The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come
{148} APOL. 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 burden, whereas thou shouldst have stayed till
thy Prince had taken it off; thou didst sinfully sleep and lose
thy choice thing; 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
vain-glory in all that thou sayest or doest.
CHR. All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out;
but the Prince whom I serve and honour 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 have obtained pardon of my Prince.
{149} APOL. 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.
CHR. Apollyon, beware what you do; for I am in the King's highway,
the way of holiness; therefore take heed to yourself.
APOL. 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
further; here will I spill thy soul.
{150} And with that he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but
Christian had 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.
{151} 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 of his
last blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian
nimbly stretched out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying,
"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall I shall arise"
[Micah 7:8];
Christian's victory over Apollyon
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". [Rom. 8:37] And
with that Apollyon spread forth his dragon's wings, and sped him
away, that Christian for a season saw him no more. [James 4:7]
{152} 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.
A more unequal match can hardly be,--CHRISTIAN must fight an
Angel; but you see,
The valiant man by handling Sword and Shield,
Doth make him, tho' a Dragon, quit the field.
{153} So when the battle was over, Christian said, "I will here
give thanks to him that 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 thank and bless his holy name always.
{154} Then there came to him a hand, with some of the leaves of the
tree 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 this
valley.
{155} 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, and of the shadow of death, a land that no man"
(but a Christian) "passed through, and where no man dwelt." [Jer.
2:6]
Now here Christian was worse put to it than in his fight with
Apollyon, as by the sequel you shall see.
{156} I saw then in my dream, that when Christian was got to the
borders of the Shadow of Death, there met him two men, children of
them that brought up an evil report of the good land [Num. 13],
making haste to go back; to whom Christian spake as follows:--
{157} CHR. Whither are you going?
MEN. They said, Back! back! and we would have you to do so too,
if either life or peace is prized by you.
CHR. Why, what's the matter? said Christian.
MEN. Matter! said they; we were going that way as you are going,
and went as far as we durst; and indeed we were almost past coming
back; for had we gone a little further, we had not been here to
bring the news to thee.
CHR. But what have you met with? said Christian.
MEN. Why, we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death; but
that, by good hap, we looked before us, and saw the danger before
we came to it. [Ps. 44:19; 107:10]
CHR. But what have you seen? said Christian.
{158} MEN. Seen! Why, the Valley itself, which is as dark as pitch;
we also saw there the hobgoblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit;
we heard also in that Valley a continual howling and yelling, as of
a people under unutterable misery, who there sat bound in affliction
and irons; and over that Valley hangs the discouraging clouds of
confusion. Death also doth always spread his wings over it. In
a word, it is every whit dreadful, being utterly without order.
[Job 3:5; 10:22]
CHR. Then, said Christian, I perceive not yet, by what you have
said, but that this is my way to the desired haven. [Jer. 2:6]
MEN. Be it thy way; 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.
{159} 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 it into
which the blind have led the blind in all ages, and have both there
miserably perished. [Ps. 69:14,15] Again, behold, on the left
hand, there was a very dangerous quag, into which, if even a good
man falls, he can find no bottom for his foot to stand on. Into
that quag King David once did fall, and had no doubt therein been
smothered, had not HE that is able plucked him out.
{160} The pathway was here also exceeding narrow, and therefore
good Christian was the more put to it; for when he sought, in the
dark, to shun the ditch on the one hand, he was ready to tip over
into the mire 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 dangers mentioned above, the pathway was here so dark, and
ofttimes, when he lift up his foot to set forward, he knew not
where or upon what he should set it next.
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.
{161} About the midst of this valley, I perceived the mouth of
hell to be, and it stood also hard by the wayside. Now, thought
Christian, what shall I do? And ever and anon the flame and smoke
would come out in such abundance, with sparks and hideous noises,
(things that cared not for Christian's sword, as did Apollyon
before), that he was forced to put up his sword, and betake himself
to another weapon called All-prayer. [Eph. 6:18] So he cried in my
hearing, "O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul!" [Ps. 116:4]
Thus he went on a great while, yet still the flames would be
reaching towards him. Also he heard doleful voices, and rushings
to and fro, so that sometimes he thought he should be torn in
pieces, or trodden down like mire in the streets. This frightful
sight was seen, and these dreadful noises were heard by him for
several miles together; and, coming to a place where he thought he
heard a company of fiends coming forward to meet him, he stopped,
and began to muse what he had best to do. Sometimes he had half
a thought to go back; then again he thought he might be half way
through the valley; he remembered also how he had already vanquished
many a danger, and that the danger of going back might be much more
than for to go forward; so he resolved to go on. Yet the fiends
seemed to come nearer and nearer; but when they were come even
almost at him, he cried out with a most vehement voice, "I will walk
in the strength of the Lord God!" so they gave back, and came no
further.
{162} One thing I would not let slip. I took notice that now poor
Christian was so confounded, that he did not know his own voice;
and thus I perceived it. Just when he was come over against the
mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and
stepped up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous
blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his
own mind. This put Christian more to it than anything that he met
with before, even to think that he should now blaspheme him that
he loved so much before; yet, if he could have helped it, he would
not have done it; but he had not the discretion either to stop his
ears, or to know from whence these blasphemies came.
{163} When Christian had travelled in this disconsolate condition
some considerable 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."
[Ps. 23:4]
{164} Then he was glad, and that for these reasons:
First, Because he gathered from thence, that some who feared God
were in this valley as well as himself.
Secondly, For that he perceived God was with them, though in that
dark and dismal state; and why not, thought he, with me? though,
by reason of the impediment that attends this place, I cannot
perceive it. [Job 9:11]
Thirdly, For that he hoped, could he overtake them, to have company
by and by. So he went on, and called to him that was before; but
he knew not what to answer; for that he also thought to be alone.
And by and by the day broke; then said Christian, He hath turned
"the shadow of death into the morning". [Amos 5:8]
{165} Now morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to