In the Valley of Humiliation, poor Christian was
hard put to it; for he had gone a little way before he espied a
foul fiend coming over the field to meet him: his name is
Apollyon. Then Christian began to be afraid, and to wonder
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 around might give Apollyon greater ease to pierce him with
darts; therefore he resolved to venture and stand his ground.
THE
FIGHT WITH APOLLYON
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 him 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 scorn, and thus began to question with him:
APOLLYON. Who
are you and wither bound?
CHRISTIAN. I
was a citizen of the City of destruction,
but am now bound for the City of Zion.
APOLLYON. By
this I perceive that thou art one of my subjects; for all that
country is mine, and I am the prince of it. How is it then
that thou hast run away from thy king? Were it not that I hope
that you may do me more service, I would strike thee now at
one blow to the ground.
CHRISTIAN. I
was indeed born in your kingdom; 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 thoughtful persons do, looked out, if perhaps I might
better myself.
APOLLYON. There
is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects, neither
will I as yet lose you; but since you complain of my wages,
be content to go back, and 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?
APOLLYON. You
have in this “changed a bad for a worse,” but it is common
for those that have called themselves His servants, after awhile
to give Him the slip, and return again to me. Do so and all
shall be well.
CHRISTIAN. I
have given Him my faith, and sworn my service to Him; how,
then, can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor?
APOLLYON. You
did the same to me, and yet I am willing to pass by all, if
now you will turn again and go back.
CHRISTIAN. The
Prince under whose banner I now stand is able to set me free,
and to pardon also my service with thee. And besides, O thou
destroying Apollyon, to speak the truth, I like His service,
His wages, His servants, His government, His company, and country,
better than yours; persuade me no further; I am His servant,
and I will follow Him.
APOLLYON. You
know that for the most part His servants come to a bad end,
because they are disobedient against me and my ways. How many
of them have been put to shameful deaths! He never came yet
from the place where He is, to save any that served Him. 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 you.
CHRISTIAN. His
waiting, at present, to deliver them is on purpose to try their
love, to see if they will be true to Him to the end. As for
present deliverance, they do not much expect it; for they wait
for their glory, and they shall have it when their prince comes
in His and the glory of the angels.
APOLLYON. You
have already been unfaithful to Him; and now do you think to
receive wages of Him?
CHRISTIAN. Wherein,
O Apollyon, have I been unfaithful to Him?
APOLLYON. You
have already been unfaithful to Him and I see, by the mud on
your clothes, you almost choked in the Gulf of Despond. You
attempted wrong ways to be rid of your burden. You slept and
lost your roll. You almost went back at the sight of the lions.
And when you talk about your young days and what you saw and
heard you like to have praise for it all, yourself.
CHRISTIAN. All
this is true, and much more which you have left out; but the
Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful and ready to forgive.
Besides, these sins possessed me in your own country; I have
groaned under them, been sorry for them, but now have obtained
pardon from my Prince.
APOLLYON. Then
Apollyon broke out into a terrible rage, saying, “I am an enemy
to this Prince; I hate His person, His laws, and people; I
came out on purpose to kill you.”
CHRISTIAN. Apollyon,
beware what you do, for I am in the King’s highway, the way
of holiness: therefore behave yourself.
APOLLYON. Then
Apollyon straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way,
and said, “I have no fear in this matter. Prepare to die; for
I swear by my infernal den, that you shall go no farther: here
will I spill your blood.”
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 turned
it aside.
Then
Christian drew his sword, for he saw he must be quick to save
himself; and Apollyon made at him, throwing darts as thick
as hail, by which, notwithstanding all that Christian could
do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in the head, his hand,
and foot. This made Christian draw back a little; Apollyon,
therefore, followed him up, but Christian again took courage,
and resisted as manfully as he could. This sore combat lasted
for above half a day, till Christian almost gave out. For you
must know that Christian, by reason of his wounds, grew weaker
and weaker.
Then
Apollyon, seeing 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
said Apollyon, “I am sure of thee now.” And, with that, he
almost crushed him to death, so that Christian began to despair
of life. But, as God would have it, before Apollyon could give
Christian the death blow, Christian nimbly reached out his
hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, “Rejoice 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 loves us.” And, with
that, Apollyon spread forth his dragon’s wings, and flew away
and Christian for a season saw him no more.
CHRISTIAN
THANKS GOD FOR VICTORY
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 five 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 dreadfulest sight that ever I saw.
CHRISTIAN. 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 Satan, the captain of this fiend,
Designed my ruin; therefore to this end
He sent him harnessed out: and he with rage
That hellish was, did fiercely me engage;
But blessed angels helped me; and I,
By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly:
Therefore to God let me give lasting praise,
And thank and bless His holy name always.”
HIS
WOUNDS ARE HEALED
Then
there came to him a hand with some of the leaves of the tree
of life, which Christian took and laid upon 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 to him a little before; so, being
refreshed, he went forth on 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 harm from Apollyon through
this valley.
VALLEY
OF SHADOW OF DEATH
At
the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the
Shadow of Death; and Christian must 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 pits,
a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that
no man” but a Christian “passeth through, and where no man
dwelt.”
Here
Christian was more severely tried than in his fight with Apollyon,
as in the story you shall see.
I
saw then in my dream, that when Christian came to the borders
of the Shadow of death there met him two men hurrying to go
back, to whom he said:
CHRISTIAN. Where
are you going?
MEN. Back,
back! and we would have you to do so too, if either life or
peace is prized by you.
CHRISTIAN. Why,
what’s the matter?
MEN. Matter!
we were going that way as you are going, and went as far as
we dared and, indeed, were almost past coming back; for had
we gone a little farther, we would not have been here to bring
the news.
CHRISTIAN. But
what have you met with?
MEN. Why,
we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but by
good luck we looked before us, and saw the danger before we
came to it.
CHRISTIAN. But
what have you seen?
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 hung the discouraging
clouds of confusion; Death also spread his wings over it. In
a word, it is in every way dreadful, being utterly without
order.
CHRISTIAN. But
this must still be the way to the celestial City.
MEN. It
may be; but 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 he should be attacked.
I
saw them in my dream, as 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 there
miserably perished. Again, on the left hand there was a very
dangerous quag, or marsh, into which, if even a good man falls,
he finds no bottom for his foot to stand on: into that quag
King David once fell and would have been smothered, had not
He that is able plucked him out.
The
pathway was also exceedingly 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,
he would be ready to fall into the ditch. Thus he went on,
and I heard him sigh bitterly, for besides the danger mentioned
above, the pathway was so dark that ofttimes, when he lifted
up his foot to go forward, he knew not where or upon what he
should set it next.
BESET
BY FIENDS
About
the middle of the valley, close by the path, I saw the mouth
of hell. 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 take another weapon, called
“All-prayer.” So he cried in my hearing, “O Lord, I beseech
Thee, deliver my soul.” Thus he went on with the flames reaching
toward 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.
At
last he thought he heard a company of fiends coming to meet
him; he stopped and began to wonder what to 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 overcome many a danger, and that the danger of
going back might be much more than going forward. So he resolved
to go on, yet the fiends seemed to come nearer and nearer.
When they were almost at him, he cried out, “I will walk in
the strength of the Lord God.” So they gave back, and came
no farther.
As
Christian made his way on through the valley, he thought he
heard the voice of a man 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.”
Then
he was glad, and that for these reasons:
First,
-Because he knew that some others who feared God were in this
valley as well as himself.
Secondly,
-Because he knew that God was with them, though in that dark
and dismal state. “And why not,” thought he, “with me?”
Thirdly,
-Because he hoped (could he overtake them) to have company
by-and-by. So he went on, and called to him that was before;
but did not receive an answer. By-and-by the day broke. Then
said Christian, “He hath turned the shadow of death into the
morning.”
Now,
morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to return,
but to see, by the light of the day, what dangers he had gone
though I the dark. So he saw more perfectly the ditch that
was on the one hand, and the quag that was on the other; also
how narrow the way which led betwixt them both. Also he saw
the hobgoblins, and satyrs, and dragons of the pit, but all
afar off; for, after daybreak, they do not come near.
About
this time the sun was rising, and this was another mercy to
Christian; for you must note that, though the first part of
the Valley of the Shadow of Death was dangerous, yet this second
part, which was yet before him, was if possible far more dangerous.
But, as I said just now, the run was rising. Then said he, “His
candle shineth on my head, and by His light I go through darkness.”
POPE
AND PAGAN
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 men, even of pilgrims that
had gone this way formerly; and, while I was wondering about
the reason, I saw a little before me a cave, where two giants,
POPE and PAGAN, dwelt in old time; by whose power and tyranny,
the men whose bones, blood, ashes, etc., lay there, were cruelly
put to death.
But
Christian got by this place without danger, whereat I somewhat
wondered; but I have learned since that Pagan has been dead
many a day; and, as for the other, though he be yet alive,
he is, by reason of age, and the many attacks on him, 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 to them.
So
I saw that Christian went on his way; and this is the song
he sang:
“O world of wonders (I can say no less),
That I should be preserved in that distress
That I have met with here! Oh, blessed be
That hand that from it hath delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin,
Did compass me, while I this vale was in;
Yes, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie
My path about, that worthless, silly I
Might have been catched, entangled, and cast down;
But, since I live, let Jesus wear the crown.”
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