conscience of sin. But in these sacrifices each year the same remembrance of sins is made. For the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1–4)
445 Hebrews 9:13, 19
446 Of the flesh and blood of Christ (John 6:54–57; Hebrews 9:14).
447 A word of God in the hand of faith.
448 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one that is coming. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips confessing his name. (Hebrews 13:11–15)
449 I AM the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, they shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51)
Questions for Prudence
It was told you before that Prudence had said to the boys that if at any time they desired, they could ask her questions that might be profitable, and she would say something to them.
Then Matthew, who had been sick, asked her, “Why for the most part, should physic be bitter to our taste?”
Prudence said, “To show how unwelcome the Word of God and the effects thereof are to a carnal heart.”
“Why does physic, if it does good, purge and cause to vomit?” Matthew asked.
“To show that the Word, when it works effectually, cleanses the heart and mind.
For look, what the one does to the body the other does to the soul.”
“What should we learn by seeing the flame of our fire go upwards and by seeing the beams and sweet influences of the sun strike downwards?”
“By the going up of the fire, we are taught to ascend to heavenly realms by the fervent and hot faith that comes from being on fire for God. And by the sun sending his heat, beams, and sweet influences downwards, we are taught that the Savior of the world, though high, reaches down with his grace and love to us below.”
“Where do the clouds obtain their water?” Matthew asked.
“Out of the earth and out of the sea,” Prudence said.
“What may we learn from that?”
“That ministers should obtain their doctrine from God.”
“Why do they empty themselves upon the earth and upon the sea?”
“To show that ministers should give out what they know of God to the people of God and to the world,” Prudence said.
“Why is the rainbow caused by the sun?” Matthew asked.
“To show that the covenant of God’s grace is confirmed to us in Christ.”
“Why do the springs come from the sea to us through the earth?”
“To show that the grace of God comes to us through the body of Christ.”
“Why do some of the springs rise out of the tops of high hills?” Matthew asked.
“To show that the Spirit of grace shall spring up in some that are great and mighty as well as in many that are poor and low,” Prudence said.
“Why does the fire fasten upon the candle wick?”
“To show that unless grace kindles upon the heart, there will be no true light of life in us.”
“Why are the wick, tallow, and all spent to maintain the light of the candle?”
“ To show that body and soul and all should be at the service of, and spend themselves to maintain in good condition, that grace of God that is in us.”
“Why does the pelican pierce her own breast with her bill?” Matthew said.
“To nourish her young ones with her blood and, thereby, to show that Christ the blessed so loved his young (his people) as to save them from death by his blood,” Prudence said.
“What may one learn by hearing the cock crow?”
“Learn to remember Peter’s sin and Peter’s repentance. The cock’s crowing shows also that day is coming on; then let the crowing of the cock cause you to remember that last and terrible day of judgment.”
Ask and You Will Receive
Now about this time, their month was up; therefore, they let those of the house know that it was time for them to continue on their journey. Then Joseph said to his mother, “It is proper that you not forget to send to the house of Mr. Interpreter to ask him to grant that Mr. Great-heart be sent to us so that he may be our conductor for the rest of the way.”
“Good boy,” she said “I had almost forgot.”450
So, she drew up a petition and requested Mr. Watchful the porter to send it by some fit man to her good friend Mr. Interpreter. When it was received and he had seen the contents of the petition, Mr. Interpreter said to the messenger, “Go, tell them that I will send him.”
When the family where Christiana was saw that they had decided to go forward, they called the whole house together to give thanks to their King for sending them such profitable guests as these. Which done, they said unto Christiana, “And shall we not show you something, as our custom is to do to pilgrims, on which you may meditate when you are upon the way?”
They took Christiana, her children, and Mercy into the closet and showed them one of the apples that Eve ate of, and that she also gave to her husband, for the eating of which they were both turned out of Paradise; and they asked Christiana what she thought that was.
Then Christiana said, “Whether it is food or poison, I know not which.” So, they opened the matter to her, and she held up her hands and wondered.451
Then they took her to a place and showed her Jacob’s ladder.452 Now, at that time there were some angels ascending upon it. So, Christiana looked and looked to see the angels go up, as did the rest of the company. Then they were about to go to another place to show them something else; but James said to his mother, “Please, ask them to stay here a little longer, for this is a curious sight.” So, they turned again and stood feasting their eyes with this so pleasant a prospect.453
After this, they took them into a place where a golden anchor was hung up. They told Christiana to take it down. They said, “You shall have it with you, for it is of absolute necessity that you should, that you may lay hold of that which is within the veil454 and stand steadfast in case you should meet with turbulent weather.” So, they were glad for this.
Then they took them up to the mount upon which Abraham our father had offered up Isaac his son; and they showed them the altar, the wood, the fire, and the knife, for they remain to be seen to this very day. When they had seen it, they held up their hands and blessed themselves, and they said, “Oh, what a man for love to his Master and for denial to himself was Abraham!”
After they had showed them all these things, Prudence took them into a dining room where a pair of excellent virginals stood;455 so she played upon them and turned what she had showed them into this excellent song, saying:
“Eve’s apple we have shown to you;
Of that be you aware;
You have seen Jacob’s ladder too,
Upon which angels are.
An anchor you received have,
But let not these suffice
Until with Abraham you have
Giv’n your best sacrifice.”
Now about this time, someone knocked at the door. When the Porter opened, behold, Mr. Great-heart was there. When he came in, there was great joy! For it came now afresh again into their minds how only a while ago he had slain old Grim Bloody-man the giant and had delivered them from the lions.
Then Mr. Great-heart said to Christiana and to Mercy, “My Lord has sent each of you a bottle of wine, and also some parched corn, together with a couple of pomegranates; he has also sent the boys some figs and raisins to refresh you in your way.”
450 Note: the weak may sometimes call the strong to prayer.
451 Note: a sight of sin is amazing. (See Genesis 3:10; Romans 7:24.)
452 Genesis 28:12
453 Note: seeing from the perspective of Christ is overwhelming.
454 That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters even into that which is within the veil. (Hebrews 6:18–19)
455 A small harpsichord.
Parting Words of Wisdom
Then they addressed themselves to their journey, and Prudence and Piety went along with them. When they came to the gate, Christiana asked the Mr. Watchful the porter if anyone of late had gone by.
He said, “No, only one, some time ago, who also told me that there had been a great robbery committed on the King’s highway along the way you must go. But, the thieves are taken and will shortly be put on trial for their lives.”
Then Christiana and Mercy were afraid; but Matthew said, “Mother, you need fear nothing, as long as Mr. Great-heart is to go with us and be our conductor.”
Then Christiana said to the porter, “Sir, I am much obliged to you for all the kindness you have showed me since I came here; and also that you have been so loving and kind to my children. I know not how to repay your kindness; therefore, please, as a token of my respect to you, accept this small mite.
She put a gold angel456 in his hand, and he made her a low bow and said, “Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.” To her companion he said, “Let Mercy live and not die and let not her works be few.” And to the boys he said, “Flee youthful lusts and follow after godliness with those that are grave and wise; then you shall put gladness into your mother’s heart and obtain the praise of all that are sober-minded.”
So, they thanked the porter and departed.
456 The angel was a golden coin, formerly current in England, worth about ten shillings.
Chapter Six. Humiliation and Deliverance.
Now I saw in my dream that they went forward, and they had come to the brow of the hill when Piety cried out, “Alas, I have forgot what I intended to bestow upon Christiana and her companions; I will go back and get it.”
So, she ran and brought it. While she was gone, Christiana thought she heard, in a grove a little way off on the right hand, a most curious melodious note with words much like these:
“Through all my life thy favor is So frankly showed to me, That in thy house forevermore My dwelling place shall be.”
And listening still, she thought she heard another answer it, saying;
“For why? The Lord our God is good; His mercy is forever sure; His truth at all times firmly stood And shall from age to age endure.”
Christiana asked Prudence who it was that made those curious notes.
“They are,” she answered, “our country birds. They seldom sing these notes, except for in the spring when the flowers appear and the sun shines warm;457 and then you may hear them all day long. I often go to hear them; we also oftentimes keep them tame in our house. They are very fine company for us when we are melancholy. Also, they make the woods and groves and solitary places, places desirable to be in.”
By this time, Piety had returned; so she said to Christiana, “Look here, I have brought you a pattern of all the things that you have seen at our house, upon which you may look when you find yourself forgetful, and may call those things again to remembrance for your edification and comfort.”
457 For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the song is come, and the voice of the turtle dove has been heard in our land. (Song of Solomon 2:11–12)
Unstable Ground and Fruitful Soil
Now they began to go down the hill into the Valley of Humiliation. It was a steep hill, and the way was slippery; but they were very careful, and they got down pretty well. When they were down in the valley, Piety said to Christiana, “This is the place where Christian, your husband, met with the foul fiend Apollyon and where they had the great fight; I know you must have heard of it. But be of good courage; as long as you have Mr. Great-heart to be your guide and conductor, we hope you will fare better.”
So, when these two had committed the pilgrims unto the conduct of their guide, he went forward, and the pilgrims followed.
Then said Mr. Great-heart, “We need not be so afraid of this valley, for here there is nothing to hurt us, unless we bring it upon ourselves. It is true, Christian met here with Apollyon, with whom he had a sore combat; but that fray was the fruit of those slips that he had going down the hill; for those that slip there must look for combats here. And that is why this valley has so hard a name: for when the common people hear that some frightful thing has befallen such a one in such a place, they are of opinion that the place is haunted with some foul fiend or evil spirit; when, alas! it is for the fruit of their doing that such things befall them there. This Valley of Humiliation is of itself as fruitful a place as any the crow flies over; and I am persuaded, if we could hit upon it, we might find somewhere hereabouts something that might give us a hint of why Christian was so strongly opposed in this place.”
Then James said to his mother, “Look, over there is a pillar, and it seems as if something is written upon it; let us go and see what it is. So, they went and found there written, “Let Christian’s slips before he came here and the battles that he met with in this place be a warning to those that come after.”
Mr. Great-heart their guide said, “So, did not I tell you that there was something hereabouts that would give indication of the reason why Christian was so strongly opposed in this place?” Then turning to Christiana, he said, “No disparagement to Christian more than to any of the others who slipped coming down that hill. For this hill is easier going up than down, and that can be said of few hills in all these parts of the world. But we will leave the good man; he is at rest. He also had a brave victory over his enemy. Let Him that dwells above grant that we fare no worse, when we are tried, than he did. But we will come again to this Valley of Humiliation. It is the best and most fruitful piece of ground in all these parts. It is fat ground and, as you see, consisting mainly in meadows; and if a man were to come here in the summertime, as we do now, if he had not known anything about this place before, and if he also delighted himself in what is pleasing to his eyes, he might see that which would be delightful to him.
“Behold how green this valley is; also, how beautiful with lilies.458 I have known many working men who have obtained good estates in this Valley of Humiliation; for God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble .459 Indeed, it is a very fruitful soil and brings forth by handfuls. Some also have wished that the next highway to their Father’s house would end here, that they might be troubled no more with either hills or mountains to go over; but the way is the way, and there is an end.”
Now, as they were going along and talking, they saw a boy feeding his father’s sheep. The boy was in very poor clothes but with a fresh and well-favored face; and as he sat by him-self, he sung. “Listen,” said Mr. Great-heart, “to what the shepherd’s boy says.” So, they listened, and he said:
“He that is down, needs fear no fall;
He that is low, no pride;
He that is humble, ever shall
Have God to be his guide.
I am content with what I have,
Little be it or much;
And Lord, contentment still I crave
Because thou savest such.
Fullness to such, a burden is,
That go on pilgrimage;
Here little, and Hereafter bliss,
Is best from age to age.”
Then said the guide, “Do you hear him? I will dare to say that this boy lives a merrier life and wears more of that herb called heart’s-ease in his bosom than he that is clothed in silk and velvet. But we will proceed in our discussion.
458 I am the lily of the field and the rose of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the virgins. (Song of Solomon 2:1–2)
459 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. (James 4:6) Likewise, young people, be subject to the elders in such a manner that you are all subject to one another. Be clothed with humility of will, for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)
A Valley for Contemplation
Mr. Great-heart said, “In this valley, our Lord formerly had his country house; he loved to be here. He also loved to walk these meadows, for he found the air was pleasant. Besides, here a man shall be free from the noise and from the hurry of this life; all states are full of noise and confusion; only the Valley of Humiliation is that empty and solitary place. Here a man shall not be so distracted and hindered in his contemplation as in other places he is apt to be. This is a valley that no one walks in except for those that love a pilgrim’s life. And though Christian had the hard experience to meet up with Apollyon here and to enter into brisk combat with him, yet I must tell you that in former times, men have met with angels here, have found pearls here, and have in this place found the words of life.
“Did I say our Lord had here in former days his country house and that he loved to walk here? I will add: in this place and to the people that love and cherish these grounds, he has left a yearly revenue to be faithfully paid them at certain seasons for their maintenance of the way, and for their further encouragement to go on in their pilgrimage.”
Now, as they went on, Samuel said to Mr. Great-heart, “Sir, I perceive that in this valley my father and Apollyon had their battle; but whereabout was the fight? For I perceive this valley is large.”
Mr. Great-heart said, “Your father fought Apollyon at a place over there in front of us, in a narrow passage just beyond Forgetful Green. And indeed, that place is the most dangerous place in all these parts; for if at any time pilgrims meet with an attack, it is when they forget what favors they have received and how unworthy they are of them. This is also the place where others have been seriously challenged. But we will speak more of the place when we come to it; for I am sure that to this day there remains either some sign of the battle or some monument to testify that such a battle was fought there.”
Then Mercy said, “I think I am as well in this valley as I have been anywhere else in all our journey; the place, I think, suits with my spirit. I love to be in such places where there is no rattling of coaches or rumbling of wheels.460 I think here one may, without much distraction, be thinking about what he is, where he came from, what he has done, and to what the King has called him. Here one may contemplate and break at heart, and melt in one’s spirit, until one’s eyes become as the fish pools in Heshbon.461 These that go rightly through this valley of Baca (of weeping) make it a well;462 the rain that God sends down from heaven upon those that are here also fills the pools. This valley is part of what the King will give them for vineyards; and those that go through it shall sing,463 as Christian did, for all he met with Apollyon.”
Mr. Great-heart said, “It is true. I have gone through this valley many a time, and I never was better than when here. I have also been a conductor to several pilgrims; and they have confessed the same. To this man will I look, saith the King, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word.”464
Now they came to the place where the aforementioned battle was fought. Then the guide said to Christiana, her children, and Mercy, “This is the place; on this ground Christian stood, and from up there Apollyon came against him; and look, did I not tell you? Here is some of your husband’s blood upon these stones to this day; behold also how here and there are yet to be seen upon this place, some of the shivers of Apollyon’s broken darts. See how they beat the ground with their feet as they fought to make good their stance against each other; how also with their by-blows they split the very stones in pieces. Truly, Christian played the man here and showed himself as stout as Hercules himself could have, had he been there. When Apollyon was beat, he made his retreat to the next valley, which is called the Valley of the Shadow of Death; unto which we shall soon come. Look, there stands a monument on which is engraved this battle and Christian’s victory, to his fame throughout all ages.”
So, because it stood close on the wayside before them, they stepped up to it and read the writing, which word for word was this:
Hard by here was a battle fought,
Most strange, and yet most true;
Christian and Apollyon sought
Each other to subdue.
The man so bravely played the man,
He made the fiend to fly;
Of which a monument I stand,
The same to testify.
460 Humility is a sweet grace.
461 Song of Solomon 7:4
462 Psalm 84:5–7
463 And I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. (Hosea 2:15)
464 Isaiah 66:2
Darker Valley
When they had passed by this place, they came upon the borders of the Shadow of Death. This valley was longer than the other, a place most strangely haunted with evil things, as many are able to testify; but these women and children went through it better than others because they had daylight and because Mr. Great-heart was their conductor.
When they were entering into this valley, they thought they heard a sound of groaning, as of dying men; a very great groaning. They also thought that they heard words of lamentation, spoken as from someone in extreme torment. These things made the boys quake; the women also looked pale and wane, but their guide bid them be of good comfort.
So, they went on a little farther, and they thought that they felt the ground begin to shake under them, as if some hollow place were there; they also heard a kind of hissing, as of serpents, but nothing as yet appeared.
Then the boys said, “Are we not yet at the end of this doleful place?”
But the guide told them to be of good courage and to look well to where they would place their feet. “Lest unfortunately, you be caught in a snare,” he said.
Now James began to be sick; but I think the cause of it was fear. So, his mother gave him some of that bottle of spirits that had been given to her at the Interpreter’s house and three of the pills that Mr. Skill had prepared, and the boy began to revive.
They went on like this until they came to about the middle of the valley; and then Christiana said, “I think I see something up ahead upon the road, a thing of a shape such as I have never seen.”
Then Joseph asked, “Mother, what is it?”
“An ugly thing, child; an ugly thing,” she replied.
“But, mother, what is it like?” he insisted.
“It is like, I cannot tell what,” she said. “And now it is but a little way off.” Then she said, “It is near.”
“Well,” said Mr. Great-heart, “let those that are most afraid keep close to me.” So, the fiend came on, and the conductor met it but came up to him, and then it vanished from their sight. Then remembered they what had been said some time ago: Submit yourselves, therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.465
Therefore, they went on, being somewhat refreshed; but they had not gone far before Mercy, looking behind her, saw what she thought was something most like a lion,466 and it came at a great padding pace after them; it had a hollow voice of roaring; and at every roar it gave, it made the valley echo and all their hearts to ache, except the heart of their guide. So, it came up, and Mr. Great-heart went behind and put the pilgrims all in front of him. The lion continued toward them, and Mr. Great-heart prepared to give him battle. But when he saw that determined resistance would be made, he drew back and came no further.
Then they continued on again, and their conductor went ahead of them until they came to a place where a pit covered the whole breadth of the way; and before they could be prepared to go over that, a great mist and a darkness fell upon them, so that they could not see. Then the pilgrims cried, “Alas! Now what shall we do?”
But their guide answered, “Fear not; stand still and see what an end will be put to this also.”
So, they stayed there because their path was impeded. Then they also thought that they heard the noise and rushing of the enemies; also, the fire and the smoke of the pit were much easier to discern.
Then Christiana said to Mercy, “Now I see what my poor husband went through. I have heard much of this place, but I never was here before now. Poor man! He went here all alone in the night; he had night almost all through the way, and these fiends were busy about him as if they would have torn him in pieces. Many have spoken of it; but no one can tell what the Valley of the Shadow of Death should mean until they come in themselves. The heart knows the bitterness of his soul, and a stranger shall not intermeddle with his joy.467 To be here is a fearful thing.”
Great-heart said, “This is like doing business in the midst of a great flood, or like going down into the abyss; this is like being in the heart of the sea, and like going down to the foundations of the mountains; now it seems as if the earth, with its bars, will surround us forever. He who walked in darkness and had no light; let him trust in the name of the LORD and stay upon his God.468 For my part, as I have told you already, I have gone often through this valley and have been much harder pressed than I am now, and yet you see I am alive. I would not boast, for I am not my own savior; but I trust we shall have a good deliverance. Come, let us pray for light to Him that can lighten our darkness and that can rebuke not only these but all the Satans of hell.”
So, they cried and prayed, and God sent light and deliverance, for there was now no hindrance in their way; the pit that had stopped them had disappeared. Yet they were not through the valley. So, they went on still, and met with great stinks and loathsome smells, to their great annoyance. Then Mercy said to Christiana, “It is not so pleasant being here as at the gate, or at the Interpreter’s, or at the house where we slept last.”
“Oh, but it is not so bad to go through here as it is to abide here always,” said one of the boys, “and for all I know, one reason why we must go this way to the house prepared for us is that our home might be the sweeter to us.”
“Well said, Samuel,” responded the guide. “You have now spoken like a man.”
“Why, if ever I get out here again,” the boy replied, “I think I shall prize light and good way better than I ever did in all my life.”
The guide answered, “We shall be out by and by.”
On they went, and Joseph said, “Can we not yet see to the end of this valley?”
Then the guide warned, “Look to your feet, for we shall presently be among the snares.”
They looked to their feet and went on; but they were troubled much with the snares.
465 James 4:7
466 Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
467 Proverbs 14:10
468 Isaiah 50:10
Snares and Giants
Now, when they came among the snares, they saw a body cast into the ditch on the left hand, with his flesh all rent and torn. Then the guide explained, “His name is Heedless, and he was going this way; he has lain there a great while. There was another, named Take-heed, with him when he was taken and slain, but he escaped from their hands. You cannot imagine how many are killed hereabouts, and yet men are so foolishly adventurous as to set out lightly on pilgrimage and to come without a guide. Poor Christian! It was a wonder that he escaped from here; but he was beloved of his God, also he had a good heart of his own, or else he could never have done it.”
Now they drew toward the end of this portion of the way; and just where Christian had seen the cave when he went by, out of there came forth Maul, a giant. This Maul used to ruin young pilgrims with fallacious reasoning. He called Great-heart by his name and said unto him, “How many times have you been forbidden to do these things?”
Then Mr. Great-heart replied, “What things?”
“What things!” fumed the giant. “You know what things; but I will put an end to your trade.”
“But, listen,” said Mr. Great-heart, “before we fall to it, let us understand why we must fight.”
Now the women and children stood trembling, not knowing what to do
Raged the giant, “You rob the country, and rob it with the worst of thefts.”
“These are but generalities,” said Mr. Great-heart. “Come to particulars, man.”
Then the giant said, “You practice the craft of a kidnapper; you gather up women and children and carry them into a strange country, to the weakening of my master’s kingdom.”
But now Great-heart replied, “I am a servant of the God of heaven; my business is to persuade sinners to repentance. I am commanded to do my endeavor to turn men, women, and children from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; and if this is, indeed, the ground of your quarrel, let us fall to it as soon as you will.”
Battle of Deliverance
Then the giant came up, and Mr. Great-heart went to meet him; and as he went, he drew his sword, but the giant had a club. So, without more ado they fell to it, and at the first blow, the giant struck Mr. Great-heart down upon one of his knees. With that, the women and children cried out.469
Mr. Great-heart, recovering himself, laid about him in full robust manner, and gave the Giant a wound in his arm. They fought like this for the space of an hour, to that height of heat that the breath came out of the giant’s nostrils as the heat out of a boiling cauldron.
Then they sat down to rest, but Mr. Great-heart spent the time in prayer. Also, the women and children did nothing but sigh and cry all the time that the battle lasted.
When they had rested them and taken breath, they both fell to it again; and Mr. Great-heart, with a blow, brought the giant down to the ground.
“No, stop, let me recover,” said the giant.
So, Mr. Great-heart fairly let him get up.
Then they went to it again, and the giant almost broke Mr. Great-heart’s scull with his club.
Mr. Great-heart, seeing that, ran to him in the full heat of his spirit and pierced him under the fifth rib. With that, the giant began to faint and could no longer hold up his club. Then Mr. Great-heart seconded his blow and smote the head of the giant from his shoulders.
Then the women and children rejoiced, and Mr. Great-heart praised God for the deliverance he had wrought.
When this was done, they all erected a pillar and fastened the giant’s head upon it, and they wrote under in letters that passersby might read:
He that did wear this head was one
That pilgrims did misuse;
He stopped their way, he spared none,
But did them all abuse.
Until that I Great-heart arose,
The pilgrims guide to be;
Until that I did him oppose,
That was their enemy.
469 Note: weak folks’ prayers at some time help strong folks’ cries.
Chapter Seven. Many More Friends.
Now I saw that they went on to the ascent that was a little way off, cast up to be a viewpoint for pilgrims. It was from this place that Christian had the first sight of Faithful, his brother, on his pilgrimage.470 Here the group sat down and rested; they also ate and drank and made merry because they had obtained deliverance from so dangerous an enemy. As they sat and ate, Christiana asked the guide, “Have you been hurt in the battle?”
Mr. Great-heart replied, “No, except a little on my flesh; yet it shall not be to my detriment, for it is proof of my love for my master and you, and it shall be a means, by grace, to increase my reward at last.”
“But were you not afraid, good sir, when you saw him come with his club?”
“It is my duty,” he said, “to mistrust my own ability, that I may have reliance on Him who is stronger than all.”
“But what did you think when he brought you down to the ground at the first blow?”
“Why, I thought that this is how my Master himself was served, and yet he conquered in the end,” Mr. Great-heart said.
Matthew said, “Let us all reflect on what has happened. I think God has been wonderfully good to us, both in bringing us out of this valley and in delivering us out of the hand of our enemies; for my part, I see no reason why we should distrust our God anymore, since he has now, in this place, given us such testimony of his love.” Then they got up and went forward.
470 Part I page 46.
An Honest Friend
Now a little before them stood an oak; and under it, when they came to it, they found an old pilgrim fast asleep. They knew that he was a pilgrim by his clothes, his staff, and his girdle.
So, Mr. Great-heart, awakened him, and the old gentle-man, as he lifted up his eyes, cried out, “What’s the matter? Who are you; and what is your business here?”471
Mr. Great-heart said, “Come, man, be not so hot; here are none but friends. Yet the old man got up and stood upon his guard, and he demanded to know what they were.
Then said the guide, “My name is Great-heart. I am the guide of these pilgrims that are going to the celestial country.”
Then Mr. Honest – for this was his name – replied, “I beg you mercy. I feared that you were of the company of those that some time ago robbed Little-faith of his money; but, now as I look better about me, I perceive you are honest people.”
“Why, what would, or could you have done to have helped yourself if, indeed, we had been of that company?” Mr. Great-heart asked.
“Done! Why, I would have fought as long as breath had been in me; and had I so done, I am sure you could never have given me the worst on it; for a Christian can never be overcome unless he shall yield and give up,” Mr. Honest said.
“Well said, father Honest, declared the guide. “For by this I know you are of the right sort, for you have asserted the truth.”
“And by this I also know that you know what true pilgrimage is; for all others think that we are the easiest to overcome of any,” Mr. Honest said.
“Well, now we are so happily met, please let me know your name and the name of the place you came from.”
“My name I cannot tell you, but I came from the town of Stupidity; it lies about four degrees beyond the City of Destruction.”
“Oh, are you that countryman? Then I think I have half a guess of you. Your name is Old Honest, is it not?”
So, the old gentleman blushed and said, “Not honest in the abstract; but Honest is my name, and I wish that my nature may agree to what I am called. But, sir, how could you guess that I am such a man, since I came from such a place?”
“I had heard of you before, by my Master; for he knows all things that are done on the earth. But I have often wondered that any should come from your place; for your town is worse than the City of Destruction itself.”472
“Yes, we lie more off from the sun, and so are colder and more senseless,” Honest said. “But if a man were in a mountain of ice, yet if the Sun of Righteousness will arise upon him, his frozen heart shall feel a thaw; and so it has been with me.”
“I believe it, father Honest, I believe it; for I know this thing is true.”
Then the old gentleman greeted all the pilgrims with a holy kiss of charity, and he asked them their names and how they had fared since they set out on their pilgrimage.
Then said Christiana, “My name I suppose you have heard of; good Christian was my husband, and these four are his children.”
But can you think how the old gentleman was taken when she told him who she was? He skipped, he smiled, he blessed them with a thousand good wishes, saying, “I have heard much of your husband and of his travels and wars that he underwent in his days. Be it spoken to your comfort, the name of your husband rings all over these parts of the world: his faith, his courage, his enduring, and his sincerity under all has made his name famous.”
471 Note: one saint sometimes takes another for his enemy.
472 Note: stupefied ones are worse than those who are merely carnal.
Constructive Declarations.
Then he turned to the boys and asked them of their names; which they told him. Then said he unto them, “Matthew, you be like Matthew the publican,473 not in vice but in virtue. Samuel, you be like Samuel the prophet, a man of faith and prayer.474 Joseph, you be like Joseph in Potiphar’s house, chaste and one that flees from temptation.475 And James, you be like James the just and like James the brother of our Lord.”476
Then they told him of Mercy and how she had left her town and her kindred to come along with Christiana and with her sons. At that the old honest man said, “Mercy is your name; by mercy shall you be sustained and carried through all the difficulties that shall assault you in your way, until you shall come unto where you shalt look the Fountain of Mercy in the face with comfort.”
All this while, the guide, Mr. Great-heart was very well pleased and smiled upon his companions.
Now, as they walked along together, the guide asked the old gentleman if he knew a man named Mr. Fearing that went on pilgrimage out of his parts.
“Yes, very well,” said Honest. “He was a man that had the root of the matter in him; but he was one of the most troublesome pilgrims that I ever met with in all my days.”
“I perceive you knew him, for you have given a very right character of him,” Great-heart said.
“Knew him! I was a great companion of his; I was with him early on; when he first began to think upon what would come upon us hereafter, I was with him.”
“I was his guide from my Master’s house to the gates of the Celestial City.”
“Then you knew him to be a troublesome one,” Honest said.
“ I did so, but I could very well bear it; for men of my calling are oftentimes trusted with the conduct of persons like him.”
“Well then, please let us hear a little of him and how he managed himself under your conduct.”
473 Matthew 10:3
474 Psalm 99:6
475 Genesis 39
476 Acts 1:13–14
Fearing’s Story
Mr. Great-heart began, “Why, he was always afraid that he should come short of where he had a desire to go. Everything frightened him that he heard anyone speak of, if it had even the least appearance of opposition in it. I heard that he lay dreading at the Slough of Hopelessness for more than a month not daring to go on; even though he saw several go over in front of him, he would not venture through, though many offered to lend him a hand. He would not go back again, either. The Celestial City! He said he would die if he could not come to it; and yet he was dejected at every difficulty and stumbled at every straw that anyone cast in his way.
“Well, after he had lain at the Slough of Hopelessness a great while, as I have told you, one sunshiny morning, I do not know how, he ventured and so made it through; but when he was on the other side, he could scarcely believe it. He had, I think, a slough of hopelessness in his mind, a slough that he carried everywhere with him, or else he could never have been as he was. So, he came up to the gate, you know what I mean, that stands at the head of this way, and he stood there a good while before he could venture to knock. When the gate was opened, he would hold back and give place to others and say that he was not worthy. He got to the gate ahead of many, yet many of them went in before him. There the poor man would stand shaking and shrinking; I dare say it would have pitied one’s heart to have seen him. Nor would he go back again.
“At last, he took the hammer that hung on the gate in his hand and gave a small rap or two; then someone opened to him, but he shrunk back as before. The one who opened stepped out after him, and said, ‘Trembling one, what do you want?’ With that he fell down to the ground.
“He that spoke to him wondered to see him so faint, so he said to him, ‘Peace be unto you; up, for I have set open the door before you; come in, for you are blessed.’ With that, he got up and went in trembling; and when he was in, he was ashamed to show his face. Well, after he had been entertained there a while, as you know how the manner is, he was sent on his way and also told the way he should take.
“So, he went on until he came to our house; but as he had behaved at the gate, he did the same at my Master the Interpreter’s door. He lay there out in the cold a good while before he could venture to call; yet he would not go back, and the nights were long and cold then. He even had a note of recommendation in his possession to my master to receive him and grant him the comfort of his house, and also to allow him a stout and valiant conductor because he was himself so chicken-hearted a man; and yet, for all that, he was afraid to call at the door.
“So, he lay up and down outside, until, poor man, he was almost starved; and, so great was his dejection, that though he saw several others knock and get in, yet he was afraid to try.
“At last, I think I looked out the window, and perceiving a man to be up and down in front of the door, I went out to him and asked what he was. But, poor man, the tears stood in his eyes; then I perceived what he wanted. Therefore, I went in, and told it in the house, and we showed the things to our Lord.
“So, he sent me out again to entreat him to come in; but I dare say, I had hard work to do it. At last he came in; and my Lord was kind and loving to him. There were but a few good morsels at the table, but some of it was laid upon his plate. Then he presented the note, and my Lord looked at it and said his desire would be granted. So, when he had been there a good while, he seemed to take heart and to be a little more comfortable. For my Master, you must know, is one of very tender compassion, especially to those that are afraid; therefore, he treated him in a manner so as to most encourage him.
“Well, when he had had a sight of the things of the place and was ready to take his journey to go to the City, my Lord, as he did to Christian before, gave him a bottle of spirits and some comfortable things to eat. Thus, we set forward, and I went in front of him; but the man was but of few words; he would only sigh aloud.
“When we came to where the three fellows were hanged, he said that he doubted but what that would be his end also. He only seemed glad when he saw the cross and the sepulchre. There, I confess he desired to stay a little to look; and he seemed for a while after to be a somewhat cheery. When he came to the hill of Difficulty, he made no fuss at that, nor did he much fear the lions; for you must know that his troubles were not about such things as these; his fear was about his acceptance at last.
“I got him in at the house Beautiful, I think, before he was willing. Also, when he was inside, I acquainted him with the damsels of the place; but he was ashamed to make himself close company. Instead, he desired to be alone; yet he always loved good talk and often would linger out of sight to hear it. He also loved very much to see ancient things and to ponder them in his mind. He told me afterward that he loved to be in those two houses from which he came last; that is, at the gate, and that of the Interpreter; but that he dared not be so bold as to ask.
“When we went also from the house Beautiful, down the hill, into the Valley of Humiliation, he went down as well as I have ever seen in my life; for he cared not how low he was so he might be happy at last. Yea, I think there was a kind of sympathy between that valley and him; for I never saw him better in all his pilgrimage than he was in that valley.
“Here he would lie down, embrace the ground, and kiss the very flowers that grew in this valley.477 He would now be up every morning by break of day, following footpaths and walking to and fro in the valley.
“But when he came to the entrance of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I thought I should have lost my man, not because he had any inclination to go back – that he always abhorred – but he was ready to die of fear. ‘Oh, the demons will have me! The demons will have me!’ he cried. And I could not talk him out of it. He made such a noise and such an outcry that had they heard him; it was enough to encourage them to come and fall upon us.
“But of this I took very great notice: that this valley was as quiet when we went through it as I have ever known it before or since. I suppose those enemies here had received a special check from our Lord and a command not to meddle until Mr. Fearing had passed over it.
“It would be too tedious to tell you everything; we will, therefore, only mention a passage or two more. When he came to Vanity Fair, I thought he would have fought with all the men in the fair. I feared there that we should have been both knocked on the head, so hot was he against their fooleries. Upon the Enchanted Ground he was very wakeful. But when he arrived at the river with no bridge, there again he was in a heavy case. ‘Now, now,’ he said, ‘I shall be drowned forever and so never see that Face with comfort that I have come so many miles to behold.’
“And here, also, I took notice of what was very remarkable: the water of that river was lower at this time than I had ever seen it in all my life; so he went over at last and barely got his feet wet. When he was going up to the gate, I began to take leave of him and to wish him a good reception above; so, he replied, ‘I shall, I shall.’ Then we parted asunder, and I did not see him again,” Mr. Great-heart finished his account of Mr. Fearing.
477 It is good for the man if he bears the yoke from his youth. He shall sit alone and keep silence because he has borne it upon him. He shall put his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. (Lamentations 3:27–29)
Tune from the Base
Mr. Honest said, “Then it seems he was well at last?”
“Yes, yes,” Great-heart said. “I never had doubt about him. He was a man of a choice spirit, only he was always kept very low; and that made his life so burdensome to himself and so very troublesome to others. He was, above many, very sensitive regarding sin; he was so afraid of doing injuries to others that he often would deny himself of that which was lawful because he would not offend.”478
“But what should be the reason that such a good man should spend all his days so much in the dark?”
“There are two sorts of reasons for it. One is the wise God will have it so; some must pipe, and some must mourn.479 Now Mr. Fearing was one that played upon the bass. He and his fellows sound the trombone, whose notes are more doleful than the notes of other music are; though indeed, some say the bass is the foundation of music. And for my part, I do not care at all for that profession of faith that does not begin in heaviness of mind. The first string that the musician usually touches is the bass when he intends to put all in tune. God also plays upon this string first when he sets the soul in tune for himself. Only there was the imperfection of Mr. Fearing; he could play upon no other music but this until his latter end.”
***
I am bold to talk so metaphorically for the ripening of the wits of young readers and because, in the book of Revelation, the saved are compared to a company of musicians that play upon their trumpets and harps and sing their songs before the throne.480
478 For one believes that he may eat all things; another, who is sick, eats vegetables. (Romans 14:2) But food does not make us more acceptable unto God; for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. (1 Corinthians 8:18)
479 Matthew 11:16–19
480 Revelation 5:8–9; 14:2–3.
Fear and Grace Together
“He was a very zealous man, as one may see by the relation you have given of him. Difficulties, lions, or Vanity Fair, he did not fear at all; it was only sin, death, and hell that were a terror to him because he had some doubts about his interest in that Celestial Country,” Honest said.
Great-heart said, “You say right; those were the things that were his troubles; and they, as you have well observed, arose from the weakness of his mind and feelings about them, not from weakness of spirit as to the practical part of a pilgrim’s life. I dare believe that, as the proverb is, he could have bit a firebrand, had it stood in his way; but the things with which he is oppressed are not easy for anyone to shake off.”
Christiana said, “This account of Mr. Fearing has done me good; I thought nobody had been like me. But I saw that there was some semblance between this good man and me; we only differ in two things: His troubles were so great that they broke out; but I kept mine within. His lay so hard upon him that they made him unable knock at the houses provided for his refreshing; but my trouble was always such so as to make me knock even louder.”
Mercy said, “If I might also speak my heart, I must say that something of him has also dwelled in me. For I have always been more afraid of the lake of fire and of the loss of a place in paradise than I have been of the loss other things. Oh, thought I, may I have the happiness to have a habitation there! It is enough, though I part with all the world to win it.”
Matthew said, “Fear was one thing that made me think that I was far from having that within me that accompanies salvation. But if it was so with such a good man as he, why may it not also go well with me?”
James said, “No fears, no grace. Though there is not always grace where there is the fear of hell, yet, to be sure, there is no grace where there is no fear of God.”
“Well said, James,” Great-heart said. “You have hit the mark. For the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;481 and to be sure, those that lack the beginning have neither middle nor end. But we will here conclude our discourse of Mr. Fearing after we have sent after him this farewell.”
Whilst, Master Fearing, thou didst fear
Thy God, and wast afraid
Of doing any thing while here,
That would have thee betrayed.
And didst thou fear the lake and pit?
Would others do so too!
For, as for them that want thy wit,
They do themselves undo.
481 Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10
Distorted Truth
Now I saw that they all went on in their talk. For after Mr. Great-heart had made an end with Mr. Fearing, Mr. Honest began to tell them of another, but his name was Mr. Self-will. “He pretended to be a pilgrim,” said Mr. Honest, “but I am convinced he never came in at the gate that stands at the head of the way.”
“Did you ever talk with him about it?” Great-heart said.
“Yes, more than once or twice; but he would always be like himself, self-willed. He did not care for any person, argument, or example. What his mind prompted him to, that is what he would do, and he could not be convinced to do anything else.”
“So, what principles did he hold? For I suppose you can tell.”
“He held that a man may follow the faults as well as the virtues of pilgrims,” Honest said, “and that if he did both, he should be certainly saved.”
“How? If he had said it is possible for the best to be guilty of the faults as well as to be partakers of the virtues of pilgrims, he could not have been blamed very much; for indeed, it is still possible for us to fall into any fault, unless we watch and take care. But this, I perceive, is not the thing; but if I understand you right, your meaning is that he was of opinion that it was allowable to be so.”
“Ay, ay, so I mean, and so he believed and practiced,” Honest said.
“But what grounds did he have for saying so?” Great-heart said.
“Why, he said he had the Scripture for his guarantee.”
“Please, Mr. Honest, present us with a few particulars.”
“So, I will. He said that to have to do with other men’s wives had been practiced by David, God’s beloved; and therefore, he could do it. He said that to have more women than one was a thing that Solomon practiced, and therefore, he could do it. He said that Sarah and the godly midwives of the children of Israel in Egypt lied and so did Rahab, and therefore, he could do it. He said that the disciples went at the bidding of their Master and took away the owner’s ass, and therefore, he could do so too. He said that Jacob got the inheritance of his father in a way of guile and dissimulation, and therefore, he could do so too.”
“Highly base, indeed!” Great-heart said. “And are you sure he was of this opinion?”
“I heard him appeal for it, bring Scripture for it, bring arguments for it, and so forth,” Honest said.
“An opinion that is not fit to be tolerated anywhere!”
“You must understand me rightly: he did not say that any man might do this, but that any who had the virtues of those that did such things might also do the same.”
“But what could be more false than such a conclusion? For this is as much as to say that because good men heretofore have sinned of infirmity, therefore, he had allowance to do it of a presumptuous mind; or that if, because a child, by the blast of the wind or because it stumbled at a stone, fell down and defiled itself in the mire, therefore, he might willfully lie down and wallow like a boar therein. Who could have thought that anyone could have been so completely blinded by the power of lust? But what is written must be true: they stumble at the word, not obeying in that for which they were ordained.482 His supposing that such may have the godly men’s virtues, who addict themselves to their vices, is also a delusion as strong as the other. It is just as if the dog should say, ‘I have, or may have, the qualities of the child because I lick up its stinking excrements.’ To eat up the sins of God’s people483 as a dog licks up filth is no sign that one is possessed with their virtues. Nor can I believe that one who is of this opinion can, at present, have faith or love in him. But I know you have made strong objections against him; so, please, what can he say for himself?”
Honest said, “Why, he says to do this by way of opinion seems abundantly more honest than to do it, and yet hold an opinion contrary to it.”
“A very wicked answer,” Great-heart said. “For though to let loose the bridle to lusts while our opinions are against such things is bad; yet, to sin and plead a toleration so to do is worse; the one stumbles beholders accidentally, the other leads them into the snare.”
“There are many of this man’s mind that do not have this man’s mouth; and that makes going on pilgrimage of so little esteem as it is.”
“You have said the truth, and it is to be lamented; but he that fears the King of paradise shall come out of them all.”
Christiana said, “There are strange opinions in the world. I know one that said it was time enough to repent when we are about to die.”
“Such are not very wise,” Great-heart said. “That man would have been lax if he would have had a week to run twenty miles in his life to defer his journey to the last hour of that week.”
“You say right; and yet the generality of those who count themselves pilgrims do, indeed, do things such as this,” Honest said. “I am, as you see, an old man and have been a traveler on this road many a day; and I have taken notice of many things. I have seen some that have set out as if they would drive all the world before them; who yet have, in a few days, died as those in the wilderness, and so never saw the promised land.
“I have seen some that, at first, did not seem very promising, who set out to be pilgrims, and who one would have thought could not have lived a day, but they soon proved to be very good pilgrims. I have seen some who have run hastily forward that have again, after a little time, run just as fast back again. I have seen some who have spoken very well of a pilgrim’s life at first that, after a while, have spoken as much against it.
“I have heard some, when they first set out for paradise, say positively, ‘There is such a place,’ who, when they have been almost there, have come back again and said, ‘There is not.’ I have heard some flaunt what they would do in case they should be opposed that have, even at a false alarm, fled Faith, the pilgrim’s way, and all.”
Now, as they were going on their way, someone came running to meet them, and said, “Gentlemen, and you of the weaker sort, if you love life, shift for yourselves, for the robbers are upon you.”
Then said Mr. Great-heart, “They are the three that formerly set upon Little-faith. Well, we are ready for them.”
482 1 Peter 2:8
483 Hosea 4:8
A Kind Host
So, they went on their way. Now they looked at every turning expecting to meet up with the villains; but whether they heard of Mr. Great-heart, or whether they had some other game, they did not come to the pilgrims.
Christiana then wished for an inn to refresh herself and her children because they were weary. Then Mr. Honest said, “There is one a little ahead of us, where a very honorable disciple named Gaius lives.”484
So, they all concluded to turn in there; preferring this because the old gentleman gave him so good a report.
When they came to the door, they went in not knocking (for folks used not to knock at the door of an inn). Then they called for the master of the house, and he came to them; so, they asked if they might sleep there that night.
Gaius said, “Yes gentlemen, if you are true men; for my house is for no one but pilgrims.”
Then Christiana, Mercy, and the boys were all the more glad because the innkeeper was a lover of pilgrims. So, they called for rooms, and he showed them one for Christiana and her children and Mercy, and another for Mr. Great-heart and the old gentleman.
Then said Mr. Great-heart, “Good Gaius, what do you have for supper? For these pilgrims have come far today and are weary.”
“It is late,” Gaius said, “so we cannot conveniently go out to seek food; but such as we have you shall be welcome to, if that will please you.”
Great-heart said, “We will be content with what you have in the house; for as much as I have proved you, you art never without that which is necessary.”
Then Gaius went down and spoke to the cook, whose name was Taste-that-which-is-good, to get ready supper for so many pilgrims. This done, he came up again, saying, “Come, my good friends, you are welcome to me, and I am glad that I have a house to entertain you; and while supper is making ready, if you please, let us entertain one another with some good discussion.”
They all said, “Content.”
Then said Gaius, “Whose wife is this aged matron? And whose daughter is this young damsel?”
Great-heart said, “This woman is the wife of Christian, a pilgrim of former times; and these are his four children. The maid is of her acquaintance, one that she has persuaded to come with her on pilgrimage. The boys all take after their father and crave to tread in his steps;485 and if they see any place where the old pilgrim has lain, or any print of his foot, it ministers joy to their hearts, and they desire to lie or tread in the same.”
Then said Gaius, “Is this Christian’s wife, and are these Christian’s children? I knew your husband’s father, yes, and also his father’s father. Many have been good of this stock; their ancestors dwelled first at Antioch.486 Christian’s ancestors – I suppose you have heard your husband talk of them – were very worthy men. They have, above any that I know, showed themselves men of great virtue and courage for the Lord of the pilgrims, his ways, and those that love him. I have heard of many of your husband’s relations that have stood all manner of trials for the sake of the truth.
“Stephen, that was one of the first of the family from whence your husband sprang, was knocked on the head with stones.487 James, another of this generation, was slain with the edge of the sword.488 To say nothing of Paul and Peter, men anciently of the family from which your husband came; there was Ignatius, who was cast to the lions; Romanus, whose flesh was cut by pieces from his bones; and Polycarp, the man burned in the fire. There was one that was hanged up in a basket in the sun for the wasps to eat; and another whom they put into a sack and cast him into the sea to be drowned.
“It would be utterly impossible to count up all of that family who have suffered injuries and death for the love of a pilgrim’s life. I am glad to see that your husband has left behind him four such boys as these. I hope they will bear up their father’s name, and walk in their father’s steps, and come to their father’s end.”
“Indeed, sir, they are likely lads,” Great-heart said. “They seem to heartily choose their father’s ways.”
Gaius said, “That is what I said. Therefore, Christian’s family is likely to spread abroad upon the face of the ground and yet to be numerous upon the face of the earth; let Christiana seek some damsels for her sons, to whom they may be betrothed, etc., that the name of their father and the house of his ancestors may never be forgotten in the world.”
Honest said, “It’s a pity his family should fall and be extinct.”
Gaius said, “Fall it cannot, but be diminished it may; but let Christiana take my advice, and that is the way to uphold it. And, Christiana, I am glad to see you and your friend Mercy together here, a lovely friendship. And if I may advise, take Mercy into a nearer relation to you; if she will, let her be given to Matthew, your eldest son. It is the way to preserve a posterity in the earth.”
484 Romans 16:23
485 Because for this were ye called: for the Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps. (1 Peter 2:21)
486 Acts 11:26
487 Acts 7:59–60
488 Acts 12:2
Matchmaking and Motherhood
So, this match was concluded, and in the process of time they were married, but more of that later. Gaius also proceeded and said, “I will now speak on the behalf of women, to take away their reproach. For as death and the curse came into the world by a woman,489 so also did life and health; God sent forth his Son, born of a woman.490 And to show how much the worldly generations that came later have abhorred the act of motherhood, the female sex in the Old Testament coveted children, if happily this or that woman might be the mother of the Savior of the world. I will say again that when the Savior came, women rejoiced in him before either man or angel.491 I do not read that any man gave Christ so much as one coin, but the women followed him and ministered to him of their substance. It was a woman that washed his feet with tears, and a woman that anointed his body at the burial. They were women who wept when he was going to the cross, and women that followed his dead body from the cross and sat over against his sepulchre when he was buried. They were women that were first with him on the morning of his resurrection, and women that brought the first tidings to his disciples that he was risen from the dead.492 Women, therefore, are highly favored and show by these things that they are sharers with us in the grace of life.”
Now the cook sent word that supper was almost ready and sent someone to lay the tablecloth, and the plates, and to set the salt and bread in order.
Then Matthew said, “The sight of this cloth and of this precursor of the supper births a greater appetite in me for my food than I had before.”
Gaius said, “So, let all those ministering doctrines to you in this life birth in you a greater desire to sit at the supper of the great King in his kingdom; for all preaching, books, and ordinances here are but as the laying of the plates and the setting of salt upon the board when compared with the feast that our Lord will make for us when we come to his house.”
489 Genesis 3
490 Galatians 4:4
491 Luke 1:41–47; 7:37–50; 8:2–3; 23:27; 24:1–2; Matthew 27:55–61; John 11:1–2; 12:3
492 John 20:1–18; Luke 24:22–24
Feast
So, supper came up. And first an elevated shoulder493 and a waved breast494 were set on the table before them; this was to show that they must begin their meal with prayer and praise to God.495 These were the elevated shoulder that David lifted up his heart to God with496 and the waved breast (where his heart lay) with which he used to lean upon his harp when he played. These two dishes were very fresh and good, and they all ate heartily.
Next, they brought up a bottle of wine as red as blood. Then Gaius said, “Drink freely; this is the true juice of the vine that makes glad the heart of God and man.”497 So they drank and were merry.
The next was a dish of milk well crumbed, but Gaius said, “Let the boys have that, that they may grow thereby in health.”498
Then they brought up in course a dish of butter and honey. Then Gaius said, “Eat freely of this, for this is good to cheer up and strengthen your judgments and understandings. This was our Lord’s dish when he was a child: He shall eat butter and honey that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.”499
Then they brought them a dish of apples, and they were very good-tasting fruit. Then said Matthew, “May we eat apples, since it was by them that the serpent beguiled our first mother?”
Gaius replied:
“Apples were they with which we were beguiled,
Yet sin, not apples, hath our souls defiled.
Apples forbid, if ate, corrupt the blood;
To eat such, when commanded, does us good.
Drink of his flagons then, thou church, his dove,
And eat his apples, who art sick of love.”
Then Matthew said, “I made the scruple because I, not long ago, was sick by the eating of fruit.”
Gaius said, “Forbidden fruit will make you sick; but not what our Lord has accepted.”
While they were thus talking, they were presented with another dish, and it was a dish of nuts.500 Then some at the table said, “Nuts spoil tender teeth, especially the teeth of children.”
When Gaius heard this, he said:
“Hard texts are nuts (I will not call them cheaters)
Whose shells do keep the kernel from the eaters.
Open the shells, and you shall have the meat;
They here are brought for you to crack and eat.”
Then they were very merry and sat at the table a long time, talking of many things. Then the old gentleman said, “My good landlord, while we are cracking your nuts, if you please, do open this riddle.” Then old Honest put forth this riddle:
“A man there was (though some did count him mad),
The more he cast away, the more he had.”
Then they were all attentive, wondering what good Gaius would say; so, he sat still a while, and then this was his reply as he opened the riddle:
“He who bestows his goods upon the poor
Shall have as much again, and ten times more.”
Then Joseph said, “I dare say, sir, I did not think you could have found it out.”
“Oh,” said Gaius, “I have been trained up in this way a great while; nothing teaches like experience. I have found by experience great gain. There are those that scatter, and yet increase; and there are those that withhold more than is necessary, but this tends toward poverty. There is one that makes himself rich, yet has nothing; there is another that makes himself poor, yet has great riches.”501
Then Samuel whispered to Christiana, his mother, and said, “Mother, this is a very good man’s house. Let us stay here a good while, and let my brother Matthew be married here to Mercy before we go any further.”
Gaius, the host, overheard him and said, “With a very good will, my child.”
So they stayed there more than a month, until Mercy and Matthew were married.
While they stayed there, Mercy, as her custom was, continued making coats and garments to give to the poor, bringing a very good report upon the pilgrims.
***
But to return again to our story. After supper, the lads desired a bed, for they were weary with travelling. Then Gaius called to show them their chamber; but Mercy said, “I will put them to bed.”
493 And ye shall give unto the priest to be elevated in offering the right shoulder of the sacrifices of your peace. (Leviticus 7:32)
494 And the waved breast and elevated shoulder shall ye likewise eat in a clean place, thou and thy sons and thy daughters with thee; for they are thy due and thy sons’ due, which are given out of the sacrifices of the peace of the sons of Israel. With the offerings of the fat which are to be lit on fire, they shall bring the shoulder which is to be elevated and the breast which shall be waved as a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be thine and thy sons’ with thee by a perpetual statute, as the LORD has commanded. (Leviticus 10:14–15)
495 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips confessing his name. (Hebrews 13:15)
496 Unto thee O LORD, do I lift up my soul. (Psalm 25:1)
497 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheers God and man, to go and sway over the trees? (Judges 9:13)
498 Having therefore left all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all murmurings, as newborn babes, desire the rational milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby in health. (1 Peter 2:1–2)
499 He shall eat butter and honey that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isaiah 7:15)
500 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vines flourished, and the pomegranates budded. (Song of Solomon 6:11)
501 Proverbs 11:24, 13:7
Another Riddle
So, she put them to bed, and they slept well; but the others sat up all night, for Gaius and they were such suitable company that they could not tell how to part. After much talk of their Lord, themselves, and their journey, old Mr. Honest, he that put forth the riddle to Gaius, began to nod. Then Greatheart said, “What, sir, you begin to be drowsy; come, rub up, now here is a riddle for you.”
Then Mr. Honest said, “Let us hear it.”
And Mr. Great-heart replied with the riddle:
“He that would kill, must first be overcome;
Who would live abroad, first must die at home.”
“Ha!” said Mr. Honest, “it is a hard one; hard to expound and harder to practice. But come landlord, I will, if you please, leave my part to you; if you will expound it, I will hear what you say.”
“No,” said Gaius, “it was put to you, and it is expected that you should answer it.”
Then said the old gentleman as he opened the riddle,
“He first by grace must conquered be,
That sin would mortify;
Who that he lives would convince me,
Unto himself must die.”
“It is right,” said Gaius. “Good doctrine and experience teaches this. For first, until grace displays itself and overcomes the soul with its glory, the soul is altogether without heart to oppose sin. Besides, if sin is Satan’s cord by which the soul lies bound, how can it make resistance before it is loosed from that infirmity? Secondly, anyone that knows either reason or grace will not believe that such a man can be a living monument of grace as long as he continues a slave to his own corruptions. And now it comes into my mind; I will tell you a story worth the hearing:
“There were two men that went on pilgrimage; the one began when he was young, the other when he was old. The young man had strong corruptions to grapple with; the old man’s were weak with the decays of nature. The young man trod his steps as even as did the old one and was in every way as filled with light as he. Who now, or which of them, had their graces shining clearest, since both seemed to be alike?”
Honest said, “The young man’s, doubtless. For that which makes headway against the greatest opposition gives the best demonstration that it is strongest; particularly when it also keeps pace with that which meets with less than half the resistance, as is not the case with old age. Besides, I have observed that old men have blessed themselves with this mistake; namely, taking the decays of nature for a gracious conquest over corruptions, and so have been apt to beguile themselves. Indeed, old men that are gracious are best able to give advice to those that are young, because they have seen most of the emptiness of things. But still, for an old and a young man to set out together, the young one has the advantage of the finest discovery of a work of grace within him, though the old man’s corruptions are naturally the weakest.”
They sat talking like this until the break of day.
Hunting a Giant
Now, when the family was up, Christiana bid her son James that he should read a chapter; so, he read the fifty-third of Isaiah. When he was done, Mr. Honest asked why it was said that the Savior was to come out of a dry ground; and also, that there is no outward appearance in him, nor beauty.
Then said Mr. Great-heart, “To the first I answer, because the congregation of the Jews, of which Christ came, had then lost almost all the sap and spirit of true religion. To the second I say that the words are spoken in the person of unbelievers, who, because they lack the ability to see into our Prince’s heart, therefore, they judge him by his humble appearance; just like those who do not know that precious stones are covered over with a homely crust, when they have found one, because they do not know what they have found, cast it away again, as men do a common stone.”
“Well,” said Gaius, “now you are here, and since, as I know, Mr. Great-heart is good with his weapons, if you please, after we have refreshed ourselves, we will walk into the fields to see if we can do any good. About a mile from here there is a giant named Slay-good, a giant that very much annoys the King’s highway in these parts; and I know about where his haunt is. He is the master of a number of thieves. It would be well if we could clear these parts of him.”
So, they consented and went: Mr. Great-heart with his sword, helmet, and shield; and the rest with spears and staves.
When they came to the place where he was, they found the giant with a man named Feeble-mind in his hand, whom his servants had brought unto him, having captured him in the way. Now the giant was searching him with a purpose after that to pick his bones; for he was of the nature of flesh-eaters.
Well, as soon as he saw Mr. Great-heart and his friends at the mouth of his cave with their weapons, he demanded what they wanted.
Great-heart said, “We want you; for we have come to avenge the quarrels of the many pilgrims that you have slain when you have dragged them out of the King’s highway. Therefore, come out of your cave. So, he armed himself and came out, and to battle they went and fought for above an hour, and then they stood still to take wind.
Then said the giant, “Why are you here on my ground?”
Great-heart said, “To avenge the blood of pilgrims, as I told you before.”
So, they went at it again, and the giant made Mr. Great-heart give back; but he came up again, and in the greatness of his mind, he let fly with such stoutness at the giant’s head and sides that the giant’s weapon fell out of his hand. So, he smote him, and slew him, and cut off his head, and brought it all the way to the inn. Great-heart also took Feeble-mind the pilgrim and brought him back with him to his lodgings. When they arrived home, they showed the giant’s head to the family and set it up, as they had done with others before, for a terror to any that should in the future attempt to do as he.
Then they asked Mr. Feeble-mind how he fell into his hands.
Then said the poor man, “I am a sickly man, as you see, and because death usually knocked once a day at my door, I thought I would never be well at home; so I betook myself to a pilgrim’s life and have traveled here from the town of Uncertain, where my father and I were born. I am a man of no strength at all of body or of mind, but would, if I could, though I can but crawl, spend my life in the pilgrim’s way.
“When I came to the gate that is at the head of the way, the Lord of that place entertained me freely; nor did he object against my weak appearance, nor against my feeble mind; but gave me such things as were necessary for my journey and bid me hope to the end. When I came to the house of the Interpreter, I received much kindness there; and because the hill of Difficulty was judged too hard for me, I was carried up by one of his servants. Indeed, I have found much relief from pilgrims, though none were willing to go so slow as I am forced to do; yet still as they came on, they told me to be of good cheer and said that it was the will of their Lord that comfort should be given to the feeble-minded,502 and so went on at their own pace.
“When I came to Assault-lane, then this giant met up with me and bid me prepare for an encounter. But, alas! feeble one that I was, I had more need of a cordial; so, he captured me. I did not expect him to kill me. Also, when he had taken me into his den, since I did not go with him willingly, I believed I should come out alive again; for I have heard that any pilgrim that is taken captive by violent hands, if he keeps heart whole toward his Master, is, by the laws of providence, not to die by the hand of the enemy. It looked like I would be robbed, and that is what happened; but I have, as you see, escaped with my life, and for this I thank my King as the author and you as the means. I also expect other attacks; but I have resolved to run when I can, to walk when I cannot run, and to creep when I cannot walk.503 This is my focus: I thank him that loved me, I am fixed; my way is before me, and my mind is beyond the river that has no bridge, though I am, as you see, but of a feeble mind.”
Then old Mr. Honest said, “Have not you, sometime ago, been acquainted with a pilgrim named, Mr. Fearing?”
“Acquainted with him! Yes, he came from the town of Stupidity, which lies four degrees to the north of the City of Destruction, and as many off of where I was born; yet we were well acquainted, for indeed, he was my uncle, my father’s brother. He and I have much the same temper; he was a little shorter than I, but yet we were of similar complexion.”
Honest said, “I perceive you knew him, and I also thought that you were related one to another; for you have his pale look, a cast like his with your eye, and your speech is much alike.”
Feeble-mind said, “Most have said so that have known us both; and, besides, what I have discovered in him I have for the most part found in myself.”
“Come, sir,” said good Gaius, “be of good cheer; you are welcome to me and to my house. What you desire, call for freely; and what you would have my servants do for you, they will do it with a ready mind.”
Then said Mr. Feeble-mind, “This is an unexpected favor, and as the sun shining out of a very dark cloud. Did giant Slay-good intend me this favor when he stopped me and resolved to let me go no further? Did he intend that after he had rifled my pockets I should go to Gaius mine host? Yet so it is.”
Now, just as Mr. Feeble-mind and Gaius were having this conversation, someone came running and called at the door; they told that about a mile and a half from there, a pilgrim named Mr. Not-right was struck dead right where he was by a thunderbolt!
“Alas!” said Mr. Feeble-mind, “is he dead? He overtook me some days before I came this far and desired to keep me company. He was with me when Slay-good the giant captured me, but he was nimble on his heels and escaped; but it seems he escaped to die, and I was captured to live.”
What one would think doth seek to slay outright,
Ofttimes delivers from the saddest plight.
That very providence whose face is death,
Doth ofttimes to the lowly life bequeath.
I taken was, he did escape and flee;
Hands crossed gave death to him and life to me.
502 We also exhort you, brethren, that you warn those that are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:14)
503 Take notice of the ways of providence.
Tentative Departure
Now, about this time Matthew and Mercy were married; also, Gaius gave his daughter Phebe to James, Matthew’s brother, and they too were married; after this they all stayed about ten more days at Gaius’ house, spending their time and the seasons as pilgrims like to do.
When they were to depart, Gaius made them a feast, and they ate and drank and were merry. Now, the hour was come that they must be gone; therefore, Mr. Great-heart asked what was owed. But Gaius told him that at his house it was not the custom for pilgrims to pay for their food and lodging. He boarded them by the year but looked for his pay from the good Samaritan,504 who had promised him at his return, whatever cost he had expended with them, to faithfully repay him.
Then Mr. Great-heart said to him, “Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatever thou doest regarding the brethren, and with the strangers who have borne witness of thy charity before the congregation, whom, if thou wilt help them as is convenient according to God, thou shalt do well.”505 Then Gaius took his leave of them all and his children, and particularly of Mr. Feeble-mind. He also gave him something to drink along the way.
Now Mr. Feeble-mind, when they were going out of the door, made as if he intended to linger. When Mr. Great-heart saw this, he said, “Come, Mr. Feeble-mind, please go along with us; I will be your conductor, and you shall fare as the rest.”
Feeble-mind said, “Alas! I want a suitable companion. You are all vigorous and strong, but I, as you see, am weak; therefore, I would rather come behind, lest, by reason of my many infirmities, I should be both a burden to myself and to you. I am, as I said, a man of a weak and feeble mind and shall be offended in my weakness of things that others can bear. I shall like no laughing; I shall like no bright attire; I shall like no unprofitable questions. For I am so weak a man as to be offended by that which others have liberty to do. I do not yet know all the truth: I am a very ignorant Christian man. Sometimes if I hear someone rejoice in the Lord, it troubles me because I cannot do so too. It is with me as it is with a weak man among the strong, or as with a sick man among the healthy, or as a lamp despised; so that I do not know what to do. The torch is held in low esteem in the thought of him that is prosperous, which was prepared to guard against a slip of the feet.”506
“But, brother,” said Mr. Great-heart, “I am commissioned to comfort the feeble-minded and to support the weak. You need to go along with us;507 we will wait for you; we will lend you our help; we will deny ourselves of some things, both opinionative and practical, for your sake; we will not enter into doubtful disputations before you; we will be made all things to you rather than leaving you behind.”
Now, all this took place while they were still at Gaius’s door; and so, as they were in the heat of their discussion, Mr. Ready-to-halt508 came by with his crutches in his hand, and he also was going on pilgrimage.
504 Luke 10:33–35
505 3 John 5–6
506 Job 12:5
507 See the effects of a Christian spirit.
508 For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. (Psalm 38:17)
Like-Minded Stragglers Join
Then said Mr. Feeble-mind to him, “How did you come here? I was but now complaining that I did not have a suitable companion, but you are according to my wish. Welcome, welcome, good Mr. Ready-to-halt; I hope you and I may be of mutual benefit.”
“I shall be glad of your company,” said the other. “And, good Mr. Feeble-mind, so that we will not part since we are thus happily met, I will lend you one of my crutches.”
“No,” said he, “though I thank you for your goodwill, I am not inclined to limp before I can no longer walk. Howbeit, I think when the occasion should arise, it may help me against a dog.”
Ready-to-halt said, “If either myself or my crutches can be of any assistance, we are both at your command, good Mr. Feeble-mind.”
In this manner they went on: Mr. Great-heart and Mr. Honest went in front, Christiana and her sons went next, and Mr. Feeble-mind and Mr. Ready-to-halt (with his crutches) came behind.
Then said Mr. Honest, “Please, sir, now that we are upon the road, tell us some profitable things of some that have gone on pilgrimage before us.”
Great-heart said, “With a good will. I suppose you have heard how Christian of old met with Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation, and also what hard work he had in going through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Also, I think you cannot but have heard how Faithful was put to it by Madam Unrestrained, along with Adam the First, Discontent, and Shame – four as deceitful villains as a man can meet with upon the road.”
“Yes, I have heard of all this; but indeed, good Faithful was hardest put to it with Shame. He was an unwearied one,” Honest said.
“Ay, for, as the pilgrim well said, he, of all men, had the wrong name,” Great-heart said.
“But please, sir, where was it that Christian and Faithful met Talkative? He was also a notable one,” Honest said.
“He was a confident fool; yet many follow his ways.”
“He almost beguiled Faithful.”
“Ay, but Christian showed him a way to quickly find him out.”
Thus, they went on and then their guide explained, “Here is where Christian and Faithful met with Evangelist, who prophesied to them of what troubles they should meet with at Vanity Fair.”
“Do you say so? I dare say it was a hard chapter that he read unto them,” Honest said.
“It was so, but overall, he gave them encouragement. But what do we say of them? They were a couple of lion-like men; they had set their faces like a flint.509 Do not you re[1]member how undaunted they were when they stood before the judge?”
“Well. Faithful suffered bravely.”
“So, he did, and brave things came of it; for Hopeful and some others, as the story relates it, were converted by his death.”
“Well, please go on; for you are well acquainted with things,” Honest said.
Great-heart said, “Above all those that Christian met with after he had passed through Vanity Fair, a man named, Byends was the arch one.”
“By-ends! What was he?”
“A very shrewd fellow, a downright hypocrite, one that would be religious whichever way the world went; but so cunning, he was, that he would be sure never to lose or suffer for it. He had his mode of religion for every fresh occasion, and his wife was as good at it as he. He would turn from opinion to opinion; yes, and advocate for so doing, too. But, so far as I could learn, he came to an ill end with his by-ends; nor did I ever hear that any of his children were ever of any esteem with any that truly feared God,” Great-heart said.
509 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore, I was not ashamed; therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. (Isaiah 50:7)
Lodging and Good Company in Vanity
Now, by this time they had come within sight of the town of Vanity, where Vanity Fair is kept. So, when they saw that they were so near the town, they consulted with one another regarding how they should pass through the town; and some said one thing and some another. At last, Mr. Great-heart said, “I have, as you may understand, often been a conductor of pilgrims through this town. Now, I am acquainted with Mr. Mnason,510 a Cyprusian by nation, an old disciple at whose house we may lodge. If you think it good, we will turn in there.”
“Content,” old Honest said.
“Content,” Christiana said.
“Content,” Mr. Feeble-mind said; and so they all said.
Now, as you must think, it was evening by the time they got to the outside of the town; but Mr. Great-heart knew the way to the old man’s house. There they arrived, and he called at the door, and the old man within knew his voice as soon as he heard it; so, he opened the door, and they all went in. Then Mnason, their host said, “How far have you come today?”
They said, “From the house of Gaius, our friend.”
“I promise you,” said he, “you have gone a good stretch. You may well be weary; sit down.” So, they sat down.
Then said their guide, “Come, what cheer, good sirs? I dare say you are welcome to my friend.”
“I also,” Mr. Mnason said, “do bid you welcome; and whatever you want, do but say, and we will do what we can to get it for you.”
“Our great need, a while since, was harbor and good company, and now I hope we have both,” Honest said.
“For harbor, you see what it is; but for good company, that will appear as we go,” Mnason said.
“Well,” Mr. Great-heart said, “will you have the pilgrims up into their lodging?”
“I will.”
So, he took them to their respective places and also showed them a very fair dining room, where they might linger and sup together until the time should come to go to rest.
Now, when they were seated in their places and were a little cheery after their journey, Mr. Honest asked his land-lord if there were any store of good people in the town.
“We have a few; for indeed they are but a few when compared with those on the other side,” Mr. Mnason said .
“But what can we do to see some of them? For the sight of good men to those that are going on pilgrimage is like the appearing of the moon and stars to those that are sailing upon the seas,” Honest said.
Then Mr. Mnason stamped with his foot, and his daughter Grace came up. He said unto her, “Grace, go tell my friends, Mr. Contrite, Mr. Holy-man, Mr. Love-saints, Mr. Dare-notlie, and Mr. Penitent, that I have a friend or two at my house who have a mind this evening to see them.”
So, Grace went to call them, and they came; and after greeting one another, they sat down together at the table.
Then said Mr. Mnason, their landlord, “My neighbors, I have, as you see, a company of strangers come to my house; they are pilgrims. They come from afar and are going to Mount Zion. But who do you think this is?” he said, pointing his finger to Christiana. “It is Christiana, the wife of Christian, the famous pilgrim, who, with his brother Faithful was so shamefully treated in our town.”
At that they stood amazed, saying, “We little thought to see Christiana when Grace came to call us; therefore, this is a very comfortable surprise.” They then asked her of her welfare and if these young men were her husband’s sons. And when she had told them they were, they said, “May the King whom you love and serve make you as your father and bring you where he is in peace.”
Then when they had all sat down, Mr. Honest asked Mr. Contrite and the rest, “In what condition is your town at present?”
Contrite said, “You may be sure we are full of hurry at fair time. It is hard keeping our hearts and spirits in good order when we are in this troubled condition. Anyone that lives in such a place as this and has to put up with the situation we have must need to proceed with caution every moment of the day.”
“But what is the attitude now of your neighbors?” Honest said.
Contrite said, “They are much more moderate now than formerly. You know how Christian and Faithful were abused in our town; but of late, I say, they have been far more moderate. I think the blood of Faithful lies as a load upon them until now; for since they burned him, they have been ashamed to burn any more. In those days we were afraid to walk the street; but now we can show our heads. Then the name of a professor of faith was odious; now, especially in some parts of our town – for you know our town is large – religion is counted honorable.”
Then Mr. Contrite asked them, “How has it fared with you in your pilgrimage? How has the country treated you?”
“It happens to us as it happens to wayfaring men: sometimes our way is clean, sometimes foul; sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill; we are seldom at a certainty. The wind is not always on our backs, nor is everyone a friend that we meet with in the way. We have met with some notable hindrances already, and what remain behind we do not know; but for the most part, we find it true that which has been said of old: a good man must suffer trouble,” Honest said.
“You talk of hindrances; what hindrances have you met with overall?” Contrite said.
“Don’t ask me; ask Mr. Great-heart, our guide; for he can give the best account of that,” Honest said.
Mr. Great-heart said, “We have been attacked three or four times already. First, Christiana and her children were beset by two ruffians who they feared would take away their lives. We were beset by Giant Bloody-man, Giant Maul, and Giant Slay-good. Indeed, with the last, we attacked him first. And so it was, after we had been some time at the house of Gaius my host and of the whole congregation,511 we were encouraged to take our weapons with us and go see if we could attack any of those that are enemies to pilgrims; for we heard that there was a notable one nearby.
“Now Gaius knew his hangout better than I because he dwelled thereabouts. So, we looked and looked, until at last we discerned the mouth of his cave. Then we were glad and plucked up our spirits. So, we approached his den; and lo and behold, when we came there we found he had dragged by brute force, this poor man, Mr. Feeble-mind, into his net and was about to bring him to his end. But when he saw us, supposing, as we thought, he had another prey, he left the poor man in his hole and came out. So, we fought for quite some time, and he savagely defended himself; but, in conclusion, he was brought down to the ground, his head cut off, and it set up by the way-side for a terror to anyone as should again attempt to practice such ungodliness. That I tell you the truth, here is the man himself to affirm it, who was as a lamb taken out of the mouth of the lion.”
Then said Mr. Feeble-mind, “I found this true, to my cost and comfort: to my cost, when he threatened to pick my bones every moment; and to my comfort, when I saw Mr. Great-heart and his friends with their weapons approach so near for my deliverance.”
Then Mr. Holy-man said, “There are two things that those who go on pilgrimage have need to possess: courage and an unspotted life. If they do not have courage, they can never hold on to their way; and if their lives are loose, they will make the very name of a pilgrim stink.”
Then Mr. Love-saints said, “I hope this caution is not needful among you; but truly there are many that go upon the road who would rather declare themselves strangers to pilgrimage than strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
Then Mr. Dare-not-lie said, “It is true. They have neither the pilgrim’s bearing, nor the pilgrim’s courage; they do not go uprightly, but all awry with their feet; one shoe goes inward, another outward; and their trousers are out behind: here a tatter and there a tear, to the disparagement of their Lord.”
“These things,” said Mr. Penitent, “they ought to be troubled for; nor are the pilgrims likely to have that grace put upon them and their pilgrim’s progress as they desire until the way is cleared of such spots and blemishes.”
They sat talking and spending the time like this until supper was set upon the table, unto which they went and refreshed their weary bodies; so, they went to rest.
510 There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. (Acts 21:16)
511 See Romans 16:23.
More Weddings and Extended Stay
Now they stayed in the fair a great while at the house of Mr. Mnason, who in process of time gave his daughter Grace in marriage unto Samuel, Christian’s son, and his daughter Martha to Joseph. The time, as I said, that they stayed here was long, for it was not now as in former times.
Therefore, the pilgrims grew acquainted with many of the good people of the town and did them what service they could. Mercy, as she was accustomed, labored much for the poor. Therefore, their bellies and backs blessed her, and she was an ornament there to her profession. And, to say the truth for Grace, Phebe, and Martha, they were all of a very good nature and did much good in their places. All of them were also very fruitful; so that Christian’s name, as was said before, was well known for good in the world.
While they were here, a monster came out of the woods and slew many of the people of the town. It would also carry away their children and teach them to nurture its offspring. Now, no man in the town dared so much as face this monster; but all fled when they heard the noise of his coming. The monster was like unto no one beast on the earth. Its body was like a dragon, and it had seven heads and ten horns. It made great havoc of children, and yet it was governed by a woman.
This monster submitted conditions to men; and such men as loved their lives more than their souls accepted those conditions.512
Now Mr. Great-heart, together with those who came to visit the pilgrims at Mr. Mnason’s house, entered into a covenant to go and engage this beast if, perhaps, they might deliver the people of this town from the paws and mouth of this so devouring a serpent.
512 See Revelation 13.
Battle with the Beast
Then Mr. Great-heart, Mr. Contrite, Mr. Holy-man, Mr. Dare-not-lie, and Mr. Penitent went forth with their weapons to meet him. Now, the monster at first was very rampant and looked upon these enemies with great disdain; but they so belabored him, being sturdy men at arms, that they made him make a retreat: so, they came home to Mr. Mnason’s house again.
The monster, you must know, had his certain seasons to come out in and to make his attempts upon the children of the people of the town. At these seasons, these valiant worthies watched for him and continually assaulted him; insomuch that in process of time he became not only wounded but lame. So, he has not made such havoc of the townsmen’s children as he had formerly done; and it is verily believed by some that this beast will eventually die of his wounds.
This, therefore, made Mr. Great-heart and his fellows of great fame in this town; so that many of the people that want[1]ed their taste of worldly things had, at the same time, a reverent esteem and respect for them. It was upon this account, therefore, that these pilgrims were not hurt very much here. True, there were some of the baser sort that could see no more than a mole nor understand any more than a beast; these had no reverence for these men and took no notice of their valor and adventures.
Chapter Eight. The Pilgrims´ Company .
The time came at last for the pilgrims to go on their way; therefore, they prepared for their journey. They sent for their friends; they conferred with them; they set some time set apart to commit each other to the protection of their Prince. There were some that brought them of such things as they had that were fit for the weak and the strong, for the women and the men, and so laded them with those things that were necessary.513 Then they set forward on their way with their friends accompanying them so far as was convenient; and they again committed each other to the protection of their King; then they and parted.
Those, therefore, that were of the pilgrims’ company went on, and Mr. Great-heart led them. Now, the women and children being weaker, they were forced to go as they were able; so Mr. Ready-to-halt and Mr. Feeble-mind had more to sympathize with their condition. When they had left the towns-men behind, and when their friends had bid them farewell, they quickly came to the place where Faithful had been put to death. Therefore, they made a pause and thanked Him that had enabled him to bear his cross so well; and even more so because they had now found that they had benefited by his manly suffering..
They went on, therefore, after this a good way further, talking of Christian and Faithful and how Hopeful joined himself to Christian after the death of Faithful.
513 Acts 28:10
Care for the Flock
Now they came to the hill Lucre, where the silver mine was that took Demas off from his pilgrimage, and into which, as some think, By-ends fell and perished; therefore, they considered that. But when they arrived at the old monument that stood over opposite the hill Lucre, that is, to the pillar of salt that stood also within view of Sodom and its stinking lake. They marveled, as did Christian before, that men of such knowledge and intelligence as they were should be so blinded as to turn aside here. Only they considered again that human nature is not much affected by the harms that others have met with, especially if that thing upon which they look has an attracting lure upon the foolish eye.
I saw now that they went on until they came to the river that was on this side of the Delectable Mountains; to the river where the fine trees grow on both sides, and whose leaves, if taken inwardly, are good against overindulgence; where the meadows are green all the yearlong; and where they might lie down safely.514
By this riverside, in the meadows there were cottages and folds for sheep, and a house built for the nourishing and bringing up of those lambs, the babes of those women that go on pilgrimage. Also, there is One here who is entrusted with them, who can have compassion515 and can gather these lambs with his arm, carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.516 Now, to the care of this Man, Christiana admonished her four daughters-in-law to commit their little ones, that by these waters they might be housed, harbored, comforted, and nourished, and that none of them might be missing in time to come.
This Man, if any of them were to go astray or be lost, will bring them back again;517 he will also bind up the wounds of the broken hearted518 and will strengthen those that are sick. Here they will never lack food, drink, and clothing; here they will be kept from thieves and robbers; for this Man will die before one of those committed to his trust shall be lost. Besides, here they shall be sure to have good nurture and admonition and shall be taught to walk in right paths, and that you know is a favor of no small account. Also here, as you see, are delicate waters, pleasant meadows, dainty flowers, variety of trees, and such as bear wholesome fruit: fruit not like that which Matthew ate of that fell over the wall out of Beelzebub’s garden, but fruit that procures health where there is none and fruit that continues and increases it where it is.
So, they were content to commit their little ones to Him; and another encouragement for them to do so was that all of this was to be at the charge of the King, and so it was a hospital for young children and orphans.
514 Psalm 23
515 Who can have compassion on the ignorant and on those that are in error; for he himself is also compassed with weakness. (Hebrews 5:2)
516 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11)
517 For I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will return them to this land, and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. (Jeremiah 24:6)
518 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good tidings unto those who are cast down; to bind up the wounds of the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those that are bound. (Isaiah 61:1)
Considering War with the Giant
Now they went on. And when they came to By-path Meadow, to the stile over which Christian went with Hopeful, his fellow, when they were taken by the Giant Despair and put into Doubting Castle, they sat down and consulted what was best to be done. For, now that they were so strong and had such a man as Mr. Great-heart for their conductor, they considered whether it might be best to make an attack upon the giant, demolish his castle, and if there were any pilgrims in it to set them at liberty before they went any further. So, one said one thing, and another said the contrary.
One questioned, “Is it lawful to go upon unconsecrated ground?”
Another said, “We might, provided our end is good.”
But Mr. Great-heart said, “Though that assertion offered last cannot be universally true, still I have a commandment to resist sin, to overcome evil, to fight the good fight of faith; and I ask: with whom should I fight this good fight, if not with Giant Despair? I will, therefore, attempt the taking away of his life and the demolishing of Doubting Castle.” Then he said, “Who will go with me?”
Then old Honest said, “I will.”
“And so will we too,” said Christiana’s four sons: Matthew, Samuel, Joseph, and James. For they were young men and strong.519
So, they left the women in the road, and with them, to be their guard until they came back, Mr. Feeble-mind and Mr. Ready-to-halt with his crutches; for in that place, the Giant Despair dwelled so near, they keeping in the road, a little child might lead them.520
519 I write unto you, fathers, that ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, that ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, that ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, that ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, that ye are strong and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:13–14)
520 Isaiah 11:6
Battle with Giant Despair
So, Mr. Great-heart, old Honest, and the four young men went to go up to Doubting Castle to look for Giant Despair. When they came to the castle gate, they knocked for entrance with a loud noise. At that, the old Giant came to the gate, and Diffidence, his wife, followed.
Then he said, “Who and what is he that is so hardy, as after this manner to molest the Giant Despair?”
Mr. Great-heart replied, “It is I, Great-heart, one of the King of the celestial country’s conductors of pilgrims to their place; and I demand that you open your gates for my entrance. Also, prepare yourself to fight, for I am come to take away your head and to demolish Doubting Castle.”
Now Giant Despair thought, because he was a giant, no man could overcome him, and he thought again, “Since in times past I have made a conquest of angels, shall Great-heart make me afraid?” So, he harnessed himself, and went out. He had a cap of steel upon his head, a breastplate of fire girded to him, and he came out in iron shoes with a great club in his hand.
Then these six men engaged him and beset him behind and before. Also, when Diffidence the giantess came up to help him, old Mr. Honest cut her down at one blow. Then they fought for their lives, and Giant Despair was brought down to the ground but was very slow to die. He struggled hard and had, as they say, as many lives as a cat; but Great-heart was his death, for he did not leave him until he had severed his head from his shoulders.
Then they fell to demolishing Doubting Castle, and that, you know, might be done with ease since Giant Despair was dead. It took them seven days to destroy it; and there of pilgrims they found a Mr. Despondency almost starved to death, and one called Much-afraid, his daughter; these two they saved alive. But it would have made you wonder to have seen the dead bodies that lay here and there in the castle yard and how full of dead men’s bones the dungeon was.
When Mr. Great-heart and his companions had performed this exploit, they took Mr. Despondency and his daughter Much-afraid into their protection; for they were honest people, though they were prisoners in Doubting Castle to that tyrant Giant Despair. They also, I say, took with them the head of the giant, for they had buried his body under a heap of stones, and down to the road and to their companions they came and showed them what they had done.
Celebration of Victory
Now, when Feeble-mind and Ready-to-halt saw that it was, indeed, the head of Giant Despair, they were very light-hearted and merry. Now Christiana, if needs be, could play upon the viol, and her daughter-in-law Mercy upon the lute; so, since they were so merry disposed, she played them a lesson, and Ready-to-halt felt like dancing. He took Despondency’s daughter, Much-afraid, by the hand and they went out into the road dancing. True, he could not dance without one crutch in his hand, but I promise you he footed it well. Also, the girl was to be commended, for she followed the music handsomely.
As for Mr. Despondency, the music was not so much to him; he was for feeding rather than dancing because he was almost starved. So, Christiana gave him some of her bottle of spirits for present relief and then prepared him something to eat; and in a little while, the old gentleman came to himself and began to be finely revived.
A Monument of Deliverance
Now I saw in my dream that when all these things were finished, Mr. Great-heart took the head of Giant Despair and set it upon a pole by the highway side, right opposite the pillar that Christian erected for a caution to pilgrims that came after to take heed of entering into his grounds.
Then he wrote under it upon a marble stone these verses following:
This is the head of him whose name only
In former times did pilgrims terrify.
His castle’s down, and Diffidence his wife,
Brave Mr. Great-heart has bereft of life.
Despondency, his daughter Much-afraid,
Great-heart for them also the man has played.
Who hereof doubts, if he’ll but cast his eye
Up hither, may his scruples satisfy.
This head also, when doubting cripples dance,
Doth show from fears they have deliverance.
When these men had so bravely proved themselves against Doubting Castle and had slain Giant Despair, they went forward and went on until they came to the Delectable Mountains, where Christian and Hopeful refreshed themselves with the varieties of the place. They also acquainted themselves with the shepherds there who welcomed them, as they had done with Christian before, unto the Delectable Mountains.
Welcome for the Weak and the Strong
Now the shepherds seeing so great a train follow Mr. Great-heart – for with him they were well acquainted – they said unto him, “Good sir, you have got a goodly company here; pray where did you find all these?”
Then Mr. Great-heart replied,
“First, here is Christiana and her train,
Her sons, and her sons’ wives, who, like the Wain,
Keep by the pole, and do by compass steer
From sin to grace, else they had not been here;
Next, here’s old Honest come on pilgrimage,
Ready-to-halt too, who I dare engage.
True-hearted is, and so is Feeble-mind,
Who willing was not to be left behind.
Despondency, good man, is coming after,
And so also is Much-afraid, his daughter.
May we have entertainment here, or must
We further go? Let’s knew whereon to trust.”
Then said the shepherds, “This is a comfortable company. You are welcome to us; for we have for the feeble as well as for the strong. Our Prince has an eye to what is done to the least of these.521 Therefore, infirmity must not be a block to our entertainment.”
So, they had them to the palace doors and then said unto them, “Come in, Mr. Feeble-Mind; come in Mr. Ready-to-halt; come in, Mr. Despondency, and Ms. Much-afraid his daughter. These, Mr. Great-heart,” said the shepherds to the guide, “we call in by name because they are most likely to draw back; but as for you and the rest that are strong, we leave you to your customary liberty.”
Then Mr. Great-heart said, “This day I see that grace shines in your faces, and that you are my Lord’s shepherds indeed; for that you have not pushed these diseased neither with side nor shoulder522 but have, rather, strewed their way into the palace with flowers, as you should.”
So, the feeble and weak went in, and Mr. Great-heart and the rest followed. When they had all sat down, the shepherds said to those of the weaker sort, “What is it that you would have? For, we must manage all things here so as to support the weak as well as to warn the unruly.”
Then they made them a feast of things easy of digestion and that were pleasant to the palate and nourishing; when they had received this, they went to their rest, each one respectively unto his proper place.
521 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brothers, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40)
522 Ezekiel 34:21
Tour of the Delectable Mountains
When morning came, because the Mountains were high and the day clear, and because it was the custom of the shepherds to show the pilgrims some rarities before their departure, therefore, after they were ready and had refreshed themselves, the Shepherds took them out into the fields and showed them first what they had shown to Christian before.
Then they took them to some new places. The first was Mount Marvel, where they looked and saw a man at a distance who tumbled the hills about with words. Then they asked the shepherds what that meant. So, they told them that the man was the son of a Mr. Great-grace (of whom you read in the first part of the records of the pilgrim’s progress), and he is set there to teach pilgrims how to believe down, or to tumble out of their ways, what difficulties they should meet with, by faith.523
Then Mr. Great-heart said, “I know him; he is a man above many.”
Then they took them to another place called Mount Innocence. And there they saw a man all clothed in white; and two men, Prejudice and Ill-will, continually casting dirt upon him. Now behold, the dirt, however much they cast at him, would fall off again in a short time and his garment would look as clean as if no dirt had been cast upon it.
Then the pilgrims said, “What does this mean?”
The shepherds answered, “This man is named Godly-man, and this garment is to show the innocence of his life. Now, those that throw dirt at him hate his well-doing; but as you see, the dirt will not stick upon his clothes; so it shall be with anyone that lives innocently in the world. Whoever they are that would make such men dirty, they labor all in vain; for in a little while, God will cause that their innocence shall break forth as the light and their righteousness as the noonday.
Then they took them to Mount Charity, where they showed them a man that had a bundle of cloth lying in front of him, out of which he cut coats and garments for the poor that stood around him; yet his bundle or roll of cloth was never the less.
Then they said, “What should this be?”
“This is,” said the shepherds, “to show you that he who has a heart to give of his labor to the poor shall never lack what he needs. He that waters shall be watered himself. And the cake that the widow gave to the prophet did not cause her to have less flour in her barrel.”524
They took them also to a place where they saw two men named Fool and Want-wit washing a speckled goat with the intention of making him white; but the more they washed him, the more his blotches stood out.
Then they asked the shepherds what that should mean.
They told them, saying, “Thus it is with the vile person; all means used to get such a one a good name shall in the end tend to only make him more abominable. Thus, it was with the pharisees; and so, it shall be with all hypocrites.”
Then Mercy, the wife of Matthew, said to Christiana, her mother-in-law, “Mother, I would, if it might be, see the hole in the hill, or that commonly called the By-way to hades.”
So, her mother spoke her mind to the shepherds. Then they went to the door; it was on the side of a hill; and they opened it and let Mercy hear for a while. She listened and heard someone saying, “Cursed be my father for holding my feet back from the way of peace and life.”
Another said, “I would rather have been torn in pieces instead of losing my soul to save my life!”
And another said, “If I were to live again, I would deny myself, rather than to come to this place!”
Then it was as if the very earth groaned and quaked under the feet of this young woman for fear; she looked white and came trembling away, saying, “Blessed be those that are delivered from this place!”
Now, when the shepherds had shown them all these things, then they took them back to the palace and entertained them with what the house would afford. But Mercy, being a young and married woman, longed for something that she saw there, but she was ashamed to ask.
523 For verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Remove thyself and cast thyself into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that what he says shall be done whatsoever he says shall be done unto him. Therefore I say unto you that everything that ye ask for, praying, believe that ye receive it, and it shall come upon you. (Mark 11:23–24)
524 1 Kings 17
The Looking Glass
Her mother-in-law then asked her what was wrong, for she looked as one not well.
Then Mercy said, “ There is a looking glass hanging up in the dining room, off which I cannot take my mind; if, therefore, I have it not, I think I shall miscarry.”
Then her mother said, “I will mention your desire to the shepherds, and they will not deny you.”
But she said, “I am ashamed that these men should know that I longed for it.”
“No, my daughter,” Mercy said, “it is no shame but a virtue to long for such a thing as that.”
So, Mercy said, “Then mother, if you please, ask the shepherds if they are willing to sell it.”
Now the glass was one of a thousand.525 It would present a man, one way, with his own features exactly; but turn it another way, and it would show the very face and similitude of the Prince of Pilgrims himself. Yes, I have spoken with those that can tell, and they have said that they have seen the very crown of thorns upon his head by looking in that glass; they have therein also seen the holes in his hands, his feet, and his side. For such an excellency is there in the glass that it will show him to you, where you have a mind to see him, whether living or dead, whether in earth or in heaven, whether in a state of humiliation or in his exaltation, whether coming to suffer or coming to reign.
Christiana, therefore, went to the shepherds apart (now the names of the shepherds were Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sincere) and said unto them, “There is one of my daughters, a pregnant woman, that I think longs for something that she has seen in this house; and she thinks that she shall miscarry if she should by you be denied.”
Experience said, “Call her, call her, she shall assuredly have what we can help her to.”
So, they called her and said to her, “Mercy, what is that thing you desire?”
Then she blushed and said, “The great glass that hangs up in the dining room.”
So Sincere ran and brought it, and with a joyful consent, it was given to her.
Then she bowed her head and gave thanks, and she said, “By this I know that I have obtained favor in your eyes.”
525 It was the Word of God.
Rewards
They also gave to the other young women such things as they desired, and to their husbands, great commendation, for that they had joined with Mr. Great-heart in the slaying of Giant Despair and the demolishing of Doubting Castle.
The shepherds put a necklace around Christiana’s neck, and also around the necks of her four daughters; they also put earrings in their ears and jewels on their foreheads.
When they desired to go forward, they let them go in peace and did not give them those certain warnings that had been given before to Christian and his companion. The reason was that these had Great-heart to be their guide, who was well acquainted with things and so could warn them in a timelier manner, that is, even when the danger was near and approaching. What warnings Christian and his companion had received from the shepherds, they had also lost when the time came that they had need to put them in practice. Therefore, here was the advantage that this company had over the other.
From there, they went on singing, and they said,
“Behold how fitly are the tables set,
For their relief that pilgrims are become;
And how they us receive without one let,
That make the other life the mark and home!
What novelties they have, to us they give,
That we, though pilgrims, joyful lives may live;
They do upon us, too, such things bestow,
That show we pilgrims are, where’er we go.”
Chapter Nine. Summoned by the King.
After they departed from the shepherds, they quickly came to the place where Christian met with a man named Turn-away that lived in the town of Apostasy. Mr. Great-heart their guide now reminded them, saying, “This is the place where Christian met with the one named Turnaway who carried with him the character of his rebellion on his back. And I have this to say concerning the man: he would not listen to counsel; once he began falling, persuasion could not stop him. When he came to the place where the cross and sepulchre were, he did meet with one who told him to look there, but he gnashed with his teeth and stamped and said he was resolved to go back to his own town. Before he came to the gate, he met with Evangelist who offered to lay hands on him, to turn him into the way again; but this Turn-away resisted him, and having done much injury unto him, he got away over the wall and so escaped his hand.”
Then they went on, and just at the place where Little-faith had been robbed, there stood a man with his sword drawn and his face all covered with blood.
Then Mr. Great-heart asked, “Who are you?”
Valiant Victor
The man answered, saying, “My name is Valiant-for-truth. I am a pilgrim and am going to the Celestial City. Now, as I was on my way, three men beset me and proposed unto me these three things: (1) whether I would become one of them; (2) or, go back from where I came; (3) or die upon this place.526 To the first I answered, ‘I have been a true man for a long season, and therefore, it could not be expected that I should now cast in my lot with thieves.’ Then they demanded what I would say to the second. So, I told them that regarding the place from where I came, if I had not found incommodity there, I would not have forsaken it at all; but finding it altogether unsuitable to me and very unprofitable for me, I forsook it for this way. Then they asked me what I said to the third. And I told them my life was dear to me and that I would not lightly give it away. ‘Besides, it is not of your prerogative thus to put things to my choice; therefore, it is at your peril if you meddle.’
“Then these three, that is, Wild-head, Inconsiderate, and Pragmatic, drew their swords upon me, and I also drew upon them. So, we fell to it, one against three, for the space of more than three hours. They have left upon me, as you see, some of the marks of their valor, and have also carried away with them some of mine. They have just now gone; I suppose they might have heard you coming, and so they took flight.”
“But here were great odds, three against one,” Great-heart said.
“It is true,” Valiant-for-truth said, “but little and more are nothing to him that has the truth on his side. ‘Though a host should encamp against me,’ said one,527 ‘my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident,’ and so forth. Besides, I have read in some records that one man has fought an army; and about the many that Samson did slay with the jawbone of an ass!”
“Why did you not cry for help, that someone might have come to your aid?” Great-heart said.
“So I did to my King, who I knew could hear me and afford invisible help, and that was sufficient for me,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“You have worthily behaved yourself: let me see your sword,” Great-heart said. So, he showed it to him.
When he had taken it in his hand and looked upon it awhile, Great-heart said, “Ha, it is a right Jerusalem blade.”
Valiant-for-truth said, “It is so. Let a man have one of these blades with a hand to wield it and skill to use it, and he may venture upon an angel with it. He need not fear its grip if he knows how to fight. Its edge will never blunt. It will cut flesh and bones, and soul, and spirit, and all.”528
“But you fought a great while; I wonder you were not weary,” Great-heart said.
“I fought till my sword cleaved to my hand; and then they were joined together as if a sword grew out of my arm; and when the blood ran through my fingers, then I fought with the most courage,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“You have done well; you have resisted unto blood, striving against sin. You shall abide with us, come in and go out with us; for we are your companions. Then they took him and washed his wounds and gave him of what they had to refresh him: and so, they went together.
526 My son, if sinners entice thee, do not consent. If they say, Come with us, let us lay in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol and whole as those that go down into the pit; We shall find all kinds of riches, we shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, do not walk in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet shall run to evil and make haste to shed blood. (Proverbs 1:10–16)
527 Psalm 27:3
528 For the word of God is alive and efficient and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
The Pilgrim’s Testimony
Now, as they went on, because Mr. Great-heart was delighted in him (for he greatly loved anyone that he found to be a man of his hands) and because there were in the company those that were feeble and weak, therefore, he questioned with Valiant-for-truth about many things: at first about what countryman he was.
“I am of Dark-land; for there I was born, and there my father and mother are still,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“Dark-land! Does that not lie on the same coast with the City of Destruction?”
“Yes, it does. Now that which caused me to come on pilgrimage was this. A man named Mr. Tell-true came into our parts, and he told about what Christian had done, who had left the City of Destruction; namely, how he had forsaken his wife and children and had betaken himself to a pilgrim’s life. It was also confidently reported how he had killed a serpent that came out to resist him in his journey; and how he got through to where he intended. It was also told what welcome he had at all his Lord’s lodgings, especially when he came to the gates of the Celestial City. For there, said the man, he was received with the sound of trumpets by a company of shining ones.
“He told also of how all the bells in the city rang for joy at his reception and what golden garments he was clothed with; with many other things that now I shall forbear to relate. In a word, that man so told the story of Christian and his travels that my heart fell into a burning haste to be gone after him; nor could my father or mother stop me. So, I left them and have come thus far on my way.”
“You came in at the gate, did you not?” Great-heart said.
“Yes, yes; for the same man also told us that all would be for nothing if we did not begin to enter this way at the gate,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“Look at this,” said the guide to Christiana, “the pilgrimage of your husband, and what he has accomplished by it, is spread abroad far and near.”
“Why, is this Christian’s wife?” Valiant-for-truth asked.
“Yes, that it is; and these also are his four sons,” Great-heart said.
“What, and going on pilgrimage too?” Valiant-for-truth said.
“Yes, verily, they are following after.”
“It makes my heart glad. Good man, how joyful he will be when he shall see those that would not go with him before, now enter in after him at the gates into the Celestial City.
“Without doubt it will be a comfort to him; for, next to the joy of being there himself, it will be a joy to meet his wife and children there.”
“But now that you are upon this subject, please let me hear your opinion about it. Some question whether we shall know one another when we are there,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“Do you think they shall know themselves then, or that they shall rejoice to see themselves in that bliss? And if they think they shall know and do this, why not know others and rejoice in their welfare also? Again, since relatives are our second self, though that state will be dissolve, yet why may it not be rationally concluded that we shall be gladder to see them there than if they were not there?” Great-heart said.
“Well, I perceive where you are regarding this. Have you any more things to ask me about how I began to come on pilgrimage?”
“Yes; were your father and mother willing that you should become a pilgrim?”
Family Resistance
“Oh no; they used all means imaginable to persuade me to stay at home.”
“Why, what could they say against it?” Great-heart said.
“They said it was an idle life; and if I myself were not inclined to sloth and laziness, I would never put up with a pilgrim’s condition,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“And what else did they say?”
“ Why, they told me that it was a dangerous way; they said it was the most dangerous way in the world; this, they said, is the way that pilgrims go.”
“Did they show you how this way is so dangerous?”
“Yes; and that in many particulars.”
“Name some of them,” Great-heart said.
“ They told me of the Slough of Hopelessness where Christian was almost smothered. They told me that there were archers standing ready in Beelzebub Castle to shoot those who should knock at the narrow gate for entrance. They told me also of the woods and dark mountains; of the hill Difficulty; of the lions; and also, of the three giants: Bloody-man, Maul, and Slay-good. They said, moreover, that there was a foul fiend that haunted the Valley of Humiliation, and that by him Christian almost lost his life. Besides, they said, you must go over the Valley of the Shadow of Death where the demons are, where the light is darkness, where the way is full of snares, pits, traps, and gins. They told me also of Giant Despair, of Doubting Castle, and of the ruin that the pilgrims met with here. Further, they said I must go over the Enchanted Ground, which was very dangerous; and that after all this I should find a river, over which I should find no bridge; and that that river lies between me and the celestial country,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“And was this all?”
“No. They also told me that this way was full of deceivers and of persons that lay in wait there to turn good men out of the path.”
“But how did they make that out?”
“ They told me that Mr. Wordly Wiseman lies there in wait to deceive. They said also that Formality and Hypocrisy were continually on the road, and that By-ends, Talkative, or Demas would come near to gather me up; that the Flatterer would catch me in his net; or that, with green-headed Ignorance, I would presume to go on to the gate, from where he was sent back to the hole that was in the side of the hill and made to go the by-way to hades.”
“I promise you this was enough to discourage you; but did they make an end here?” Great-heart said.
“No, they did not stop,” Valiant-for-truth said. “They told me also of many that had tried that way of old, those that had gone along a great way to see if they could find something of the glory there that so many had talked so much of from time to time, and how they came back again and made fools out of themselves for setting a foot out of doors in that path, to the satisfaction of all the countryside. And they named several that did so, such as Obstinate and Pliable, Mistrust and Timorous, Turn-away and old Atheist, with several more; among whom, they said, some of them had gone far to see what they could find, but not one of them had found as much advantage by going as amounted to the weight of a feather.”
“Did they say anything more to discourage you?”
“Yes. They told me of a Mr. Fearing who was a pilgrim, and how he found his way so lonely that he never had a comfortable hour along the way; also, that Mr. Despondency was almost starved to death; yes, and also, which I had almost forgot, that Christian himself, about whom there has been such an uproar, after all his adventures for a celestial crown, was certainly drowned in the Black River and never went a foot further; however it was covered up.”
“And did none of these things discourage you?”
“No; they seemed but as so many nothings to me.”
“How did that come about?”
“Why, I still believed what Mr. Tell-true had said; and that carried me beyond them all,” Valiant-for-truth said.
“Then this was your victory, even your faith,”529 Great-heart said.
“It was so. I believed and, therefore, came out, got into the way, fought all that set themselves against me, and by believing, have come to this place.”
Who would true valor see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather.
There’s no discouragement,
Shall make him once relent,
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound;
His strength the more is:
No lion can him fright,
He’ll with a giant fight,
But he will have a right
To be a pilgrim.
Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows he at the end,
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,
He’ll not fear what men say;
He’ll labor night and day
To be a pilgrim.
By this time, they were at the Enchanted Ground, where the air naturally tended to make one drowsy. And that place was all grown over with briars and thorns, excepting here and there where there was an enchanted arbor, upon which if a man sits, or in which if a man sleeps, it is a question, some say, whether he shall ever rise or wake again in this world.
529 For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4)
Enchanted Arbor
Over this forest, therefore, they went, one with another. Mr. Great-heart went in front, for he was the guide; and Mr. Valiant-for-truth came behind, being the rear guard, to make sure that no fiend, or dragon, or giant, or thief should be able to fall upon their rear, and so do mischief. They went on here, each man with his sword drawn in his hand; for they knew it was a dangerous place. Also, they cheered up one another as well as they could. Feeble-mind, Mr. Great-heart commanded, should follow him; and Mr. Despondency was under the eye of Mr. Valiant.
Now they had not gone far, but a great mist and darkness fell upon them all; so that they could scarcely, for a great while, see one another. Therefore, they were forced for some time to feel for one another by words; for they walked not by sight.530
By any account, this was sorry going for the best of them; but how much worse for the women and children who were tender of both feet and heart! Yet so it was, that through the encouraging words of him that led in the front, and of him that brought up the rear, they were able to make progress.
The way here was also very wearisome, through dirt and muckiness. Nor was there, on all this ground, so much as one inn or eating house to refresh the feebler sort. Here, therefore, was much grunting, and puffing, and sighing while one tumbled over a bush, another stuck fast in the dirt, and the children, some of them, lost their shoes in the mire; while one cried out, “I am down,” and another, “Ho, where are you?” and a third, “The bushes have got such fast hold on me, I think I cannot get loose from them.”
Then they came to an arbor that looked warm and promising, and very refreshing to the pilgrims; for it was finely made, beautified with greens, and furnished with benches and seats. It also had in it a soft couch, upon which the weary might lie. This, you must think, all things considered, was tempting; for the pilgrims already began to be frustrated with the badness of the way. But not one of them made so much as a motion to stop there. So much as I could perceive, they continually paid such good attention to the advice of their guide, and he so faithfully warned them of the dangers and of the nature of the dangers when they were near them that, usually, when they were the closest to them, they plucked up their spirits and heartened one another to deny the flesh. This arbor was called The Slothful’s Friend and was made on purpose to allure, if it might be, some of the pilgrims there to take up their rest when weary.
I saw in my dream that they continued on over this lonely ground until they came to a place where a person is apt to lose their way. Now, when it was light, their guide could tell well enough how to miss those ways that led wrong, yet in the dark he was forced to a stop. However, he had in his pocket a Map531 of all the ways leading to or from the Celestial City; so, he struck a light (for he was never without his tinder box) and looked at his book or map, which warned him to be careful in that place to turn to the right hand. And had he not been careful here to look at his map, in all probability, they would have been smothered in the mud; for just a little in front of them and at the end of the cleanest way too, there was a pit, no one knows how deep, full of nothing but mud, made there on purpose to destroy the pilgrims in.
***
Then I thought to myself, “Everyone who goes on pilgrimage should have one of these maps with him so that he may look, when he is at a standstill, which is the way he must take.”
530 For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
531 God’s Book, the Holy Scriptures.
Sleep Talkers
Then they continued on in the Enchanted Ground until they came to where there was another arbor, and it was built by the highway side. And in that arbor lay two men whose names were Heedless and Too-bold. These two had come this far on pilgrimage; but here, being wearied with their journey, they sat down to rest and so fell fast asleep. When the pilgrims saw them, they stood still and shook their heads; for they knew that the sleepers were in a pitiful case.
Then they consulted what to do, whether to go on and leave them in their sleep, or to step to them and try to awake them; so they concluded to go to them and awake them, that is, if they could; but with this caution, namely, to take heed that they themselves did not sit down nor embrace the offered benefit of that arbor.
So, they went in and spoke to the men, and they called each by his name, for the guide, it seems, did know them; but there was no voice nor answer. Then the guide shook them and did what he could to disturb them.
Then one of them said, “I will pay you when I receive my money.”
At which, the guide shook his head.
“I will fight as long as I can hold my sword in my hand,” said the other.
At that, one of the children laughed.
Then Christiana said, “What is the meaning of this?”
The guide said, “They talk in their sleep. If you strike them, beat them, or whatever else you do to them, they will answer you after this fashion; or, as one of them said in old time, when the waves of the sea beat upon him, and he slept as one asleep at the rudder, ‘When I shall awake, I will seek it yet again.’532
“You know, when men talk in their sleep, they say anything; but their words are not governed either by faith or reason. There is an incoherency in their words now, as there was before between their going on pilgrimage and sitting down here. This, then, is the mischief of it: when heedless ones go on pilgrimage, twenty to one but they come to this. For this Enchanted Ground is one of the last refuges that the enemy to pilgrims has; therefore, it is, as you see, placed almost at the end of the way, and so it stands against us with even more advantage. ‘For when,’ thinks the enemy, ‘will these fools be so desirous to sit down as when they are weary? And when shall they be so likely to be weary as when almost at their journey’s end?’
“Therefore, it is, I say, that the Enchanted Ground is placed so near to Beulah Land and so near the end of their race. Therefore, let pilgrims examine themselves, lest it befall them as has happened to these that, as you see, are fallen asleep and no one can awake them.”
Then the pilgrims desired with trembling to go forward; only they asked their guide to strike a light, that they might go the rest of their way by the help of the light of a lantern.533 So, he struck a light, and they went by the help of that through the rest of this way, though the darkness was very great.
But the children were worn out and tired, and they cried out unto Him that loves pilgrims to make their way more comfortable. So, by the time that they had gone a little further, a wind arose that drove away the fog, so the air became clearer. Even so, they were not completely out of the Enchanted Ground; only now they could see one another better and the way wherein they should walk.
532 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lies down in the midst of the sea or as he that sleeps at the rudder. They have stricken me, thou shalt say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not; when I shall awake, I will seek it yet again. (Proverbs 23:34–35)
533 The light of the Word. We have also the most sure word of the prophets, unto which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19)
Seduction
Now, when they were almost at the end of this ground, they perceived a little ahead of them a solemn noise, as of someone who was very concerned. So, they went on and looked in front of them, and there they saw, as they thought, a man upon his knees, with hands and eyes uplifted, and speaking, as they thought, earnestly to One that was above. They drew near but could not overhear what he said; so, they went softly until he finished.
When he was done, he got up, and began to run toward the Celestial City.
Then Mr. Great-heart called after him, saying, “So ho, friend, let us have your company, if you go, as I suppose you do, to the Celestial City.”
The man stopped, and they came up to him. As soon as Mr. Honest saw him, he said, “ I know this man.”
Then Mr. Valiant-for-truth inquired, “Please, who is it?”
“It is one,” he replied, “that comes from about where I lived. His name is Standfast; he is certainly a right good pilgrim.”
So, they came up to one another; and presently Standfast said to old Honest, “Ho, father Honest, are you there?”
“Ay,” said he, “that I am, as sure as you are there.”
“Right glad I am,” said Mr. Standfast, “to see you on this road.”
“And I am equally glad,” said the other, “that I spied you on your knees.”
Then Mr. Standfast blushed and said, “You saw me?”
“Yes, that I did,” said the other, “and my heart was glad at the sight.”
“Why, what did you think?” said Standfast.
“Think!” said old Honest. “What should I think? I thought we would find an honest man upon the road and, therefore, should have his company by and by.”
“If you did not think amiss,” said Standfast, “I am blessed! But if I am not as I should, it is I alone who must bear it.”
“That is true; but your fear further confirms to me that things are right between the Prince of Pilgrims and your soul. For he said, ‘Blessed is the man that fears God always.’”534
“Very well, brother, but please tell us what was the cause of your being upon your knees even now. Was it for some obligations laid by special mercies upon you, or how?” Valiant-for-truth said.
“Why, we are, as you see, upon the Enchanted Ground,” Standfast said. “And as I was coming along, I was musing with myself as to what a dangerous nature the road in this place is; and how many that have come even this far on pilgrimage have here been stopped and been destroyed. I thought also of the manner of the death with which this place destroys people. Those that die here do not die of violent distemper; the death they die is not grievous to them. For those that pass away in a sleep begin that journey with desire and pleasure. For they even acquiesce in the will of that disease.”
Then Mr. Honest interrupted him, saying, “Did you see the two men asleep in the arbor?”
“Ay, ay,” Standfast said. “I saw Heedless and Too-bold there; and for all I know, they will lie there until they rot. But let me go on with my tale. As I was thus musing, as I said, there was one in very pleasant attire, but old, who presented herself to me and offered me three things, that is: her body, her purse, and her bed. Now the truth is, I was both weary and sleepy. I am also as poor as an owlet, and perhaps the witch knew that. Well, I repulsed her once and again, but she paid no attention to my repulses and smiled.
“Then I began to be angry; but that made no difference at all. Then she repeated her offers and said that if I would be ruled by her, she would make me great and happy. ‘For,’ said she, ‘I am the mistress of the world, and men are made happy by me.
“Then I asked her name, and she told me it was Madam Bubble. This set me further from her, but she still followed me with enticements. Then I went, as you saw, to my knees, and with hands uplifted and cries, I prayed to Him that had said he would help. So, just as you came up, the gentlewoman went her way. Then I continued to give thanks for my great deliverance; for I truly believe she intended no good but, rather, sought to make me stop my journey.”
“Without a doubt, her designs were bad. But, now that you speak of her, I think I have either seen her, or have read some story of her,” Honest said.
“Perhaps you have done both,” Standfast said.
“ Madam Bubble! Is she not a tall, comely dame with something of a swarthy complexion?” Honest said.
“Right, you hit it; she is just such a one,” Standfast said.
“Does she not speak very smoothly and give you a smile at the end of a sentence?” Honest said.
“You fall right upon it again, for these are her very actions,” Standfast said.
“Does she not wear a great purse by her side, and is not her hand often in it, fingering her money, as if that were her heart’s delight,” Honest said.
“It is just so; had she stood by all this while, you could not more amply have set her forth before me, nor have better described her features,” Standfast said.
“Then, he that drew her picture was a good painter, and he that wrote of her said the truth,” Honest said.
“ This woman is a witch,” Great-heart said, “and it is by virtue of her sorceries that the ground535 is enchanted. Whoever lays his head down in her lap might as well lay it down on that chopping block over which the axe hangs; and those who lay their eyes upon her beauty are counted as the enemies of God. She is the one that maintains all those that are the enemies of pilgrims in their splendor.536 Yes, she has bought off many from a pilgrim’s life. She is a great gossiper; she is always, both she and her daughters, at one pilgrim’s heels or another, now commending and then preferring the excellences of this life. She is a bold and impudent slut; she will talk with anyone. She always laughs poor pilgrims to scorn, but highly commends the rich. If, in a given place there is someone guileful to get money, she will speak well of them from house to house. She loves banqueting and feasting; she is always at one full table or another. She has let it be known in some places that she is a goddess, and therefore, some do worship her. She has her time and open places of cheating; and she will say and avow it, that no one can show us any good537 comparable to hers.
“She promises to dwell with children’s children if they will but love her and make much of her. She will cast gold out of her purse like dust in some places and to some persons. She loves to be sought after, spoken well of, and to lie in the bosoms of men. She is never weary of commending her commodities, and she loves those most that think best of her. She will promise crowns and kingdoms to some if they will but take her advice; yet many has she brought to the noose, and ten thousand times more to hell.”
“Oh,” said Standfast, “what a mercy is it that I resisted her; for where might she have drawn me!”
“Where? No, no one but God knows where,” Great-heart said. “But in general, to be sure, she would have drawn you into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.538 It was she that set Absalom against his father, and Jeroboam against his master. It was she that persuaded Judas to sell his Lord; and that prevailed with Demas to forsake the godly pilgrim’s life. There is no telling of all the mischief that she does. She promotes strife and division between rulers and subjects, between parents and children, between neighbor and neighbor, between a man and his wife, between a man and himself, between the flesh and the spirit. Therefore, good Mr. Standfast, be as your name is, and when you have done all, stand.”539
At this discourse, there was among the pilgrims a mixture of joy and trembling; but at length, they broke out and sang:
“What danger is the pilgrim in!
How many are his foes!
How many ways there are to sin,
No living mortal knows!
Some in the ditch spoiled are, yea, can
Lie tumbling in the mire;
Some, though they shun the frying pan,
Do leap into the fire.”
534 Proverbs 28:14
535 The world.
536 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore that desires to be a friend of the world, makes himself the enemy of God. (James 4:4) Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides for ever. (1 John 2:15–17)
537 Who will show us any good? is the inquiry of the worldly-minded, while the pilgrim’s request is, LORD lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us (Psalm 4:6).
538 For those that desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, charity, tolerance, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, unto which thou art also called, having made a good profession before many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:9–12)
539 Therefore, take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and stand fast, all the work having been finished. (Ephesians 6:13)
Arriving in Beulah
After this, I watched until they were into the land of Beulah, where the sun shines night and day. Here, because they were weary, they took a time of rest. And because in this country all was shared with pilgrims, and because the orchards and vineyards that were here belonged to the King of the celestial country, therefore, they were licensed to use any of his things.
But a little while soon refreshed them here; for the bells so rang, and the trumpets continually sounded so melodiously that they could not sleep, and yet they received as much refreshing as if they had slept ever so soundly. Here also, all the news of those that walked the streets was, “More pilgrims have come to town!”
And another would answer, saying, “And so many went over the water and were let in at the golden gates today!”
They would cry again, “A legion of shining ones are just coming into town, by which we know that there are more pilgrims upon the road; for here they come to wait for them and to comfort them after all their sorrow.”
Then the pilgrims got up and walked to and fro. But how were their ears now filled with heavenly noises, and their eyes delighted with celestial visions! In this land they heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing, smelled nothing, tasted nothing that was offensive to their stomach or mind; only when they tasted of the water of the river over which they were to go, they thought that it tasted a little bitter to the palate; but it proved sweeter when it was down.540
In this place, there was a record kept of the names of those that had been pilgrims of old, and a history of all the famous acts that they had done. It was here also much discussed: how the river to some had, had its flowings, and what ebbings it has had while others have gone over. It has been in a manner dry for some, while it has overflowed its banks for others.
In this place, the children of the town would go into the King’s gardens and gather flowers for the pilgrims and bring them to them with much affection. Here also grew camphire . . . with spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices.541 With these, the pilgrims’ chambers were per[1]fumed while they stayed here; and with these were their bodies anointed to prepare them to go over the river when the time appointed was come.
Now, while they lay here and waited for the good hour, there was news in the town that a post had come from the Celestial City with a matter of great importance to Christiana, the wife of Christian the pilgrim. So, inquiry was made for her, and the house where she lodged was found. And the post presented her with a letter.
540 Note: death is bitter to the flesh, but sweet to the soul.
541 Song of Solomon 4:14
Summons
The contents were, “Hail, good woman; I bring you tidings that the Master calls for you and expects that you should stand in his presence in clothes of immortality within these ten days.”
When he had read this letter to her, he gave her a sure token along with it that he was a true messenger and had come to tell her to make haste to be gone. The token was an arrow with a point sharpened with love, let easily into her heart, which by degrees worked so effectually with her that at the time appointed, she must be gone.
When Christiana saw that her time had come and that she was the first of this company that was to go over, she called for Mr. Great-heart her guide and told him how matters were. So, he told her he was heartily glad of the news and would have been glad if the post had come for him. Then she asked him to give her advice regarding how all things should be prepared for her journey.
So, he told her, saying, “ This is how it must be, and those of us that survive will accompany you to the riverside.”
Parting Blessing
Then she called for her children and gave them her blessing and told them, “I have read with comfort the mark that is set in your foreheads, and I am glad to see you with me there, and you have kept your garments so white.” Lastly, she bequeathed to the poor what little she had and commanded her sons and daughters to be ready when the messenger should come for them.
When she had spoken these words to her guide and to her children, she called for Mr. Valiant-for-truth and said unto him, “Sir, you have in all places showed yourself true-hearted; be faithful unto death, and my King will give you the crown of life.542 I would also entreat you to keep an eye on my children; and if at any time you see them faint, please encourage them. For my daughters, my sons’ wives, have been faithful, and in the end, the promise upon them shall be fulfilled.”
She gave Mr. Standfast a ring.
Then she called for old Mr. Honest, and she said of him, “Behold a true Israelite, in whom is no guile!”543
Then said he, “I wish you a fair day when you set out for Mount Sion and shall be glad to see that you go over the river dry-shod.”
But she answered, “Come wet, come dry, I long to be gone; for however the weather is in my journey, I shall have time enough when I arrive there to sit down and rest and dry myself.”
Then that good man Mr. Ready-to-halt came in to see her. So, she said to him, “Your travel up until now has been with difficulty; but that will make your rest the sweeter. Watch and be ready; for at an hour when you think not, the messenger may come.”544
After him came Mr. Despondency and his daughter Much-afraid, to whom she said, “You ought, with thankfulness, to remember forever your deliverance from the hands of Giant Despair and out of Doubting Castle. The effect of that mercy is that you have been brought here safely. Be watchful, and cast away fear; be sober, and hope to the end.”
Then she said to Mr. Feeble-mind, “You were delivered from the mouth of Giant Slay-good, that you might live in the light of the living and see your King with comfort. Only I advise you to repent of your aptness to fear and doubt of his goodness before he sends for you; lest you should, when he comes, be forced to stand before him for that fault with blushing.”
542 Revelation 2:10
543 John 1:47
544 Matthew 24:44
Farewell
Now the day drew on that Christiana must be gone. So, the road was full of people to see her take her journey. And, behold, all the banks beyond the river were full of horses and chariots that had come down from above to accompany her to the city gate. So, she came forth, and entered the river, with a wave of farewell to those that followed her. The last words that she was heard to say were, “I come, Lord, to be with you and bless you!”
So, her children and friends returned to their place, for those that waited for Christiana had carried her out of their sight. So, she went and called, and entered in at the gate with all the ceremonies of joy that her husband Christian had entered with before her. At her departure, the children wept. But Mr. Great-heart and Mr. Valiant played upon the well-tuned cymbal and harp for joy. So, all departed to their respective places.
More Summons
In the process of time, a post came to the town again, and his business was with Mr. Ready-to-halt. So he inquired him out and said, “I have come to you in the name of Him whom you have loved and followed, though upon crutches; and my message is to tell you that he expects you at his table to sup with him in his kingdom the next day after Easter. Therefore, prepare yourself for this journey.”
Then he also gave him a token that he was a true messenger, saying, “I have broken thy golden bowl and loosed thy silver cord.”545
After this, Mr. Ready-to-halt called for his fellow-pilgrims and told them, saying, “I have been sent for, and God shall surely visit you also.” So, he asked Mr. Valiant to make his will. And because he had nothing to bequeath to those that should survive him except for his crutches and his good wishes, therefore, he said, “These crutches I bequeath to my son that shall tread in my steps, with a hundred warm wishes that he may prove better than I have been.”
Then he thanked Mr. Great-heart for his conduct and kindness and readied himself for his journey. When he came to the brink of the river, he said, “Now I shall have no more need of these crutches since there are chariots and horses over there for me to ride on.” The last words he was heard to say were, “Welcome life!” So, he went on his way.
After this, news came for Mr. Feeble-mind, and the post sounded his horn at his chamber door. Then he came in and told him, saying, “I have come to tell you that your Master has need of you and that in a very little time, you must behold his face in brightness. And take this as a token of the truth of my message: Those that look out of the windows are darkened.”546
Then Mr. Feeble-mind called for his friends and told them what errand had been brought unto him and what token he had received of the truth of the message. Then he said, “Since I have nothing to bequeath to any, to what purpose should I make a will? As for my feeble mind, I will leave that behind me, for I shall have no need of it in the place where I go, nor is it worth bestowing upon the poorest pilgrims. Therefore, when I am gone, I desire that you, Mr. Valiant, would bury it in a dunghill.”
This done, and the day having come on which he was to depart, he entered the river as the rest. His last words were, “Hold out faith and patience!” So, he went over to the other side.
When many days had gone by, Mr. Despondency was sent for; a post came and brought this message to him: “Trembling man! These are to summon you to be ready with the King by the next Lord’s day, to shout for joy for your deliverance from all your doubtings.”
“And,” said the messenger, “that my message is true, take this for a proof.” So, he gave him a grasshopper to be a burden unto him.547
Now Mr. Despondency’s daughter, whose name was Much-afraid, said, when she heard what was done, that she would go with her father.
Then Mr. Despondency said to his friends, “Regarding myself and my daughter, you know what we have been and how troublesomely we have behaved ourselves in every company. My will and my daughter’s are that our depressions and slavish fears never be received by anyone, from the day of our departure, forever; for I know that after my death they will offer themselves to others. For, to be plain with you, they are spirits that we entertained when we first began to be pilgrims, and afterwards we could never shake them off; and they will walk about and seek entertainment of the pilgrims. But for our sakes, shut the doors upon them.”
When the time was come for them to depart, they went up to the brink of the river. The last words of Mr. Despondency were, “Farewell, night; welcome, day!” His daughter went through the river singing, but no one could understand what she said.
Then it came to pass a while after, that a post came to town inquiring for Mr. Honest. So, he came to the house where he was and delivered into his hand these lines: “You art commanded to be ready a week from today to present yourself before your Lord at his Father’s house. And for a token that my message is true: All the daughters of song shall be humbled.’548
Then Mr. Honest called for his friends and said unto them, “I die, but I shall make no will. As for my honesty, it shall go with me; let those that come after be told of this.”
When the day came that he was to be gone, he prepared himself to go over the river. Now the river at that time overflowed its banks in some places; but Mr. Honest, in his lifetime, had asked someone named Good-conscience to meet him there, which he did, and he lent him his hand and so helped him over. The last words of Mr. Honest were, “Grace reigns!” So, he left the world.
After this, it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons by the same post as the other and had this for a token that the summons was true: that his pitcher is broken at the fountain.549 When he understood it, he called for his friends and told them.
Then said he, “I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have arrived here, yet now I do not regret all the trouble I have had to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can obtain it. My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my rewarder.”
When the day that he must go there was come, many accompanied him to the riverside, into which as he went, he said, “O Death, where is thy sting?” And as he went down deeper, he said, “O Hades, where is thy victory?”550 So, he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
Then a summons came forth for Mr. Standfast. (This Mr. Standfast was whom the rest of the pilgrims had found upon his knees in the Enchanted Ground.) And the post brought it to him open in his hands, and the contents were that he must prepare for a change of life; for his Master was not willing that he should be so far from him any longer. At this, Mr. Standfast was put into a quandary.
“No,” said the messenger, “you need not doubt of the truth of my message; for here is a token of the truth thereof: thy wheel is broken at the cistern.”551
Then he called Mr. Great-heart, who was their guide, and said unto him, “Sir, although it was not my fate to be long in your good company during the days of my pilgrimage, yet, since the time I met you, you have been profitable to me. When I came from my home, I left behind a wife and five small children; let me entreat you, at your return – for I know that you go and return to your Master’s house in hopes that you may yet be a conductor to more of the holy pilgrims – that you send to my family, and let them be acquainted with all that has and shall happen unto me. Tell them, moreover, of my happy arrival at this place and of the present and late blessed condition I am in. Tell them also of Christian and Christiana his wife, and how she and her children came after her husband. Tell them also of what a happy end she made, and where she is gone. I have little or nothing to send to my family, unless it be prayers and tears for them; of which it will suffice that you acquaint them, if peradventure they may prevail.”
When Mr. Standfast had thus set things in order and the time being come for him to hasten away, he went down to the river. Now, at that time there was a great calm in the river; therefore, Mr. Standfast, when he was about halfway in, stood a while and talked with his companions that had waited upon him there. And he said, “This river has been a terror to many, for the thoughts of it have often frightened me; but now I think I stand easy; my foot is fixed upon that on which the feet of the priests that bore the ark of the covenant stood while Israel went over the Jordan.552 The waters, indeed, are bitter to the palate and cold to the stomach; yet the thoughts of what I am going to and of the convoy that waits for me on the other side lie as a glowing coal at my heart.
“I see myself now at the end of my journey; my toilsome days are ended. I am going to see that Head that was crowned with thorns, and that Face that was spit upon for me. I have formerly lived by testimony and faith; but now I go where I shall live by sight and shall be with Him in whose company I delight myself.
“I have loved to hear my Lord spoken of; and wherever I have seen the print of his shoe in the earth, there I have desired to set my foot also. His name has been to me as a perfume box; more satisfying than all fragrances. His voice to me has been most sweet, and I have desired his countenance more than those that have most desired the light of the sun. I used His words to seek my food, and for medicine against my weaknesses. He has held me and has kept me from my iniquities; he has strengthened my steps in his way.”
Now, while he continued speaking, his countenance changed; his strong men bowed under him,553 and after he had said, “Take me, for I come unto thee,” he ceased to be seen of them.
But glorious it was to see how the open region was filled with horses and chariots, with trumpeters and pipers, with singers and players upon stringed instruments to welcome the pilgrims as they went up, and they followed one another in at the beautiful gate of the city.
***
As for Christiana’s children, the four boys that Christiana brought, with their wives and children, I did not stay where I was until they had gone over. Also, since I came away, I heard someone say that they are yet alive, and so will be for the increase of the congregation in that place where they are, for a time.
Should it be my lot to go that way again, I may give those that desire it an account of what I am silent about here. In the meantime, I bid my reader farewell.
545 Ecclesiastes 12:6
546 Ecclesiastes 12:3
547 Ecclesiastes 12:5
548 Ecclesiastes 12:4
549 Ecclesiastes 12:6
550 1 Corinthians 15:55
551 Ecclesiastes 12:6
552 Joshua 3:17
553 See Ecclesiastes 12:3.
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