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 'twas 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

CHRISTIAN GIVES

GOD THANKS FOR
HIS DELIVERANCE.

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.

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 to him a little before; so, being refreshed, he addressed him

self to his journey, with his sword

CHRISTIAN GOES ON
HIS JOURNEY WITH

drawn in his hand; for, he said, I HIS SWORD DRAWN know not but some other enemy

IN HIS HAND.

may be at hand. But he met with no other affront from Apollyon quite through this valley.

THE VALLEY OF

DEATH.

Now at the end of this valley was anTHE SHADOW OF other, 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 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."3

THE CHILDREN

Now here Christian was worse put to it than in his fight with Apollyon, as by the sequel you shall see. I saw then in my dream, that when Christian was got to the borders of the Shadow of OF THE SPIES GO Death, there met him two men, children of them that brought up an evil report of the good land, making haste to go back ;4 to whom Christian spake as follows:

BACK.

Chr. Whither are you going?

They said, Back! back! and we would have you do so too, if either life or peace is prized by you.

Why, what's the matter? said Christian.

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.

But what have you met with? said Christian.

Men. Why we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death;5 but that by good-hap we looked before us, and saw the danger before we came to it.

3 Jer. ii. 6. 4 Numb. xiii. 5 Psalm xliv. 19. Psalm cvii. 19.

But what have you seen? said Christian.

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 hang 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.6

Then said Christian, I perceive not yet, by what you have said, but that this is my way to the desired haven.7

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.

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. Again, behold, on the left hand, there was a very dangerous quag, into which if even a good man falls, he finds 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.

The path-way 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 6 Job, iii. 5. x. 22.

7 Jer. ii. 6.

G