THE
PILGRIMS PROGRESS:
IN THE SIMILITUDE OF A DREAM.
Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up
which Christian was to go, was
fenced on either side with a wall, and that
wall was called Salvation.
Isaiah 26:1. Up this way, therefore, did
burdened Christian run, but not
without great difficulty, because of the
load on his back.
He ran thus till he came at a place
somewhat ascending; and upon that place
stood a cross, and a little below, in the
bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in
my dream, that just as Christian came up
with the cross, his burden loosed
from off his shoulders, and fell from off
his back, and began to tumble, and
so continued to do till it came to the
mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell
in, and I saw it no more.
Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and
said with a merry heart, “He hath
given me rest by his sorrow, and life by
his death.” Then he stood still a
while, to look and wonder; for it was very
surprising to him that the sight
of the cross should thus ease him of his
burden. He looked, therefore, and
looked again, even till the springs that
were in his head sent the waters
down his cheeks. Zech. 12:10. Now as he
stood looking and weeping, behold,
three Shining Ones came to him, and saluted
him with, “Peace be to thee.” So
the first said to him, “Thy sins be
forgiven thee,” Mark 2:5; the second
stripped him of his rags, and clothed him
with change of raiment, Zech. 3:4;
the third also set a mark on his forehead,
Eph. 1:13, and gave him a roll
with a seal upon it, which he bid him look
on as he ran, and that he should
give it in at the celestial gate: so they
went their way. Then Christian
gave three leaps for joy, and went on
singing,
“Thus far did I come laden with my sin,
Nor could aught ease the grief that I was
in,
Till I came hither. What a place is this!
Must here be the beginning of my bliss?
Must here the burden fall from off my back?
Must here the strings that bound it to me
crack?
Blest cross! blest sepulchre! blest rather
be
The Man that there was put to shame for
me!”
I saw then in my dream, that he went on
thus, even until he came at the
bottom, where he saw, a little out of the
way, three men fast asleep, with
fetters upon their heels. The name of the
one was Simple, of another Sloth,
and of the third Presumption.
Christian then seeing them lie in this
case, went to them, if peradventure
he might awake them, and cried, you are
like them that sleep on the top of a
mast, Prov. 23:34, for the Dead Sea is
under you, a gulf that hath no
bottom: awake, therefore, and come away; be
willing also, and I will help
you off with your irons. He also told them,
If he that goeth about like a
roaring lion, 1 Pet. 5:8, comes by, you
will certainly become a prey to his
teeth. With that they looked upon him, and
began to reply in this sort:
Simple said, I see no danger; Sloth said,
Yet a little more sleep; and
Presumption said, Every tub must stand upon
its own bottom. And so they lay
down to sleep again, and Christian went on
his way.
Yet he was troubled to think that men in
that danger should so little esteem
the kindness of him that so freely offered
to help them, both by awakening
of them, counselling of them, and
proffering to help them off with their
irons. And as he was troubled thereabout,
he espied two men come tumbling
over the wall, on the left hand of the narrow
way; and they made up apace to
him. The name of the one was Formalist, and
the name of the other Hypocrisy.
So, as I said, they drew up unto him, who
thus entered with them into
discourse.
CHRISTIAN: Gentlemen, whence came you, and
whither do you go?
FORMALIST AND HYPOCRISY: We were born in
the land of Vain-glory, and are
going, for praise, to Mount Zion.
CHRISTIAN: Why came you not in at the gate
which standeth at the beginning
of the way? Know ye not that it is written,
that “he that cometh not in by
the door, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a
robber?” John 10:1.
FORMALIST AND HYPOCRISY: They said, that to
go to the gate for entrance was
by all their countrymen counted too far
about; and that therefore their
usual way was to make a short cut of it,
and to climb over the wall, as they
had done.
CHRISTIAN: But will it not be counted a
trespass against the Lord of the
city whither we are bound, thus to violate
his revealed will?
FORMALIST AND HYPOCRISY: They told him,
that as for that, he needed not to
trouble his head thereabout: for what they
did they had custom for, and
could produce, if need were, testimony that
would witness it for more than a
thousand years.
CHRISTIAN: But, said Christian, will you
stand a trial at law?
FORMALIST AND HYPOCRISY: They told him,
that custom, it being of so long
standing as above a thousand years, would
doubtless now be admitted as a
thing legal by an impartial judge: and
besides, said they, if we get into
the way, what matter is it which way we get
in? If we are in, we are in:
thou art but in the way, who, as we
perceive, came in at the gate; and we
also are in the way, that came tumbling
over the wall: wherein now is thy
condition better than ours?
CHRISTIAN: I walk by the rule of my Master:
you walk by the rude working of
your fancies. You are counted thieves
already by the Lord of the way:
therefore I doubt you will not be found
true men at the end of the way. You
come in by yourselves without his
direction, and shall go out by yourselves
without his mercy.
To this they made him but little answer;
only they bid him look to himself.
Then I saw that they went on, every man in
his way, without much conference
one with another, save that these two men
told Christian, that as to laws
and ordinances, they doubted not but that
they should as conscientiously do
them as he. Therefore, said they, we see
not wherein thou differest from us,
but by the coat that is on thy back, which
was, as we trow, given thee by
some of thy neighbors, to hide the shame of
thy nakedness.
CHRISTIAN: By laws and ordinances you will
not be saved, since you came not
in by the door. Gal. 2:16. And as for this
coat that is on my back, it was
given me by the Lord of the place whither I
go; and that, as you say, to
cover my nakedness with. And I take it as a
token of kindness to me; for I
had nothing but rags before. And besides,
thus I comfort myself as I go.
Surely, think I, when I come to the gate of
the city, the Lord thereof will
know me for good, since I have his coat on
my back; a coat that he gave me
freely in the day that he stripped me of my
rags. I have, moreover, a mark
in my forehead, of which perhaps you have
taken no notice, which one of my
Lord’s most intimate associates fixed there
in the day that my burden fell
off my shoulders. I will tell you,
moreover, that I had then given me a roll
sealed, to comfort me by reading as I go on
the way; I was also bid to give
it in at the celestial gate, in token of my
certain going in after it: all
which things I doubt you want, and want
them because you came not in at the
gate.
To these things they gave him no answer;
only they looked upon each other,
and laughed. Then I saw that they went all
on, save that Christian kept
before, who had no more talk but with
himself, and that sometimes sighingly,
and sometimes comfortably: also he would be
often reading in the roll that
one of the Shining Ones gave him, by which
he was refreshed.
I beheld then, that they all went on till
they came to the foot of the hill
Difficulty, at the bottom of which there
was a spring. There were also in
the same place two other ways besides that
which came straight from the
gate: one turned to the left hand, and the
other to the right, at the bottom
of the hill; but the narrow way lay right
up the hill, and the name of the
going up the side of the hill is called
Difficulty. Christian now went to
the spring, Isa. 49:10, and drank thereof
to refresh himself, and then began
to go up the hill, saying,
“The hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend;
For I perceive the way to life lies here:
Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint
nor fear.
Better, though difficult, the right way to
go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
The other two also came to the foot of the
hill. But when they saw that the
hill was steep and high, and that there
were two other ways to go; and
supposing also that these two ways might
meet again with that up which
Christian went, on the other side of the
hill; therefore they were resolved
to go in those ways. Now the name of one of
those ways was Danger, and the
name of the other Destruction. So the one
took the way which is called
Danger, which led him into a great wood;
and the other took directly up the
way to Destruction, which led him into a
wide field, full of dark mountains,
where he stumbled and fell, and rose no
more.
I looked then after Christian, to see him
go up the hill, where I perceived
he fell from running to going, and from
going to clambering upon his hands
and his knees, because of the steepness of
the place. Now about the midway
to the top of the hill was a pleasant
Arbor, made by the Lord of the hill
for the refreshment of weary travellers.
Thither, therefore, Christian got,
where also he sat down to rest him: then he
pulled his roll out of his
bosom, and read therein to his comfort; he
also now began afresh to take a
review of the coat or garment that was
given to him as he stood by the
cross. Thus pleasing himself awhile, he at
last fell into a slumber, and
thence into a fast sleep, which detained
him in that place until it was
almost night; and in his sleep his roll
fell out of his hand. Now, as he was
sleeping, there came one to him, and awaked
him, saying, “Go to the ant,
thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be
wise.” Prov. 6:6. And with that,
Christian suddenly started up, and sped him
on his way, and went apace till
he came to the top of the hill.
Now when he was got up to the top of the
hill, there came two men running
amain; the name of the one was Timorous,
and of the other Mistrust: to whom
Christian said, Sirs, what’s the matter?
you run the wrong way. Timorous
answered, that they were going to the city
of Zion, and had got up that
difficult place: but, said he, the farther
we go, the more danger we meet
with; wherefore we turned, and are going
back again.
Yes, said Mistrust, for just before us lie
a couple of lions in the way,
whether sleeping or waking we know not; and
we could not think, if we came
within reach, but they would presently pull
us in pieces.
CHRISTIAN: Then said Christian, You make me
afraid; but whither shall I fly
to be safe? If I go back to mine own
country, that is prepared for fire and
brimstone, and I shall certainly perish
there; if I can get to the celestial
city, I am sure to be in safety there: I
must venture. To go back is nothing
but death: to go forward is fear of death,
and life everlasting beyond it: I
will yet go forward. So Mistrust and
Timorous ran down the hill, and
Christian went on his way. But thinking again
of what he had heard from the
men, he felt in his bosom for his roll,
that he might read therein and be
comforted; but he felt, and found it not.
Then was Christian in great
distress, and knew not what to do; for he
wanted that which used to relieve
him, and that which should have been his
pass into the celestial city. Here,
therefore, he began to be much perplexed,
and knew not what to do. At last
he bethought himself that he had slept in
the arbor that is on the side of
the hill; and falling down upon his knees,
he asked God forgiveness for that
foolish act, and then went back to look for
his roll. But all the way he
went back, who can sufficiently set forth
the sorrow of Christian’s heart?
Sometimes he sighed, sometimes he wept, and
oftentimes he chid himself for
being so foolish to fall asleep in that
place, which was erected only for a
little refreshment from his weariness.
Thus, therefore, he went back,
carefully looking on this side and on that,
all the way as he went, if
happily he might find his roll, that had
been his comfort so many times in
his journey. He went thus till he came
again in sight of the arbor where he
sat and slept; but that sight renewed his
sorrow the more, by bringing
again, even afresh, his evil of sleeping
unto his mind. Rev. 2:4; 1 Thess.
5:6-8. Thus, therefore, he now went on,
bewailing his sinful sleep, saying,
O wretched man that I am, that I should
sleep in the daytime! that I should
sleep in the midst of difficulty! that I
should so indulge the flesh as to
use that rest for ease to my flesh which
the Lord of the hill hath erected
only for the relief of the spirits of
pilgrims! How many steps have I taken
in vain! Thus it happened to Israel; for
their sin they were sent back again
by the way of the Red Sea; and I am made to
tread those steps with sorrow,
which I might have trod with delight, had
it not been for this sinful sleep.
How far might I have been on my way by this
time! I am made to tread those
steps thrice over, which I needed not to
have trod but once: yea, now also I
am like to be benighted, for the day is
almost spent. O that I had not
slept!
Now by this time he was come to the arbor
again, where for a while he sat
down and wept; but at last, (as Providence
would have it,) looking
sorrowfully down under the settle, there he
espied his roll, the which he
with trembling and haste catched up, and
put it into his bosom. But who can
tell how joyful this man was when he had
gotten his roll again? For this
roll was the assurance of his life, and
acceptance at the desired haven.
Therefore he laid it up in his bosom, gave
thanks to God for directing his
eye to the place where it lay, and with joy
and tears betook himself again
to his journey. But O how nimbly did he go
up the rest of the hill! Yet
before he got up, the sun went down upon
Christian; and this made him again
recall the vanity of his sleeping to his
remembrance; and thus he again
began to condole with himself: Oh thou
sinful sleep! how for thy sake am I
like to be benighted in my journey! I must
walk without the sun, darkness
must cover the path of my feet, and I must
hear the noise of the doleful
creatures, because of my sinful sleep! Now
also he remembered the story that
Mistrust and Timorous told him of, how they
were frighted with the sight of
the lions. Then said Christian to himself
again, These beasts range in the
night for their prey; and if they should
meet with me in the dark, how
should I shift them? how should I escape
being by them torn in pieces? Thus
he went on his way. But while he was
bewailing his unhappy miscarriage, he
lift up his eyes, and behold there was a
very stately palace before him, the
name of which was Beautiful, and it stood
by the highway-side.
So I saw in my dream that he made haste,
and went forward, that if possible
he might get lodging there. Now before he
had gone far, he entered into a
very narrow passage, which was about a
furlong off the Porter’s lodge, and
looking very narrowly before him as he
went, he espied two lions in the way.
Now, thought he, I see the dangers that
Mistrust and Timorous were driven
back by. (The lions were chained, but he
saw not the chains.) Then he was
afraid, and thought also himself to go back
after them; for he thought
nothing but death was before him. But the
Porter at the lodge, whose name is
Watchful, perceiving that Christian made a halt, as if he would go
back,
cried unto him, saying, Is thy strength so
small? Mark 4:40. Fear not the
lions, for they are chained, and are placed
there for trial of faith where
it is, and for discovery of those that have
none: keep in the midst of the
path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.
Then I saw that he went on, trembling for
fear of the lions, but taking good
heed to the directions of the Porter; he
heard them roar, but they did him
no harm. Then he clapped his hands, and
went on till he came and stood
before the gate where the Porter was. Then
said Christian to the Porter,
Sir, what house is this? and may I lodge
here to-night? The Porter answered,
This house was built by the Lord of the
hill, and he built it for the relief
and security of pilgrims. The Porter also
asked whence he was, and whither
he was going.
CHRISTIAN: I am come from the city of
Destruction, and am going to Mount
Zion: but because the sun is now set, I
desire, if I may, to lodge here
to-night.
THE PORTER: What is your name?
CHRISTIAN: My name is now Christian, but my
name at the first was Graceless:
I came of the race of Japheth, whom God
will persuade to dwell in the tents
of Shem. Gen. 9:27.
THE PORTER: But how does it happen that you
come so late? The sun is set.
CHRISTIAN: I had been here sooner, but
that, wretched man that I am, I slept
in the arbor that stands on the hill-side!
Nay, I had, notwithstanding that,
been here much sooner, but that in my sleep
I lost my evidence, and came
without it to the brow of the hill; and
then feeling for it, and not finding
it, I was forced with sorrow of heart to go
back to the place where I slept
my sleep, where I found it; and now I am
come.
THE PORTER: Well, I will call out one of
the virgins of this place, who
will, if she likes your talk, bring you in
to the rest of the family,
according to the rules of the house. So
Watchful the Porter rang a bell, at
the sound of which came out of the door of
the house a grave and beautiful
damsel, named Discretion, and asked why she
was called.
The Porter answered, This man is on a
journey from the city of Destruction
to Mount Zion; but being weary and
benighted, he asked me if he might lodge
here to-night: so I told him I would call
for thee, who, after discourse had
with him, mayest do as seemeth thee good,
even according to the law of the
house.
Then she asked him whence he was, and
whither he was going; and he told her.
She asked him also how he got into the way;
and he told her. Then she asked
him what he had seen and met with in the
way, and he told her. And at last
she asked his name. So he said, It is
Christian; and I have so much the more
a desire to lodge here to-night, because,
by what I perceive, this place was
built by the Lord of the hill for the
relief and security of pilgrims. So
she smiled, but the water stood in her
eyes; and after a little pause she
said, I will call forth two or three more
of the family. So she ran to the
door, and called out Prudence, Piety, and
Charity, who, after a little more
discourse with him, had him into the
family; and many of them meeting him at
the threshold of the house, said, Come in,
thou blessed of the Lord; this
house was built by the Lord of the hill on
purpose to entertain such
pilgrims in. Then he bowed his head, and
followed them into the house. So
when he was come in and sat down, they gave
him something to drink, and
consented together that, until supper was
ready, some of them should have
some particular discourse with Christian,
for the best improvement of time;
and they appointed Piety, Prudence, and
Charity to discourse with him: and
thus they began.
PIETY: Come, good Christian, since we have
been so loving to you as to
receive you into our house this night, let
us, if perhaps we may better
ourselves thereby, talk with you of all things
that have happened to you in
your pilgrimage.
CHRISTIAN: With a very good will; and I am
glad that you are so well
disposed.
PIETY: What moved you at first to betake
yourself to a pilgrim’s life?
CHRISTIAN: I was driven out of my native
country by a dreadful sound that
was in mine ears; to wit, that unavoidable
destruction did attend me, if I
abode in that place where I was.
PIETY: But how did it happen that you came
out of your country this way?
CHRISTIAN: It was as God would have it; for
when I was under the fears of
destruction, I did not know whither to go;
but by chance there came a man,
even to me, as I was trembling and weeping,
whose name is Evangelist, and he
directed me to the Wicket-gate, which else
I should never have found, and so
set me into the way that hath led me
directly to this house.
PIETY: But did you not come by the house of
the Interpreter?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, and did see such things
there, the remembrance of which will
stick by me as long as I live, especially
three things: to wit, how Christ,
in despite of Satan, maintains his work of
grace in the heart; how the man
had sinned himself quite out of hopes of
God’s mercy; and also the dream of
him that thought in his sleep the day of
judgment was come.
PIETY: Why, did you hear him tell his
dream?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, and a dreadful one it was,
I thought; it made my heart ache
as he was telling of it, but yet I am glad
I heard it.
PIETY: Was this all you saw at the house of the Interpreter?
CHRISTIAN: No; he took me, and had me where
he showed me a stately palace,
and how the people were clad in gold that
were in it; and how there came a
venturous man, and cut his way through the
armed men that stood in the door
to keep him out; and how he was bid to come
in, and win eternal glory.
Methought those things did ravish my heart.
I would have stayed at that good
man’s house a twelvemonth, but that I knew
I had farther to go.
PIETY: And what saw you else in the way?
CHRISTIAN: Saw? Why, I went but a little
farther, and I saw One, as I
thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon a
tree; and the very sight of him
made my burden fall off my back; for I
groaned under a very heavy burden,
but then it fell down from off me. It was a
strange thing to me, for I never
saw such a thing before: yea, and while I
stood looking up, (for then I
could not forbear looking,) three Shining
Ones came to me. One of them
testified that my sins were forgiven me;
another stripped me of my rags, and
gave me this broidered coat which you see;
and the third set the mark which
you see in my forehead, and gave me this
sealed roll, (and with that he
plucked it out of his bosom.)
PIETY: But you saw more than this, did you
not?
CHRISTIAN: The things that I have told you
were the best: yet some other I
saw, as, namely, I saw three men, Simple,
Sloth, and Presumption, lie
asleep, a little out of the way, as I came,
with irons upon their heels; but
do you think I could awake them? I also saw
Formality and Hypocrisy come
tumbling over the wall, to go, as they
pretended, to Zion; but they were
quickly lost, even as I myself did tell
them, but they would not believe.
But, above all, I found it hard work to get
up this hill, and as hard to
come by the lions’ mouths; and, truly, if
it had not been for the good man,
the porter that stands at the gate, I do
not know but that, after all, I
might have gone back again; but I thank God
I am here, and thank you for
receiving me.
Then Prudence thought good to ask him a few
questions, and desired his
answer to them.
PRUDENCE: Do you not think sometimes of the
country from whence you came?
CHRISTIAN: Yea, but with much shame and
detestation. Truly, if I had been
mindful of that country from whence I came
out, I might have had opportunity
to have returned; but now I desire a better
country, that is, a heavenly
one. Heb. 11:15,16.
PRUDENCE: Do you not yet bear away with you
some of the things that then you
were conversant withal?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, but greatly against my
will; especially my inward and carnal
cogitations, with which all my countrymen,
as well as myself, were
delighted. But now all those things are my
grief; and might I but choose
mine own things, I would choose never to
think of those things more: but
when I would be a doing that which is best,
that which is worst is with me.
Rom. 7:15, 21.
PRUDENCE: Do you not find sometimes as if
those things were vanquished,
which at other times are your perplexity?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, but that is but seldom; but
they are to me golden hours in
which such things happen to me.
PRUDENCE: Can you remember by what means
you find your annoyances at times
as if they were vanquished?
CHRISTIAN: Yes: when I think what I saw at
the cross, that will do it; and
when I look upon my broidered coat, that
will do it; and when I look into
the roll that I carry in my bosom, that
will do it; and when my thoughts wax
warm about whither I am going, that will do
it.
PRUDENCE: And what is it that makes you so
desirous to go to Mount Zion?
CHRISTIAN: Why, there I hope to see Him
alive that did hang dead on the
cross; and there I hope to be rid of all
those things that to this day are
in me an annoyance to me: there they say
there is no death, Isa. 25:8; Rev.
21:4; and there I shall dwell with such
company as I like best. For, to tell
you the truth, I love Him because I was by
Him eased of my burden; and I am
weary of my inward sickness. I would fain
be where I shall die no more, and
with the company that shall continually
cry, Holy, holy, holy.
Then said Charity to Christian, Have you a
family; Are you a married man?
CHRISTIAN: I have a wife and four small
children.
CHARITY: And why did you not bring them
along with you?
CHRISTIAN: Then Christian wept, and said,
Oh, how willingly would I have
done it! but they were all of them utterly
averse to my going on pilgrimage.
CHARITY: But you should have talked to
them, and have endeavored to show
them the danger of staying behind.
CHRISTIAN: So I did; and told them also
what God had shown to me of the
destruction of our city; but I seemed to
them as one that mocked, and they
believed me not. Gen. 19:14.
CHARITY: And did you pray to God that he
would bless your counsel to them?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, and that with much
affection; for you must think that my
wife and poor children were very dear to
me.
CHARITY: But did you tell them of your own
sorrow, and fear of destruction?
for I suppose that destruction was visible
enough to you.
CHRISTIAN: Yes, over, and over, and over.
They might also see my fears in my
countenance, in my tears, and also in my
trembling under the apprehension of
the judgment that did hang over our heads;
but all was not sufficient to
prevail with them to come with me.
CHARITY: But what could they say for
themselves, why they came not?
CHRISTIAN: Why, my wife was afraid of
losing this world, and my children
were given to the foolish delights of
youth; so, what by one thing, and what
by another, they left me to wander in this
manner alone.
CHARITY: But did you not, with your vain
life, damp all that you, by words,
used by way of persuasion to bring them
away with you?
CHRISTIAN: Indeed, I cannot commend my
life, for I am conscious to myself of
many failings therein. I know also, that a
man, by his conversation, may
soon overthrow what, by argument or
persuasion, he doth labor to fasten upon
others for their good. Yet this I can say,
I was very wary of giving them
occasion, by any unseemly action, to make
them averse to going on
pilgrimage. Yea, for this very thing, they
would tell me I was too precise,
and that I denied myself of things (for
their sakes) in which they saw no
evil. Nay, I think I may say, that if what
they saw in me did hinder them,
it was my great tenderness in sinning
against God, or of doing any wrong to
my neighbor.
CHARITY: Indeed, Cain hated his brother,
because his own works were evil,
and his brother’s righteous, 1 John, 3:12;
and if thy wife and children have
been offended with thee for this, they
thereby show themselves to be
implacable to good; thou hast delivered thy
soul from their blood. Ezek.
3:19.
Now I saw in my dream, that thus they sat
talking together until supper was
ready. So when they had made ready, they
sat down to meat. Now the table was
furnished with fat things, and with wine
that was well refined; and all
their talk at the table was about the Lord
of the hill; as, namely, about
what he had done, and wherefore he did what
he did, and why he had builded
that house; and by what they said, I
perceived that he had been a great
warrior, and had fought with and slain him
that had the power of death, Heb.
2:14,15; but not without great danger to
himself, which made me love him the
more.
For, as they said, and as I believe, said
Christian, he did it with the loss
of much blood. But that which put the glory
of grace into all he did, was,
that he did it out of pure love to his
country. And besides, there were some
of them of the household that said they had
been and spoke with him since he
did die on the cross; and they have
attested that they had it from his own
lips, that he is such a lover of poor
pilgrims, that the like is not to be
found from the east to the west. They,
moreover, gave an instance of what
they affirmed; and that was, he had
stripped himself of his glory that he
might do this for the poor; and that they
heard him say and affirm, that he
would not dwell in the mountain of Zion
alone. They said, moreover, that he
had made many pilgrims princes, though by
nature they were beggars born, and
their original had been the dunghill. 1
Sam. 2:8; Psa. 113:7.
Thus they discoursed together till late at
night; and after they had
committed themselves to their Lord for
protection, they betook themselves to
rest. The pilgrim they laid in a large
upper chamber, whose window opened
towards the sun-rising. The name of the
chamber was Peace, where he slept
till break of day, and then he awoke and
sang,
“Where am I now? Is this the love and care
Of Jesus, for the men that pilgrims are,
Thus to provide that I should be forgiven,
And dwell already the next door to heaven!”
So in the morning they all got up; and,
after some more discourse, they told
him that he should not depart till they had
shown him the rarities of that
place. And first they had him into the
study, where they showed him records
of the greatest antiquity; in which, as I
remember my dream, they showed him
the pedigree of the Lord of the hill, that
he was the Son of the Ancient of
days, and came by eternal generation. Here
also was more fully recorded the
acts that he had done, and the names of
many hundreds that he had taken into
his service; and how he had placed them in
such habitations that could
neither by length of days, nor decays of
nature, be dissolved.
Then they read to him some of the worthy
acts that some of his servants had
done; as how they had subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword, out of
weakness were made strong, waxed
valiant in fight, and turned to flight the
armies of the aliens. Heb.
11:33,34.
Then they read again another part of the
records of the house, where it was
shown how willing their Lord was to receive
into his favor any, even any,
though they in time past had offered great
affronts to his person and
proceedings. Here also were several other
histories of many other famous
things, of all which Christian had a view;
as of things both ancient and
modern, together with prophecies and
predictions of things that have their
certain accomplishment, both to the dread
and amazement of enemies, and the
comfort and solace of pilgrims.
The next day they took him, and had him
into the armory, where they showed
him all manner of furniture which their
Lord had provided for pilgrims, as
sword, shield, helmet, breastplate,
all-prayer, and shoes that would not
wear out. And there was here enough of this
to harness out as many men for
the service of their Lord as there be stars
in the heaven for multitude.
They also showed him some of the engines
with which some of his servants had
done wonderful things. They showed him Moses’
rod; the hammer and nail with
which Jael slew Sisera; the pitchers,
trumpets, and lamps too, with which
Gideon put to flight the armies of Midian.
Then they showed him the ox-goad
wherewith Shamgar slew six hundred men.
They showed him also the jawbone
with which Samson did such mighty feats.
They showed him moreover the sling
and stone with which David slew Goliath of
Gath; and the sword also with
which their Lord will kill the man of sin,
in the day that he shall rise up
to the prey. They showed him besides many
excellent things, with which
Christian was much delighted. This done,
they went to their rest again.
Then I saw in my dream, that on the morrow
he got up to go forward, but they
desired him to stay till the next day also;
and then, said they, we will, if
the day be clear, show you the Delectable
Mountains; which, they said, would
yet farther add to his comfort, because
they were nearer the desired haven
than the place where at present he was; so
he consented and stayed. When the
morning was up, they had him to the top of
the house, and bid 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. Isa.
33:16,17. Then he asked the name of the
country. They said it was
Immanuel’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 pilgrim
pass by. Then the Porter answered,
Yes.
CHRISTIAN: Pray, did you know him? said he.
THE PORTER: I asked his name, and he told
me it was Faithful.
CHRISTIAN: O, said Christian, 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?
THE PORTER: He is got by this time below
the hill.
CHRISTIAN: Well, said Christian, good
Porter, the Lord be with thee, and add
to all thy plain blessings much increase
for the kindness that thou hast
showed me.