Then they brought them up a dish of apples, and they tasted very good. Then said Matthew, May we eat apples, since they were such, by, and with which, the serpent beguiled our first mother?
Then said Gaius-
Apples were the ones with which we were beguiled
Yet sin, not apples, hath our souls defil'd.
Apples forbid, if eaten, corrupt the blood;
To eat such, when commanded, does us good.
Drink of His flagons, then, thou church, His dove,
And eat His apples, who are sick of love.
Then said Matthew, I made the scruple, because I was sick a while since, with eating of fruit.
GAIUS. Forbidden fruit will make you sick, but not what our Lord has tolerated.
While they were thus talking, they were presented with another dish, and it was a dish of nuts (Song. 6:11). Then said some at the table, Nuts spoil tender teeth, especially the teeth of children; which when Gaius heard, he said—
Hard texts are nuts (I will not call them cheaters),
Whose shells keep their kernels from the eaters.
Ope then the shells, and you shall have the meat;
They are brought here for you to crack and eat.
Then they were very merry and sat at the table a long time, talking of many things. Then said the old gentleman, My good landlord, while we are cracking your nuts, if you please, do you open this riddle:
A man there was, though some did count him mad,
The more he cast away, the more he had.
Then they all gave good heed, wondering what good Gaius would say; so he sat still awhile, and then thus replied—
He that bestows his goods upon the poor,
Shall have as much again, and ten times more.
Then said Joseph, I dare say, Sir, I did not think you could have found it out.
Oh! said Gaius, I have been trained up in this way a great while; nothing teaches like experience; I have learned of my Lord to be kind, and have found by experience that I have gained thereby. 'There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet; but it tendeth to poverty' (Prov. 11:24). 'There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches' (Prov. 13:7). Then Samuel whispered to Christiana, his mother, and said, Mother, this is a very good man's house, let us stay here a good while, and let my brother Matthew be married here to Mercy, before we go any further.
The host, Gaius, overhearing, said, With a very good will, my child.
So they stayed there more than a month, and Mercy was given to
Matthew to wife.
While they stayed here, Mercy, as her custom was, would be making coats and garments to give to the poor, by which she brought up a very good report upon the Pilgrims.
But to return again to our story. After supper, the lads desired a bed, for they were weary with traveling; then Gaius called to show them their chamber, but said Mercy, I will have them to bed. So she had them to bed, and they slept well; but the rest sat up all night, for Gaius and they were such suitable company that they could not tell how to part. Then after much talk of their Lord, themselves, and their journey, old Mr. Honest, he that put forth the riddle to Gaius, began to nod. Then said Great-heart, What, Sir, you begin to be drowsy; come, rub up; now here is a riddle for you. Then said Mr. Honest, Let us hear it. Then said Mr. Great-heart,
He that will kill, must first be overcome,
Those who live abroad must first die at home.
Ha! said Mr. Honest, it is a hard one, hard to expound, and harder to practice. But come, landlord, said he, I will, if you please, leave my part to you; do you expound it, and I will hear what you say. No, said Gaius, it was put to you, and it is expected that you should answer it. Then said the old gentleman,
He first by grace must conquer'd be,
That sin would mortify;
And who, that lives, would convince me,
Unto himself must die.
It is right, said Gaius; good doctrine and experience teach this. First, until grace displays itself and overcomes the soul with its glory, it is altogether without heart to oppose sin; besides, if sin is Satan's cords, by which the soul lies bound, how should it make resistance before it is loosed from that infirmity?
Secondly, nor will any, that knows either reason or grace, believe that such a man can be a living monument of grace that is a slave to his own corruptions.
And now, it comes to mind: I will tell you a story worth hearing. There were two men who went on pilgrimage; one began when he was young, the other when he was old. The young man had strong corruptions to grapple with; the old man's were decayed with the decays of nature. The young man trod his steps as even as did the old one, and was every way as light as he. Who now, or which of them, had their graces shining clearest, since both seemed to be alike
HON. The young man's, doubtless. For that which heads it against the greatest opposition, gives best demonstration that it is strongest; especially when it also holdeth pace with that that meets not with half so much, as, to be sure, old age does not. Besides, I have observed that old men have blessed themselves with this mistake, namely, taking the decays of nature for a gracious conquest over corruptions, and so have been apt to beguile themselves. Indeed, old men who are gracious are best able to give advice to those who are young, because they have seen most of the emptiness of things. But yet, for an old and a young [man] to set out both together, the young one has the advantage of the fairest discovery of a work of grace within him, though the old man's corruptions are naturally the weakest.
Thus they sat talking till break of day. Now, when the family was up, Christiana bid her son James read a chapter; so he read the fifty-third of Isaiah. When he had done, Mr. Honest asked, why it was said that the Savior is said to come 'out of a dry ground'; and also, that 'He had no form or comeliness in him?'
GREAT-HEART. Then said Mr. Great-heart, To the first, I answer, Because the church of the Jews, of which Christ came, had then lost almost all the sap and spirit of religion. To the second, I say, The words are spoken in the person of the unbelievers, who, because they want that eye that can see into our Prince's heart, therefore they judge of Him by the meanness of His outside. Just like those who know not that precious stones are covered over with a homely crust; who, when they have found one, because they know not what they have found, cast it again away, as men do a common stone.
Well, said Gaius, now you are here, and since, as I know, Mr. Greatheart is good at his weapons, if you please, after we have refreshed ourselves, we will walk into the fields, to see if we can do any good. About a mile from hence, there is one Slay-good, a giant that does much annoy the King's highway in these parts; and I know whereabout his haunt is. He is the master of a number of thieves; it would be well if we could clear these parts of him. So they consented, and went, Mr. Great-heart with his sword, helmet, and shield, and the rest with spears and staves. When they came to the place where he was, they found him with one Feeble-mind in his hands, whom his servants had brought unto him, having taken him in the way. Now the giant was rifling him, with a purpose, after that, to pick his bones, for he was of the nature of flesh-eaters.
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