CHR. I have given Him my faith, and sworn my allegiance to Him; how then can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor ?

APOL. Thou didst the same to me, and yet I am willing to pass by all, if now thou wilt yet turn and go back.

CHR. What I promised thee was in my nonage; and besides, I count that the Prince under whose banner I now stand is able to absolve me; yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee; and besides, O thou destroying Apollyon! to speak truth, I like His service, His wages, His servants, His goverment, His company, and country, better than thine; and therefore leave off persuading me further: I am His servant, and I will follow Him.

APOL. Consider again, when thou art in cold blood, what thou art like to meet with in the way 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 our 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 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,

APOLLYON WISHES HIM TO GO BACK.

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that is most glorious in their account; but 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 own 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? APOL. Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost choked in the Gulf of Despond. Thou didst attempt wrong ways to be rid of thy burden, whereas thou shouldst have stayed till thy Prince had taken it off. Thou didst sinfully sleep, and lose thy choice things. Thou wast almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions; and when thou talkest of thy journey, and what thou hast heard and seen, thou art inwardly desirous of vain-glory in all that 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; and 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.

Then Apollyon broke out into a grievous rage, saying, "I am an enemy to this Prince; I hate His person, His laws, 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.

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 farther: here will I spill thy soul."

And with that, he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but Christian had a shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented the danger of that. 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; by the which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head, his hand, and his 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 spent: for you must know that Christian, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and weaker.

Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to come up close to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; 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. But as God would have it, while Apollyon was fetching his last blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy! when I fall I shall arise;"

and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian, perceiving that, made at him again, saying, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." And with that, Apollyon spread forth his dragon wings, and sped him away, so that Christian saw him no more.

In this combat no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard, as I did, what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made 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 two-edged sword; then, indeed, he did smile and look upward; but it was the most dreadful sight that I ever saw.

So when the battle was over, Christian said, "I will here give thanks to Him that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, to Him that did help me against Apollyon." And so he did, saying—

"Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend,

Design'd my ruin; therefore to this end

He sent him harness'd out: and he with rage
That hellish was, did fiercely me engage!
But blessed Michael helpèd me, and I,

By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly;
Therefore to Him let me give lasting praise
And thanks, and bless His holy name always."

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 addressed himself to his journey, with his sword drawn in his hand; for he said, "I know not but some other enemy may be at hand." But he met with no other affront from Apollyon quite through the valley.

Now at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and Christian must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the 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) passeth through, and where no man dwelt."

Now here Christian was worse put to it than in his fight with Apollyon: as by the sequel you shall see.

I saw then in my dream, that when Christian got to the borders of the Shadow of Death, there met him two men, children of them that brought an evil report of the good land, making haste to go back; to whom Christian spake as follows: "Whither are you going?"

They said, "Back! back! and we would have you to do so too, if either life or peace is prized by you."

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'Why! what's the matter ?" said Christian. "Matter!" said they ; are going, and went as

we were going the way that you far as we durst; and indeed we