Christiana and her sons
So I saw in my dream, that they walked on
their way, and had the weather
very comfortable to them.
Then Christiana began to sing, saying,
Blessed be the day that I began
A pilgrim for to be;
And blessed also be the man
That thereto moved me.
’Tis true, ‘t was long ere I began
To seek to live for ever;
But now I run fast as I can:
‘Tis better late than never.
Our tears to joy, our fears to faith,
Are turned, as we see;
Thus our beginning (as one saith)
Shows what our end will be.
Now there was, on the other side of the
wall that fenced in the way up which
Christiana and her companions were to go, a
garden, and that garden belonged
to him whose was that barking dog, of whom
mention was made before. And some
of the fruit-trees that grew in that garden
shot their branches over the
wall; and being mellow, they that found
them did gather them up, and eat of
them to their hurt. So Christiana’s boys,
as boys are apt to do, being
pleased with the trees, and with the fruit
that hung thereon, did pluck
them, and began to eat. Their mother did
also chide them for so doing, But
still the boys went on.
Well, said she, my sons, you transgress,
for that fruit is none of ours; but
she did not know that it belonged to the
enemy: I’ll warrant you, if she had
she would have been ready to die for fear.
But that passed, and they went on
their way. Now, by that they were gone
about two bow-shots from the place
that led them into the way, they espied two
very ill-favored ones coming
down apace to meet them. With that,
Christiana and Mercy her friend covered
themselves with their veils, and so kept on
their journey: the children also
went on before; so that at last they met
together. Then they that came down
to meet them, came just up to the women, as
if they would embrace them; but
Christiana said, stand back, or go
peaceably as you should. Yet these two,
as
men that are deaf, regarded not Christiana’s words, but began to lay
hands upon them: at that Christiana waxing
very wroth, spurned at them with
her feet. Mercy also, as well as she could,
did what she could to shift
them. Christiana again said to them, Stand
back, and be gone, for we have no
money to lose, being pilgrims, as you see,
and such too as live upon the
charity of our friends.
ILL-FAVORED ONES: Then said one of the two
men, We make no assault upon you
for money, but are come out to tell you,
that if you will but grant one
small request which we shall ask, we will
make women of you for ever.
CHRISTIANA: Now Christiana, imagining what
they should mean, made answer
again, We will neither hear, nor regard,
nor yield to what you shall ask. We
are in haste, and cannot stay; our business
is a business of life and death.
So again she and her companion made a fresh
essay to go past them; but they
letted them in their way.
ILL-FAVORED ONES: And they said, We intend
no hurt to your lives; it is
another thing we would have.
CHRISTIANA: Aye, quoth Christiana, you
would have us body and soul, for I
know it is for that you are come; but we
will die rather upon the spot, than
to suffer ourselves to be brought into such
snares as shall hazard our
well-being hereafter. And with that they
both shrieked out, and cried,
Murder! murder! and so put themselves under
those laws that are provided for
the protection of women. Deut. 22:25-27.
But the men still made their
approach upon them, with design to prevail
against them. They therefore
cried out again.
Now they being, as I said, not far from the
gate in at which they came,
their voice was heard from whence they
were, thither: wherefore some of the
house came out, and knowing that it was
Christiana’s tongue, they made haste
to her relief. But by that they were got
within sight of them, the women
were in a very great scuffle; the children
also stood crying by. Then did he
that came in for their relief call out to
the ruffians, saying, What is that
thing you do? Would you make my Lord’s
people to transgress? He also
attempted to take them, but they did make
their escape over the wall into
the garden of the man to whom the great dog
belonged; so the dog became
their protector. This Reliever then came up
to the women, and asked them how
they did. So they answered, We thank thy
Prince, pretty well, only we have
been somewhat affrighted: we thank thee
also for that thou camest in to our
help, otherwise we had been overcome.
RELIEVER: So, after a few more words, this
Reliever said as followeth: I
marveled much, when you were entertained at
the gate above, seeing ye knew
that ye were but weak women, that you
petitioned not the Lord for a
conductor; then might you have avoided
these troubles and dangers; for he
would have granted you one.
CHRISTIANA: Alas! said Christiana, we were
so taken with our present
blessing, that dangers to come were
forgotten by us. Besides, who could have
thought, that so near the King’s palace
there could have lurked such naughty
ones? Indeed, it had been well for us had
we asked our Lord for one; but
since our Lord knew it would be for our
profit, I wonder he sent not one
along with us.
RELIEVER: It is not always necessary to
grant things not asked for, lest by
so doing they become of little esteem; but
when the want of a thing is felt,
it
then comes under, in the eyes of him that feels it, that estimate that
properly is its due, and so consequently
will be thereafter used. Had my
Lord granted you a conductor, you would not
either so have bewailed that
oversight of yours, in not asking for one,
as now you have occasion to do.
So all things work for good, and tend to
make you more wary.
CHRISTIANA: Shall we go back again to my
Lord, and confess our folly, and
ask one?
RELIEVER: Your confession of your folly I
will present him with. To go back
again, you need not, for in all places
where you shall come, you will find
no want at all; for in every one of my
Lord’s lodgings, which he has
prepared for the reception of his pilgrims,
there is sufficient to furnish
them against all attempts whatsoever. But,
as I said, He will be inquired of
by them, to do it for them. Ezek. 36:37.
And ‘tis a poor thing that is not
worth asking for. When he had thus said, he
went back to his place, and the
pilgrims went on their way.
MERCY: Then said Mercy, What a sudden blank
is here! I made account that we
had been past all danger, and that we
should never see sorrow more.
CHRISTIANA: Thy innocency, my sister, said
Christiana to Mercy, may excuse
thee much; but as for me, my fault is so
much the greater, for that I saw
this danger before I came out of the doors,
and yet did not provide for it
when provision might have been had. I am
much to be blamed.
MERCY: Then said Mercy, How knew you this
before you came from home? Pray
open to me this riddle.
CHRISTIANA: Why, I will tell you. Before I
set foot out of doors, one night
as I lay in my bed I had a dream about
this; for methought I saw two men, as
like these as ever any in the world could
look, stand at my bed’s feet,
plotting how they might prevent my
salvation. I will tell you their very
words. They said, (it was when I was in my
troubles,) What shall we do with
this woman? for she cries out, waking and
sleeping, for forgiveness: if she
be sufferet do go on as she begins, we
shall lose her as we have lost her
husband. This you know might have made me
take heed, and have provided when
provision might have been had.
MERCY: Well, said Mercy, as by this neglect
we have an occasion ministered
unto us to behold our own imperfections, so
our Lord has taken occasion
thereby to make manifest the riches of his
grace; for he, as we see, has
followed us with unasked kindness, and has
delivered us from their hands
that were stronger than we, of his mere
good pleasure.
Thus now, when they had talked away a
little more time, they drew near to a
house which stood in the way, which house
was built for the relief of
pilgrims, as you will find more fully
related in the first part of these
records of the Pilgrim’s Progress. So they
drew on towards the house, (the
house of the Interpreter;) and when they
came to the door, they heard a
great talk in the house. Then they gave
ear, and heard, as they thought,
Christiana mentioned by name; for you must
know that there went along, even
before her, a talk of her and her
children’s going on pilgrimage. And this
was the most pleasing to them, because they
had heard that she was
Christian’s wife, that woman who was some
time ago so unwilling to hear of
going on pilgrimage. Thus, therefore, they
stood still, and heard the good
people within commending her who they
little thought stood at the door. At
last Christiana knocked, as she had done at
the gate before. Now, when she
had knocked, there came to the door a young
damsel, and opened the door, and
looked, and behold, two women were there.
THE DAMSEL: Then said the damsel to them,
With whom would you speak in this
place?
CHRISTIANA: Christiana answered, We
understand that this is a privileged
place for those that are become pilgrims,
and we now at this door are such:
wherefore we pray that we may be partakers
of that for which we at this time
are come; for the day, as thou seest, is
very far spent, and we are loth
to-night to go any further.
THE DAMSEL: Pray, what may I call your
name, that I may tell it to my Lord
within.
CHRISTIANA: My name is Christiana; I was the
wife of that pilgrim that some
years ago did travel this way, and these be
his four children. This maiden
also is my companion, and is going on
pilgrimage too.
INNOCENT: Then Innocent ran in, (for that
was her name,) and said to those
within, Can you think who is at the door?
There is Christiana and her
children, and her companion, all waiting
for entertainment here. Then they
leaped for joy, and went and told their
Master. So he came to the door and
looking upon her, he said, Art thou that
Christiana whom Christian the good
man left behind him when he betook himself
to a pilgrim’s life.
CHRISTIANA: I am that woman that was so
hard-hearted as to slight my
husband’s troubles, and that left him to go
on in his journey alone, and
these are his four children; but now I also
am come, for I am convinced that
no way is right but this.
INTERPRETER: Then is fulfilled that which
is written of the man that said to
his son, “Go work to-day in my vineyard;
and he said to his father, I will
not: but afterwards repented and went.”
Matt. 21:29.
CHRISTIANA: Then said Christiana, So be it:
Amen. God made it a true saying
upon me, and grant that I may be found at
the last of him in peace, without
spot, and blameless.
INTERPRETER: But why standest thou thus at
the door? Come in, thou daughter
of Abraham; we were talking of thee but
now, for tidings have come to us
before how thou art become a pilgrim. Come,
children, come in; come, maiden,
come in. So he had them all into the house.
So when they were within, they were bidden
to sit down and rest them; the
which when they had done, those that
attended upon the pilgrims in the house
came into the room to see them. And one
smiled, and another smiled, and they
all smiled for joy that Christiana was
become a pilgrim: They also looked
upon the boys; they stroked them over their
faces with the hand, in token of
their kind reception of them: they also
carried it lovingly to Mercy, and
bid them all welcome into their Master’s
house.
After a while, because supper was not
ready, the Interpreter took them into
his Significant Rooms, and showed them what
Christian, Christiana’s husband,
had seen some time before. Here, therefore,
they saw the man in the cage,
the man and his dream, the man that cut his
way through his enemies, and the
picture of the biggest of them all,
together with the rest of those things
that were then so profitable to Christian.
This done, and after those things had been
somewhat digested by Christiana
and her company, the Interpreter takes them
apart again, and has them first
into a room where was a man that could look
no way but downwards, with a
muck-rake in his hand. There stood also one
over his head with a celestial
crown in his hand, and proffered him that
crown for his muck-rake; but the
man did neither look up nor regard, but
raked to himself the straws, the
small sticks, and dust of the floor.
Then said Christiana, I persuade myself
that I know somewhat the meaning of
this; for this is a figure of a man of this
world: is it not, good sir?
INTERPRETER: Thou hast said right, said he;
and his muck-rake doth show his
carnal mind. And whereas thou seest him
rather give heed to rake up straws
and sticks, and the dust of the floor, than
to do what He says that calls to
him from above with the celestial crown in
his hand; it is to show, that
heaven is but as a fable to some, and that
things here are counted the only
things substantial. Now, whereas it was
also showed thee that the man could
look no way but downwards, it is to let
thee know that earthly things, when
they are with power upon men’s minds, quite
carry their hearts away from
God.
CHRISTIANA: Then said Christiana, O deliver
me from this muck-rake. Prov.
30:8.
INTERPRETER: That prayer, said the
Interpreter, has lain by till it is
almost rusty: “Give me not riches,” is
scarce the prayer of one in ten
thousand. Straws, and sticks, and dust,
with most, are the great things now
looked after.
With that Christiana and Mercy wept, and
said, It is, alas! too true.
When the Interpreter had shown them this,
he had them into the very best
room in the house; a very brave room it
was. So he bid them look round
about, and see if they could find any thing
profitable there. Then they
looked round and round; for there was nothing
to be seen but a very great
spider on the wall, and that they
overlooked.
MERCY: Then said Mercy, Sir, I see nothing;
but Christiana held her peace.
INTERPRETER: But, said the Interpreter,
look again. She therefore looked
again, and said, Here is not any thing but
an ugly spider, who hangs by her
hands upon the wall. Then said he, Is there
but one spider in all this
spacious room? Then the water stood in
Christiana’s eyes, for she was a
woman quick of apprehension; and she said,
Yea, Lord, there are more here
than one; yea, and spiders whose venom is
far more destructive than that
which is in her. The Interpreter then
looked pleasantly on her, and said,
Thou hast said the truth. This made Mercy
to blush, and the boys to cover
their faces; for they all began now to
understand the riddle.
Then said the Interpreter again, “The
spider taketh hold with her hands,” as
you see, “and is in kings’ palaces.” Prov.
30:28. And wherefore is this
recorded, but to show you, that, how full
of the venom of sin soever you be,
yet you may, by the hand of Faith, lay hold
of and dwell in the best room
that belongs to the King’s house above?
CHRISTIANA: I thought, said Christiana, of
something of this; but I could
not imagine it at all. I thought that we
were like spiders, and that we
looked like ugly creatures, in what fine
room soever we were: but that by
this spider, that venomous and ill-favored
creature, we were to learn how to
act faith, that came not into my thoughts;
and yet she had taken hold with
her hands, and, as I see, dwelleth in the
best room in the house. God has
made nothing in vain.
Then they seemed all to be glad; but the
water stood in their eyes; yet they
looked one upon another, and also bowed
before the Interpreter.
He had them into another room, where were a
hen and chickens, and bid them
observe a while. So one of the chickens
went to the trough to drink, and
every time she drank she lifted up her head
and her eyes towards heaven.
See, said he, what this little chick doth,
and learn of her to acknowledge
whence your mercies come, by receiving them
with looking up. Yet again, said
he, observe and look: so they gave heed,
and perceived that the hen did walk
in a fourfold method towards her chickens:
1. She had a common call, and
that she hath all the day long. 2. She had
a special call, and that she had
but sometimes. 3. She had a brooding note.
Matt. 23:37. And, 4. She had an
outcry.
Now, said he, compare this hen to your King
and these chickens to his
obedient ones; for, answerable to her, he
himself hath his methods which he
walketh in towards his people. By his
common call, he gives nothing; by his
special call, he always has something to
give; he has also a brooding voice,
for them that are under his wing; and he
has an outcry, to give the alarm
when he seeth the enemy come. I choose, my
darlings, to lead you into the
room where such things are, because you are
women, and they are easy for
you.
CHRISTIANA: And, sir, said Christiana, pray
let us see some more. So he had
them into the slaughter-house, where was a
butcher killing a sheep; and
behold, the sheep was quiet, and took her
death patiently. Then said the
Interpreter, You must learn of this sheep
to suffer and to put up with
wrongs without murmurings and complaints.
Behold how quietly she takes her
death, and, without objecting, she
suffereth her skin to be pulled over her
ears. Your King doth call you his sheep.
After this he led them into his garden,
where was great variety of flowers;
and he, said, Do you see all these? So
Christiana said, Yes. Then said he
again, Behold, the flowers are diverse in
stature, in quality, and color,
and smell, and virtue; and some are better
than others; also, where the
gardener has set them, there they stand,
and quarrel not one with another.
Again, he had them into his field, which he
had sown with wheat and corn:
but when they beheld, the tops of all were
cut off, and only the straw
remained. He said again, This ground was
dunged, and ploughed, and sowed,
but what shall we do with the crop? Then
said Christiana, Burn some, and
make
muck of the rest. Then said the Interpreter again, Fruit, you see, is
that thing you look for; and for want of
that you condemn it to the fire,
and to be trodden under foot of men: beware
that in this you condemn not
yourselves.
Then, as they were coming in from abroad,
they espied a little robin with a
great spider in his mouth. So the
Interpreter said, Look here. So they
looked, and Mercy wondered, but Christiana
said, What a disparagement is it
to such a pretty little bird as the .
robin-red-breast; he being also a bird
above many, that loveth to maintain a kind
of sociableness with men! I had
thought they had lived upon crumbs of
bread, or upon other such harmless
matter: I like him worse than I did.
The Interpreter then replied, This robin is
an emblem, very apt to set forth
some professors by; for to sight they are,
as this robin, pretty of note,
color, and carriage. They seem also to have
a very great love for professors
that are sincere; and, above all others, to
desire to associate with them,
and to be in their company, as if they
could live upon the good man’s
crumbs. They pretend also, that therefore
it is that they frequent the house
of the godly, and the appointments of the
Lord: but when they are by
themselves, as the robin, they can catch
and gobble up spiders; they can
change their diet, drink iniquity, and
swallow down sin like water.
So, when they were come again into the
house, because supper as yet was not
ready, Christiana again desired that the
Interpreter would either show or
tell some other things that are profitable.
Then the Interpreter began, and said, The
fatter the sow is, the more she
desires the mire; the fatter the ox is, the
more gamesomely he goes to the
slaughter; and the more healthy the lustful
man is, the more prone he is
unto evil. There is a desire in women to go
neat and find; and it is a
comely thing to be adorned with that which
in God’s sight is of great price.
‘T is easier watching a night or two, than
to sit up a whole year together:
so ‘t is easier for one to begin to profess
well, than to hold out as he
should to the end. Every shipmaster, when
in a storm, will willingly cast
that overboard which is of the smallest
value in the vessel; but who will
throw the best out first? None but he that
feareth not God. One leak will
sink a ship, and one sin will destroy a
sinner. He that forgets his friend
is ungrateful unto him; but he that forgets
his Saviour is unmerciful to
himself. He that lives in sin, and looks
for happiness hereafter, is like
him that soweth cockle, and thinks to fill
his barn with wheat or barley. If
a man would live well, let him fetch his
last day to him, and make it always
his company-keeper. Whispering, and change
of thoughts, prove that sin is in
the world. If the world, which God sets
light by, is counted a thing of that
worth with men, what is heaven, that God
commendeth? If the life that is
attended with so many troubles, is so loth
to be let go by us, what is the
life above? Every body will cry up the
goodness of men; but who is there
that is, as he should be, affected with the
goodness of God? We seldom sit
down to meat, but we eat, and leave. So
there is in Jesus Christ more merit
and righteousness than the whole world has
need of.
When the Interpreter had done, he takes
them out into his garden again, and
had them to a tree whose inside was all
rotten and gone, and yet it grew and
had leaves. Then said Mercy, What means
this? This tree, said he, whose
outside is fair, and whose inside is
rotten, is that to which many may be
compared that are in the garden of God; who
with their mouths speak high in
behalf of God, but indeed will do nothing
for him; whose leaves are fair,
but their heart good for nothing but to be
tinder for the devil’s
tinder-box.
Now supper was ready, the table spread, and
all things set on the board: so
they sat down, and did eat, when one had
given thanks. And the Interpreter
did usually entertain those that lodged
with him with music at meals; so the
minstrels played. There was also one that
did sing, and a very fine voice he
had. His song was this:
“The Lord is only my support,
And he that doth me feed;
How can I then want any thing
Whereof I stand in need?”
When the song and music were ended, the
Interpreter asked Christiana what it
was that at first did move her thus to
betake herself to a pilgrim’s life.
Christiana answered, First, the loss of my
husband came into my mind, at
which I was heartily grieved; but all that
was but natural affection. Then
after that came the troubles and pilgrimage
of my husband into my mind, and
also how like a churl I had carried it to
him as to that. So guilt took hold
of my mind, and would have drawn me into
the pond, but that opportunely I
had a dream of the well-being of my
husband, and a letter sent me by the
King of that country where my husband
dwells, to come to him. The dream and
the letter together so wrought upon my mind
that they forced me to this way.
INTERPRETER: But met you with no opposition
before you set out of doors?
CHRISTIANA: Yes, a neighbor of mine, one
Mrs. Timorous: she was akin to him
that would have persuaded my husband to go
back, for fear of the lions. She
also befooled me, for, as she called it, my
intended desperate adventure;
she also urged what she could to dishearten
me from it, the hardships and
troubles that my husband met with in the
way; but all this I got over pretty
well. But a dream that I had of two
ill-looking ones, that I thought did
plot how to make me miscarry in my journey,
that hath troubled me much: yea,
it still runs in my mind, and makes me
afraid of every one that I meet, lest
they should meet me to do me a mischief,
and to turn me out of my way. Yea,
I may tell my Lord, though I would not have
every body know of it, that
between this and the gate by which we got
into the way, we were both so
sorely assaulted that we were made to cry
out murder; and the two that made
this assault upon us, were like the two
that I saw in my dream.
Then said the Interpreter, Thy beginning is
good; thy latter end shall
greatly increase. So he addressed himself
to Mercy, and said unto her, And
what moved thee to come hither, sweet
heart?
MERCY: Then Mercy blushed and trembled, and
for a while continued silent.
INTERPRETER: Then said he, Be not afraid;
only believe, and speak thy mind.
MERCY: So she began, and said, Truly, sir,
my want of experience is that
which makes me covet to be in silence, and
that also that fills me with
fears of coming short at last. I cannot
tell of visions and dreams, as my
friend Christiana can; nor know I what it
is to mourn for my refusing the
counsel of those that were good relations.
INTERPRETER: What was it, then, dear heart,
that hath prevailed with thee to
do as thou hast done?
MERCY: Why, when our friend here was
packing up to be gone from our town, I
and another went accidentally to see her.
So we knocked at the door and went
in. When we were within, and seeing what
she was doing, we asked her what
was her meaning. She said she was sent for
to go to her husband; and then
she up and told us how she had seen him in
a dream, dwelling in a curious
place, among immortals, wearing a crown,
playing upon a harp, eating and
drinking at his Prince’s table, and singing
praises to him for bringing him
thither, etc. Now, methought, while she was
telling these things unto us, my
heart burned within me. And I said in my
heart, If this be true, I will
leave my father and my mother, and the land
of my nativity, and will, if I
may, go along with Christiana. So I asked
her further of the truth of these
things, and if she would let me go with
her; for I saw now that there was no
dwelling, but with the danger of ruin, any
longer in our town. But yet I
came away with a heavy heart; not for that
I was unwilling to come away, but
for that so many of my relations were left
behind. And I am come with all
the desire of my heart, and will go, if I
may, with Christiana unto her
husband and his King.
INTERPRETER: Thy setting out is good, for
thou hast given credit to the
truth; thou art a Ruth, who did, for the
love she bare to Naomi and to the
Lord her God, leave father and mother, and
the land of her nativity, to come
out and go with a people she knew not
heretofore. “The Lord recompense thy
work, and a full reward be given thee of
the Lord God of Israel, under whose
wings thou art come to trust.” Ruth
2:11,12.
Now supper was ended, and preparation was
made for bed; the women were laid
singly alone, and the boys by themselves.
Now when Mercy was in bed, she
could not sleep for joy, for that now her
doubts of missing at last were
removed further from her than ever they
were before. So she lay blessing and
praising God, who had such favor for her.
In the morning they arose with the sun, and
prepared themselves for their
departure; but the Interpreter would have
them tarry a while; For, said he,
you must orderly go from hence. Then said
he to the damsel that first opened
unto them, Take them and have them into the
garden to the bath, and there
wash them and make them clean from the soil
which they had gathered by
traveling. Then Innocent the damsel took
them and led them into the garden,
and brought them to the bath; so she told
them that there they must wash and
be clean, for so her Master would have the
women to do that called at his
house as they were going on pilgrimage.
Then they went in and washed, yea,
they and the boys, and all; and they came
out of that bath, not only sweet
and clean, but also much enlivened and
strengthened in their joints. So when
they came in, they looked fairer a deal
than when they went out to the
washing.
When they were returned out of the garden
from the bath, the Interpreter
took them and looked upon them, and said
unto them, “Fair as the moon.” Then
he called for the seal wherewith they used
to be sealed that were washed in
his bath. So the seal was brought, and he
set his mark upon them, that they
might be known in the places whither they
were yet to go. Now the seal was
the
contents and sum of the passover which the children of Israel did eat,
Exod. 13: 8-10, when they came out of the
land of Egypt; and the mark was
set between their eyes. This seal greatly
added to their beauty, for it was
an ornament to their faces. It also added
to their gravity, and made their
countenance more like those of angels.
Then said the Interpreter again to the
damsel that waited upon these women,
Go into the vestry, and fetch out garments
for these people. So she went and
fetched out white raiment, and laid it down
before him; so he commanded them
to put it on: it was fine linen, white and
clean. When the women were thus
adorned, they seemed to be a terror one to
the other; for that they could
not see that glory each one had in herself,
which they could see in each
other. Now therefore they began to esteem
each other better than themselves.
For, You are fairer than I am, said one;
and, You are more comely than I am,
said another. The children also stood
amazed, to see into what fashion they
were brought.