service, his wages, his servants, his government, his company and country, better than thine; and, therefore, leave off to persuade me further; I am his servant and I will follow him. the grievous ends Apollyon pleads dissuade Christian from persist of Christians, to ing in his way. APOL. Consider, again, when thou art in cool blood, what thou art like to meet with in the way that thou goest. Thou knowest that, for the most part, his servants come to an ill end, because they are transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them have been put to shameful deaths; and, besides, thou countest his service better than mine, whereas he never came yet from the place where he is to deliver any that served him out of their hands; but as for me, how many times, as all the world very well knows, have I delivered, either by power or fraud, those that have faithfully served me, from him and his, though taken by them; and so I will deliver thee. CHR. His forbearing at present to deliver them is on purpose to try their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end; and as for the ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their account; for, for present deliverance, they do not much expect it, for they stay for their glory, and then they shall have it, when their Prince comes in his and the glory of the angels. APOL. Thou hast already been unfaithful in thy service to him; and how dost thou think to receive wages of him? CHR. Wherein, O Apollyon! have I been unfaithful to him? ities against him. APOL. Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost choked in the Gulf of Despond; thou didst attempt Apollyon pleads wrong ways to be rid of thy burden, whereas thou shouldst Christian's infirmhave stayed till thy Prince had taken it off; thou didst sinfully sleep and lose thy choice thing; thou wast, also, almost persuaded to go back, at the sight of the lions; and when thou talkest of thy journey, and of what thou hast heard and seen, thou art inwardly desirous of vain-glory in all thou sayest or doest. CHR. All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honour is merciful, and ready to forgive; but, besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country, for there I sucked them in; and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.57 Christian. APOL. Then Apollyon broke out in a grievous rage, saying, I am an enemy to this Prince; I hate his person, his laws, Apollyon in a rage falls upon and people; I am come out on purpose to withstand thee. CHR. Apollyon, beware what you do; for I am in the king's highway, the way of holiness; therefore take heed to yourself. APOL. Then Apollyon straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said, I am void of fear in this matter; prepare thyself to die; for I swear by my infernal den, that thou shalt go no further; here will I spill thy soul. And with that he threw a flaming dart at his breast; 58 but Christian had a shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented the danger of that. standing, faith, Then did Christian draw, for he saw it was time to bestir him: and Apollyon as fast made at him, throwing darts as thick as hail; Christian wound by the which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do ed in his under to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head, his hand, and conversation. and foot. This made Christian give a little back; Apollyon, therefore, followed his work amain, and Christian again took courage, and resisted as manfully as he could. This sore combat lasted for above half a day, even till Christian was almost quite spent; for you must know that Christian, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and weaker. eth down to the ground the Christian. fall; Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close Apollyon cast to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful and with that Christian's sword flew out of his hand. Then said Apollyon, I am sure of thee now. And with that he had almost pressed him to death, so that Christian began to despair of life: 59 but as God would have it, while Apollyon was fetching of his last blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly stretched out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, Christian's vic "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall I shall arise" (Micah vii. 8); and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his tory over Apolmortal wound. Christian perceiving that, made at him again saying, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Rom. viii. 37.) And with that Apollyon spread forth lyon. his dragon's wings, and sped him away, that Christian for a season saw him no more. (James iv. 7.) A brief relation the spectator. In this combat no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard as I did, what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made of the combat by all the time of the fight-he spake like a dragon; and, on the other side, what sighs and groans burst from Christian's heart. I never saw him all the while give so much as one pleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his twoedged sword; then, indeed, he did smile, and look upward; but it was the dreadfullest sight that ever I saw.60 A more unequal match can hardly be,- So when the battle was over, Christian said, "I will here give thanks to him that delivered me out of the mouth of the Christian gives God thanks for lion, to him that did help me against Apollyon." And so he did, saying deliverance. Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend, Then there came to him a hand, with some of the leaves of the tree of life, the which Christian took, and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle, and was healed immediately. He also sat down in that place to eat bread, and to drink of the bottle that was given him a little before; so, being refreshed, he on his journey addressed himself to his journey, with his sword drawn drawn in his in his hand; for he said, I know not but some other enemy may be at hand. But he met with no other affront Christian goes with his sword hand. from Apollyon quite through this valley. Now, at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and Christian must needs go through The Valley of Death. it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the the Shadow of midst of it. Now, this valley is a very solitary place. The prophet Jeremiah thus describes it: "A wilderness, a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that no man" (but a Christian) "passed through, and where no man dwelt." (Jer. ii. 6.) Now here Christian was worse put to it than in his fight with Apollyon as by the sequel you shall see. |