and the sun shines warm; and then you may hear them all day long. I often, said she, go out to hear them; we also ofttimes 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 desirous to be in.

PIETY BESTOWETH

THEM AT PARTING.

By this time Piety was come again; so she said to Christiana, Look here, I have brought thee a scheme of all those things that SOMETHING ON thou hast seen at our house; upon which thou mayst look when thou findest thyself forgetful, and call those things again to remembrance for thy edification and comfort.

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; so 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 that foul fiend Apollyon, and where they had that dreadful fight that they had. I know you cannot but have heard thereof. But be of good courage; as long as you have here Mr. Greatheart to be your Guide and Conductor, we hope you will fare the better. So when these two had committed the Pilgrims unto the conduct of their Guide, he went forward, and they went after.

MR. GREAT-HEART

HUMILIATION.

Then said Mr. Great-heart, We need not be so afraid of this Valley, AT THE VALLEY OF for here is nothing to hurt us, unless we procure it to ourselves. 'Tis true, Christian did. here meet with Apollyon, with whom he also had a sore combat; but that fray was the fruit of those

slips that he got in his going down the hill; for they that get slips there must look for combats here. And hence it is that this Valley has got so hard a name; for the common people, when they hear that some frightful thing has befallen such a one in such a place, are of opinion that that place is haunted with some foul Fiend or Evil Spirit; when, alas! it is for the fruit of their own doing, that such things do befall them there.

THE REASON WHY

This Valley of Humiliation is of itCHRISTIAN WAS SO self as fruitful a place as any the crow

BESET IN THE VAL-
LEY OF HUMILIA-
TION.

flies over; and I am persuaded, if we could hit upon it, we might find, somewhere hereabouts, something that might give us an account why Christian was so hardly beset in this place.

A PILLAR WITH AN

INSCRIPTION ON IT.

"Let

Then said James to his mother, Lo! yonder stands a pillar, and it looks as if something was written thereon: let us go and see what it is. So they went, and found there written, Christian's slips, before he came hither, and the battles that he met with in this place, be a warning to those that come after." Lo! said their Guide, did not I tell you that there was something hereabouts that would give intimation of the reason why Christian was so hard beset in this place? Then turning himself to Christiana, he said, No disparagement to Christian more than to many others whose hap and lot it was; for it is easier going up than down this hill, and that can be said but 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 grant, that dwelleth above, that we fare no worse, when we come to be tried, than he!

THIS VALLEY A

BRAVE PLACE.

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, consisteth much in meadows; and if a man was to come here in the summer-time, as we do now, if he knew not any thing before thereof, and if he also delighted himself in the sight of his eyes, he might see that which would be delightful to him. Behold how green this Valley is also how beautified with lilies! 5 I have known many labouring men that have got good estates in this Valley of Humiliation. "For God resisteth the

6

fruitful soil, a very

and

MEN THRIVE IN
THE VALLEY OF
HUMILIATION.

proud, but giveth grace to the humble;"7 for indeed it is doth bring forth by handfuls. Some also have wished. that the next way to their Father's house were here, that they might be troubled no more with either hills or mountains to go over; but the way is the way, and there's an end.

Now, as they were going along and talking, they espied a boy feeding his father's sheep. The boy was in very mean clothes, but of a fresh and well-favoured countenance, and as he sat by himself, he sung. Hark, said Mr. Great-heart, to what the shepherd's boy saith! so they hearkened, 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.

5 Sol. Song ii. 1.

6 1 Pet. v. 5.

7 James iv. 6.

Then said their Guide, Do you hear him? I will dare to say, this boy lives a merrier life, and wears more of that herb called Heart's-ease in his bosom, than he that is clad in silk and velvet. But we will proceed in our discourse.

CHRIST WHEN IN THE

In this valley our Lord formerly

FLESH HAD HIS COUN- had His Country-House. He loved

TRY-HOUSE IN THE

VALLEY OF HUMILIA

TION.

much to be here; He loved also to walk these meadows, for He

Heb. xiii. 5. Phil. iv. 12, 13.

found the air was pleasant. Besides, here a man shall be free from the noise and from the hurryings 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 let and hindered in his contemplation, as in other places he is apt to be. This is a Valley that nobody walks in, but those that love a Pilgrim's life. And though Christian had the hard hap to meet here with Apollyon, and to enter with him in a brisk encounter, 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.9

Did I say our Lord had here, in former days, His Country-House, and that He loved here to walk? I will add, in this place, and to the people that love and trace these grounds, He has left a yearly revenue, to be faithfully paid them at certain seasons, for their maintenance by the way, and for their further encouragement to go on in their pilgrimage.1

Now, as they went on, Samuel said to Mr. Greatheart, 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.

FORGETFUL GREEN.

Great-heart. Your father had the battle with Apollyon at a place yonder before 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 Pil-. grims meet with any brunt, it is when they forget what favours they have received, and how unworthy they