GREAT-HEART. But you fought a great while; I wonder you were not weary.
VALIANT. I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand; and when they were joined together, as if a sword grew out of my arm, and when the blood ran through my fingers, then I fought with most courage (2 Sam. 23:10).
GREAT-HEART. Thou hast done well. Thou hast 'resisted unto blood, striving against sin.' Thou shalt abide by us, come in and go out with us, for we are thy companions.
Then they took him, and washed his wounds, and gave him of what they had to refresh him; and so they went on together. Now, as they went on, because Mr. Great-heart was delighted in him, for he loved one greatly that he found to be a man of his hands, and because there were with his company them that were feeble and weak, therefore he questioned him about many things; as, first, what countryman he was?
VALIANT. I am of Dark-land; for there I was born, and there my father and mother are still.
GREAT-HEART. Dark-land, said the guide, doth not that lie up on the same coast with the City of Destruction?
VALIANT. Yes, it doth. Now, that which caused me to come on pilgrimage was this: we had one Mr. Tell-true, who came into our parts, and he told it about what Christian had done, who went from the City of Destruction; namely, how he had forsaken his wife and children, and had betaken himself to a pilgrim's life. It was also confidently reported that he had killed a serpent that came out to resist him in his journey, and how he got through to whither he intended. It was also told what welcome he had at all his Lord's lodgings, especially when he came to the gates of the Celestial City; for there, said the man, he was received with sound of trumpet, by a company of Shining Ones. He also told how all the bells in the city did ring for joy at his reception, and what golden garments he was clothed with, with many other things that now I shall forbear to relate. In a word, that man so told the story of Christian and his travels, that my heart fell into a burning haste to be gone after him; nor could father or mother stay me! So I got from them, and have come thus far on my way.
GREAT-HEART. You came in at the gate, did you not?
VALIANT. Yes, yes; for the same man also told us that all would be nothing if we did not begin to enter this way at the gate.
GREAT-HEART. Look you, said the guide to Christiana, the pilgrimage of your husband, and what he has gotten thereby, is spread abroad far and near.
VALIANT. Why is this Christian's wife?
GREAT-HEART. Yes, that is, and these are also her four sons.
VALIANT. What! and going on pilgrimage too?
GREAT-HEART. Yes, verily; they are following after.
VALIANT. It gladdens me at heart. Good man! How joyful will he be when he shall see them that would not go with him, yet to enter after him in at the gates into the City!
GREAT-HEART. Without doubt, it will be a comfort to him; for, next to the joy of seeing himself there, it will be a joy to meet there his wife and children.
VALIANT. But now you are upon that, pray let me hear your opinion about it. Some ask a question, whether we shall know one another when we are there.
GREAT-HEART. Do they think they shall know themselves then, or that they shall rejoice to see themselves in that bliss? And if they think they shall know and do these, why not know others, and rejoice in their welfare also?
Again, since relations are our second self, though that state will be dissolved there, yet why may it not be rationally concluded that we shall be more glad to see them there than to see they are wanting?
VALIANT. Well, I understand where you are on this. Do you have any more questions to ask me about my beginning to come on pilgrimage?
GREAT-HEART, Yes. Were your father and mother willing that you should become a pilgrim?
VALIANT. OH no! They used all means imaginable to persuade me to stay at home.
GREAT-HEART, What could they say against it?
VALIANT. They said it was an idle life, and if I myself were not inclined to sloth and laziness, I would never countenance a pilgrim's condition.
GREAT-HEART. And what did they say else?
VALIANT. Why, they told me that it was a dangerous way; yea, the most dangerous way in the world, said they, is that which the pilgrims go.
GREAT-HEART. Did they show that this way is so dangerous?
VALIANT. Yes, and that in many particulars.
GREAT-HEART. Name some of them.
VALIANT. They told me of the Slough of Despond, where Christian was well nigh smothered. They told me that there were archers standing ready in Beelzebub Castle, to shoot them that should knock at the wicket-gate for entrance. They told me also of the wood, and dark mountains; of the Hill Difficulty; of the lions; and also of the three giants, Bloody-man, Maul, and Slay-good. They said, moreover, that there was a foul fiend that haunted the Valley of Humiliation, and that Christian was by him almost bereft of life. Besides, said they, you must go over the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where the hobgoblins are; where the light is darkness; where the way is full of snares, pits, traps, and gins. They told me also of Giant Despair, of Doubting Castle, and of the ruin that the Pilgrims met with there. Further, they said I must go over the Enchanted Ground, which was dangerous. And that, after all this, I should find a river, over which I should find no bridge, and that that river did be betwixt the Celestial Country and me.
GREAT-HEART. And was this all?
VALIANT. No. They also told me that this way was full of deceivers, and of persons that lay in wait there to turn good men out of the path.
GREAT-HEART. But how did they make that out?
VALIANT. They told me that Mr. Worldly-wiseman did there lie in wait to deceive. They also said that there was Formality and Hypocrisy continually on the road. They also said that By-ends, Talkative, or Demas would go near to gather me up; that the Flatterer would catch me in his net; or that, with green-headed Ignorance, I would presume to go on to the gate, from whence he always was sent back to the hole that was in the side of the hill, and made to go the by-way to hell.
