nearer the desired haven than the place where at present he was.' So he consented and staid.

When the morning was up, they had him to the top of the house, and bade him look south; so he did, and behold, at a great distance, he saw a most pleasant mountainous country, beautified with woods, vineyards, fruits of all sorts, flowers also, with springs and fountains, very delectable to behold. Then he asked the name of the country. They said it was Emanuel's Land: and it is as common (said they) as this hill is to and for all the Pilgrims. And when thou comest there, from thence thou mayest see to the gate of the Celestial City, as the shepherds that live there will make appear.*

Now he bethought himself of setting forward, and they were willing he should. 'But first (said they) let us go again into the armory:' So they did: and when he came there, they harnessed him from head to foot, with what was of proof, lest perhaps he should meet with assaults in the way. He being therefore thus accoutred, walked out with his friends to the gate, and there he asked the Porter, if he saw any Pilgrims pass by? Then the Porter answered, Yes. Christian. Pray, did you know him?

Porter. I asked his name; and he told me it was Faithful. Christian. O, I know him; he is my townsman, my near neighbor: he comes from the place where I was born: how far do you think he may be before?

Porter. He is got by this time below the Hill.

Christian. Well, good Porter, the Lord be with thee, and add to all thy blessings much increase, for the kindness thou hast shown to me.

Then he began to go forward; but Discretion, Piety, Charity, and Prudence, would accompany him down to the foot of the Hill. So they went on together, reiterating their former discourses, till they came to go down the Hill. Then said Christian, '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 thou art now, and to catch no slip by the way: therefore (said they) are we come out to accompany thee down the Hill." So he began to go down, but very warily; yet he caught a slip or two.

Then I saw in my dream, that these good companions (when Christian was got 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 his way.

* Zeph. iii. 8.

But now in this Valley of Humiliation, poor Christian was hard put to it; for he had gone but a little way, before he espied a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him; his name is Apollyon. Then did Christian begin to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whether to go back, or to stand his ground. But he considered again, that he had no armor for his back, and therefore thought that to turn the back to him might give him greater advantages, with ease, to pierce him with his darts: therefore he resolved to venture, and stand his ground: For, (thought he,) had I no more in my eye than the saving of my life, it 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, 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:

Apollyon. Whence come you? and whither are you

bound?

Christian. I am come from the city of Destruction, which is the place of all evil; and am going to the city of Zion. Apollyon. By this I perceive thou art one of my subjects: for all that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it. How is it then that thou hast run away from thy king? Were it not that I hope thou mayest do me more service, I would strike thee now, at one blow, to the ground.

Christian. I was born indeed in your dominions; but your service was hard, and your wages such as a man could not live on; for the wages of sin is death; therefore when I was come to years, I did as other considerate persons do, look out, if perhaps I might mend myself.

Apollyon. There is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects; neither will I, as yet, lose thee; but since thou complainest of thy service and wages, be content to go back: what our country will afford, I do here promise to give thee.

Christian. But I have let myself to another, even to the King of princes; and how can I, with fairness, go back with thee?

*It is worthy of observation, that St. Paul, in his enumeration of the various parts of a Christian's panoply, makes no mention of armor for the back. Ephes. vi. 13, &c. Mr. Bunyan has very happily introduced his Pilgrim armed at all points, according to St. Paul's instructions, and has as it were given life to the animated picture exhibited by the Apostle.

† Rom. vi. 23.

Apollyon. Thou hast done in this according to the proverb, change a bad for a worse; but it is ordinary for those that have professed themselves His servants, after a while to give him the slip, and return again to me. Do thou so too, and all shall be well.

Christian. 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?

Apollyon. Thou didst the same to me; and yet I am willing to pass by all, if now thou wilt yet turn and go back. Christian. What I promised thee, was in my nonage; and besides, I count that the Prince under whose banner now I stand, is able to absolve me; yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee: And besides, (O thou destroying Apollyon,) to speak truth, I like his service, his wages, his servants, his government, his company, and his country, better than thine; and therefore leave off to persuade me farther; I am His servant, and I will follow Him.

Apollyon. Consider again, when thou art in cool blood, what thou art like to meet with in the way that thou goest. Thou knowest that for the most part, His servants come to an ill end, because they are transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them have been put to shameful deaths! And besides, thou countest his service better than mine; whereas He never came yet from the place where he is, to deliver any that served him out of their hands: but as for me, how many times, as all the world very well knows, have I delivered, either by power or fraud, those that have faithfully served me, from Him and His, though taken by them? And so I will deliver thee.

Christian. 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 ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their account: but for present deliverance, they do not much expect it: for they stay for their glory, and then they shall have it, when their Prince comes in his and the glory of his angels.

Apollyon. Thou hast already been unfaithful in thy service to him; and how dost thou think to receive wages of him?

Christian. Wherein, O Apollyon, have I been unfaithful to him?

Apollyon. Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost choked in the gulf of Despond: thou didst attempt wrong ways to be rid of thy burthen, whereas thou shouldst have staid till thy Prince had taken it off. Thou

didst sinfully sleep, and lose thy choice things. Thou wast also almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions: and when thou talkest of thy journey, and of what thou hast heard and seen, thou art inwardly desirous of vainglory in all that thou sayest or doest.

Christian. All that is true, and much more, which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor, is merciful and ready to forgive: but besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country; for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and I 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 am come out on purpose to withstand thee." Christian. Apollyon, beware what you do; for I am in the King's highway, the way of holiness; therefore take heed to yourself.

Then Apollyon straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said, "I am void of fear in this matter; prepare thyself to die; for I swear by my infernal den, that thou shalt go no farther: here will I spill thy soul!"

And with that he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but Christian held a shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented the danger of that.

Then did Christian draw; for he saw it was time to bestir him; and Apollyon as fast made at him, throwing darts as thick as hail; by the which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head, his hand, and foot. This made Christian give a little back; Apollyon, therefore, followed his work amain; and Christian again took courage, and resisted as manfully as he could.

This sore combat lasted for above half a day, even till Christian was almost quite spent. For you must know, that Christian, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and weaker.

Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; and with that Christian's sword flew out of his hand. Then said Apollyon, "I am sure of thee 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 fetching his last blow, whereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, "Re

* i. e. in his understanding, faith, and conversation.

E

joice not against me, O mine enemy! when I fall I shall arise:"* and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian, perceiving that, made at him again; saying, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us." And_with_that, Apollyon spread forth his dragon's wings, and sped him away, so that Christian saw him no more.

In this combat, no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard, as I did, what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made all the time of the fight: he spake like a dragon : and on the other side, what sighs and groans burst from Christian's heart. I never saw him all the while give so much as one pleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his two-edged sword: then, indeed, he did smile, and look upward. But it was the dreadfullest sight that ever I saw.

So when the battle was over, Christian said, "I will here give thanks to Him that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the lion; to Him that did help me against Apollyon." And so he did; saying:

Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend,
Design'd 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 thanks, and bless his holy name always.

Then there came to him a hand with some of the leaves of the trees of life; the which Christian took and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle; and was healed immediately. He also sat down in that place to eat bread, and to drink of the bottle that was given him a little before: so, being refreshed, he addressed himself to his journey, with his sword drawn in his hand: "for (he said) I know not but some other enemy may be at hand." But he met with no other affront from Apollyon quite through the Valley.

Now at the end of this valley was another, called The Valley of the Shadow of Death; and Christian must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the midst of it. Now this Valley is a very solitary place. The prophet Jeremiah thus describes it: "A wilderness; a land of deserts, and of pits; a land of drought

* Micah vii. 8. † Rom. viii. 8, 9.

+ James iv. 7,

Jer. ii. 6.