THE FIRST STAGE
[1] AS I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted
on a certain place where was a den, and I laid me down in that
place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed,
and behold, I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain
place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and
a great burden upon his back. I looked and saw him open the
book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled;
and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a
lamentable cry, saying, "What shall I do?"
In this plight, therefore, he went
home, and restrained himself as long as he could, that his wife
and children should not perceive his dis- [2] tress; but he
could not be silent long, because that his trouble increased.
Wherefore at length he brake his mind to his wife and children;
and thus he began to talk to them: "O, my dear wife," said he,
"and you the children of my bowels, I, your dear friend, am in
myself undone by reason of a burden that lieth hard upon me;
moreover, I am certainly informed that this our city will be
burnt with fire from heaven; in which fearful overthrow, both
myself, with thee my wife, and you my sweet babes, shall
miserably come to ruin, except (the which yet I see not) some
way of escape can be found whereby we may be delivered." At this
his relations were sore amazed; not for that they believed that
what he had said to them was true, but because they thought that
some frenzy distemper had got into his head; therefore, it
drawing towards night, and they hoping that sleep might settle
his brains, with all haste they got him to bed. But the night
was as troublesome to him as the day; wherefore, instead of
sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears. So when the morning
was come, they would know how he did. He told them, "Worse and
worse:" he also set to talking to them again; but they began to
be hardened. They also thought to drive away his distemper by
harsh and surly carriage to him; sometimes they would deride,
sometimes they would chide, and [3] sometimes they would quite
neglect him. Wherefore he began to retire himself to his chamber
to pray for and pity them, and also to condole his own misery;
he would also walk solitarily in the fields, sometimes reading,
and sometimes praying: and thus for some days he spent his time.
Now I saw, upon a time, when he was
walking in the fields, that he was (as he was wont) reading in
his book, and greatly distressed in his mind; and as he read, he
burst out, as he had done before, crying, "What shall I do to be
saved?"
I saw also that he looked this way, and
that way, as if he would run; yet he stood still because (as I
perceived) he could not tell which way to go. I looked then, and
saw a man named Evangelist coming to him, and he asked,
"Wherefore dost thou cry?"
He answered, "Sir, I perceive, by the
book in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to
come to judgment, and I find that I am not willing to do the
first, nor able to do the second."
Then said Evangelist, "Why not willing
to die, since this life is attended with so many evils?" The man
answered, "Because, I fear that this burden that is upon my back
will sink me lower than the grave, and I shall fall into Tophet.
And Sir, if I be not fit to go to prison, I am not fit to go to
judgment, and from thence to execution; and the thoughts of
these things make me cry."

I FEAR THAT THIS
BURDEN THAT IS UPON MY BACK WILL SINK ME LOWER THAN THE GRAVE
[4] Then said Evangelist, "If this be
thy condition, why standest thou still?" He answered, "Because I
know not whither to go." Then he gave him a parchment roll, and
there was written within, "Fly from the wrath to come." Matt.
3:7.
The man therefore read it, and looking
upon Evangelist very carefully, said, "Whither must I fly?" Then
said Evangelist, (pointing with his finger over a very wide
field,) "Do you see yonder wicket-gate?" The man said, "No."
Then said the other, "Do you see yonder shining light?" He said,
"I think I do." Then said Evangelist, "Keep that light in your
eye, and go up directly thereto, so shalt thou see the gate; at
which, when thou knockest, it shall be told thee what thou shalt
do." So I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now he had
not run far from his own door when his wife and children,
perceiving it, began to cry after him to return; but the man put
his fingers in his ears, and ran on crying, Life! life! eternal
life! So he looked not behind him, but fled towards the middle
of the plain.

THE MAN PUT HIS
FINGERS IN HIS EARS, AND RAN ON CRYING, LIFE! LIFE! ETERNAL
LIFE!
The neighbors also came out to see him
run, and as he ran, some mocked, others threatened, and some
cried after him to return; and among those that did so, there
were two that were resolved to fetch him back by force. The name
of the one was Obstinate and the name of the other Pliable. Now
by this time the man was got a good distance from them; but,
however, they were resolved to pursue him, which they did, and
in a little time they overtook him. Then said the man,
"Neighbors, wherefore are you come?" They said, "To persuade you
to go back with us." But he said, "That can by no means be: you
dwell," said he, "in the city of Destruction, the place also
where I was born: I see it to be so; and dying there, sooner or
later, you will sink lower than the grave, into a place that
burns with fire and brimstone: be content, good neighbors, and
go along with me."
What, said Obstinate, and leave our
friends and our comforts behind us!
Yes, said Christian, (for that was his
name,) because that all which you forsake is not worthy to be
compared with a little of that I am seeking to enjoy, and if you
will go along with me, and hold it, you shall fare as I myself;
for there, where I go, is enough and to spare. Come away, and
prove my words.
[6] OBSTINATE: What are the things you
seek, since you leave all the world to find them?
CHRISTIAN: I seek an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, and it is
laid up in heaven, and safe there, to be bestowed, at the time
appointed, on them that diligently seek it. Read it so, if you
will, in my book.
OBSTINATE: Tush, said Obstinate, away
with your book; will you go back with us or no?
CHRISTIAN: No, not I, said the other,
because I have laid my hand to the plough.
OBSTINATE: Come then, neighbor Pliable,
let us turn again, and go home without him: there is a company
of these crazy-headed coxcombs, that when they take a fancy by
the end, are wiser in their own eyes than seven men that can
render a reason.
PLIABLE: Then said Pliable, Don't
revile; if what the good Christian says is true, the things he
looks after are better than ours: my heart inclines to go with
my neighbor.
OBSTINATE: What, more fools still! Be
ruled by me, and go back; who knows whither such a brain-sick
fellow will lead you? Go back, go back, and be wise.
CHRISTIAN: Nay, but do thou come with
thy neighbor Pliable; there are such things to be had which I
spoke of, and many more glories besides. If you believe not me,
read here in this book, and for the truth of what is expressed
therein, behold, all is confirmed by the blood of Him that made
it.
PLIABLE: Well, neighbor Obstinate, said
Pliable, I begin to come to a point; I intend to go along with
this good man, and to cast in my lot with him: but, my good
companion, do you know the way to this desired place?
CHRISTIAN: I am directed by a man whose
name is Evangelist, to speed me to a little gate that is before
us, where we shall receive instructions about the way.
PLIABLE: Come then, good neighbor, let
us be going. Then they went both together.
OBSTINATE: And I will go back to my
place, said Obstinate: I will be no companion of such misled,
fantastical fellows.
Now I saw in my dream, that when
Obstinate was gone back, [7] Christian and Pliable went talking
over the plain; and thus they began their discourse.
CHRISTIAN: Come, neighbor Pliable, how
do you do? I am glad you are persuaded to go along with me. Had
even Obstinate himself but felt what I have felt of the powers
and terrors of what is yet unseen, he would not thus lightly
have given us the back.
PLIABLE: Come, neighbor Christian,
since there are none but us two here, tell me now farther, what
the things are, and how to be enjoyed, whither we are going.
CHRISTIAN: I can better conceive of
them with my mind, than speak of them with my tongue: but yet,
since you are desirous to know, I will read of them in my book.
PLIABLE: And do you think that the
words of your book are certainly true?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, verily; for it was made
by Him that cannot lie.
PLIABLE: Well said; what things are
they?
CHRISTIAN: There is an endless kingdom
to be inhabited, and everlasting life to be given us, that we
may inhabit that kingdom for ever.
PLIABLE: Well said; and what else?
CHRISTIAN: There are crowns of glory to
be given us; and garments that will make us shine like the sun
in the firmament of heaven.
PLIABLE: This is very pleasant; and
what else?
CHRISTIAN: There shall be no more
crying, nor sor- [8] row; for he that is owner of the place will
wipe all tears from our eyes.
PLIABLE: And what company shall we have
there?
CHRISTIAN: There we shall be with
seraphims and cherubims, creatures that will dazzle your eyes to
look on them. There also you shall meet with thousands and ten
thousands that have gone before us to that place; none of them
are hurtful, but loving and holy; every one walking in the sight
of God, and standing in his presence with acceptance for ever.
In a word, there we shall see the elders with their golden
crowns, there we shall see the holy virgins with their golden
harps, there we shall see men, that by the world were cut in
pieces, burnt in flames, eaten of beasts, drowned in the seas,
for the love they bare to the Lord of the place, all well, and
clothed with immortality as with a garment.
PLIABLE: The hearing of this is enough
to ravish one's heart. But are these things to be enjoyed? How
shall we get to be sharers thereof?
CHRISTIAN: The Lord, the governor of
the country, hath recorded that in this book, the substance of
which is, if we be truly willing to have it, he will bestow it
upon us freely.
PLIABLE: Well, my good companion, glad
am I to hear of these things: come on, let us mend our pace.
CHRISTIAN: I cannot go as fast as I
would, by reason of this burden that is on my back.
Now I saw in my dream, that just as
they had ended this talk, they drew nigh to a very miry slough
that was in the midst of the plain: and they being heedless, did
both fall suddenly into the bog. The name of the slough was
Despond. Here, therefore, they wallowed for a time, being
grievously bedaubed with the dirt; and Christian, because of the
burden that was on his back, began to sink in the mire.

THE NAME OF THE
SLOUGH WAS DESPOND
PLIABLE: Then said Pliable, Ah,
neighbor Christian, where are you now?
CHRISTIAN: Truly, said Christian, I do
not know.
PLIABLE: At this Pliable began to be
offended, and angrily said to his fellow, Is this the happiness
you have told me all this while of? If we have such ill speed at
our first setting out, what may we expect between this and our
journey's end? May I get out again with my life, [10] you shall
possess the brave country alone for me. And with that he gave a
desperate struggle or two, and got out of the mire on that side
of the slough which was next to his own house: so away he went,
and Christian saw him no more.
Wherefore Christian was left to tumble
in the Slough of Despond alone; but still he endeavored to
struggle to that side of the slough that was farthest from his
own house, and next to the wicket-gate; the which he did, but
could not get out because of the burden that was upon his back:
but I beheld in my dream, that a man came to him, whose name was
Help, and asked him what he did there.
CHRISTIAN: Sir, said Christian, I was
bid to go this way by a man called Evangelist, who directed me
also to yonder gate, that I might escape the wrath to come. And
as I was going thither, I fell in here.
HELP: But why did not you look for the
steps?
CHRISTIAN: Fear followed me so hard
that I fled the next way, and fell in.
HELP: Then, said he, Give me thine
hand: so he gave him his hand, and he drew him out, and he set
him upon sound ground, and bid him go on his way.
Then I stepped to him that plucked him
out, and said, "Sir, wherefore, since over this place is the way
from the city of Destruction to yonder gate, is it, that this
plat is not mended, that poor travellers might go thither with
more security?" And he said unto me, "This miry slough is such a
place as cannot be mended: it is the descent whither the scum
and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run,
and therefore it is called the Slough of Despond; for still, as
the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, there arise in
his soul many fears and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions,
which all of them get together, and settle in this place: and
this is the reason of the badness of this ground.
"It is not the pleasure of the King
that this place should remain so bad. His laborers also have, by
the direction of his Majesty's surveyors, been for above this
sixteen hundred years employed about this patch of ground, if
perhaps it might have been mended: yea, and to my knowledge,"
said he, "there have been swallowed up at least twenty thousand
cart loads, yea, millions of wholesome instructions, that have
at all seasons been brought from all places of the King's
dominions, [11] (and they that can tell, say, they are the best
materials to make good ground of the place,) if so be it might
have been mended; but it is the Slough of Despond still, and so
will be when they have done what they can.
"True, there are, by the direction of
the Lawgiver, certain good and substantial steps, placed even
through the very midst of this slough; but at such time as this
place doth much spew out its filth, as it doth against change of
weather, these steps are hardly seen; or if they be, men,
through the dizziness of their heads, step beside, and then they
are bemired to purpose, notwithstanding the steps be there: but
the ground is good when they are once got in at the gate."
Now I saw in my dream, that by this
time Pliable was got home to his house. So his neighbors came to
visit him; and some of them called him wise man for coming back,
and some called him fool for hazarding himself with Christian:
others again did mock at his cowardliness, saying, "Surely,
since you began to venture, I would not have been so base as to
have given out for a few difficulties:" so Pliable sat sneaking
among them. But at last he got more confidence, and then they
all turned their tales, and began to deride poor Christian
behind his back. And thus much concerning Pliable.

BY THIS TIME
PLIABLE WAS GOT HOME TO HIS HOUSE. SO HIS NEIGHBORS CAME TO
VISIT HIM; AND SOME OF THEM CALLED HIM WISE MAN FOR COMING BACK,
AND SOME CALLED HIM FOOL.
Now as Christian was walking solitary
by himself, he espied one afar off come crossing over the field
to meet him; and their hap was to meet just as they were
crossing the way of each other. The gentleman's name that met
him was Mr. Wordly Wiseman: he dwelt in the town of Carnal
Policy, a very great town, and also hard by from whence
Christian came. This man then, meeting with Christian, and
having some inkling of him,—(for Christian's setting forth from
the city of Destruction was much noised abroad, not only in the
town where he dwelt, but also it began to be the town-talk in
some other places)—Mr. Worldly Wiseman, therefore, having some
guess of him, by beholding his laborious going, by observing his
sighs and groans, and the like, began thus to enter into some
talk with Christian.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: How now, good
fellow, whither away after this burdened manner?
CHRISTIAN: A burdened manner indeed, as
ever I think poor creature had! And whereas you ask me, Whither
away? I tell you, sir, I am going [13] to yonder wicket-gate
before me; for there, as I am informed, I shall be put into a
way to be rid of my heavy burden.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: Hast thou a wife
and children?
CHRISTIAN: Yes; but I am so laden with
this burden, that I cannot take that pleasure in them as
formerly: methinks I am as if I had none.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: Wilt thou hearken
to me, if I give thee counsel?
CHRISTIAN: If it be good, I will; for I
stand in need of good counsel.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: I would advise
thee, then, that thou with all speed get thyself rid of thy
burden; for thou wilt never be settled in thy mind till then:
nor canst thou enjoy the benefits of the blessings which God
hath bestowed upon thee till then.
CHRISTIAN: That is that which I seek
for, even to be rid of this heavy burden: but get it off myself
I cannot, nor is there any man in our country that can take it
off my shoulders; therefore am I going this way, as I told you,
that I may be rid of my burden.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: Who bid thee go
this way to be rid of thy burden?
CHRISTIAN: A man that appeared to me to
be a very great and honorable person: his name, as I remember,
is Evangelist.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: I beshrew him for
his counsel! there is not a more dangerous and troublesome way
in the world than is that into which he hath directed thee; and
that thou shalt find, if thou wilt be ruled by his counsel. Thou
hast met with something, as I perceive, already; for I see the
dirt of the Slough of Despond is upon thee: but that slough is
the beginning of the sorrows that do attend those that go on in
that way. Hear me; I am older than thou: thou art like to meet
with, in the way which thou goest, wearisomeness, painfulness,
hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and,
in a word, death, and what not. These things are certainly true,
having been confirmed by many testimonies. And should a man so
carelessly cast away himself, by giving heed to a stranger?
CHRISTIAN: Why, sir, this burden on my
back is more terrible to me than are all these things which you
have mentioned: nay, methinks I care not what I meet with in the
way, if so be I can also meet with deliverance from my burden.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: How camest thou by
thy burden at first?
CHRISTIAN: By reading this book in my
hand.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: I thought so; and
it has happened unto thee as to other weak men, who, meddling
with things too high for them, do suddenly [14] fall into thy
distractions; which distractions do not only unman men, as thine
I perceive have done thee, but they run them upon desperate
ventures, to obtain they know not what.
CHRISTIAN: I know what I would obtain;
it is ease from my heavy burden.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: But why wilt thou
seek for ease this way, seeing so many dangers attend it?
especially since (hadst thou but patience to hear me) I could
direct thee to the obtaining of what thou desirest, without the
dangers that thou in this way wilt run thyself into. Yea, and
the remedy is at hand. Besides, I will add, that instead of
those dangers, thou shalt meet with much safety, friendship, and
content.
CHRISTIAN: Sir, I pray open this secret
to me.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: Why, in yonder
village (the village is named Morality) there dwells a gentleman
whose name is Legality, a very judicious man, and a man of a
very good name, that has skill to help men off with such burdens
as thine is from their shoulders; yea to my knowledge, he hath
done a great deal of good this way; aye, and besides, he hath
skill to cure those that are somewhat crazed in their wits with
their burdens. To him, as I said, thou mayest go, and be helped
presently. His house is not quite a mile from this place; and if
he should not be at home himself, he hath a pretty young man to
his son, whose name is Civility, that can do it (to speak on) as
well as the old gentleman himself: there, I say, thou mayest be
eased of thy burden; and if thou art not minded to go back to
thy former habitation, (as indeed I [15] would not wish thee,)
thou mayest send for thy wife and children to this village,
where there are houses now standing empty, one of which thou
mayest have at a reasonable rate: provision is there also cheap
and good; and that which will make thy life the more happy is,
to be sure there thou shalt live by honest neighbors, in credit
and good fashion.
Now was Christian somewhat at a stand;
but presently he concluded, If this be true which this gentleman
hath said, my wisest course is to take his advice: and with that
he thus farther spake.
CHRISTIAN: Sir, which is my way to this
honest man's house?
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: Do you see yonder
high hill?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, very well.
MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN: By that hill you
must go, and the first house you come at is his.
So Christian turned out of his way to
go to Mr. Legality's house for help: but, behold, when he was
got now hard by the hill, it seemed so high, and also that side
of it that was next the way-side did hang so much over, that
Christian was afraid to venture further, lest the hill should
fall on his head; wherefore there he stood still, and wotted not
what to do. Also his burden now seemed heavier to him than while
he was in his way. There came also flashes of fire, out of the
hill, that made Christian afraid that he should be burnt: here
therefore he did sweat and quake for fear. And now he began to
be sorry that he had taken Mr. Worldly Wiseman's counsel; and
with that he saw Evangelist coming to meet him, at the sight
also of whom he began to blush for shame. So Evangelist drew
nearer and nearer; and coming up to him, he looked upon him,
with a severe and dreadful countenance, and thus began to reason
with Christian.
EVANGELIST: What doest thou here,
Christian? said he: at which words Christian knew not what to
answer; wherefore at present he stood speechless before him.
Then said Evangelist farther, Art not thou the man that I found
crying without the walls of the city of Destruction?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, dear sir, I am the man.
EVANGELIST: Did not I direct thee the
way to the little wicket-gate?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, dear sir, said
Christian.
[16] EVANGELIST: How is it then thou
art so quickly turned aside? For thou art now out of the way.
CHRISTIAN: I met with a gentleman so
soon as I had got over the Slough of Despond, who persuaded me
that I might, in the village before me, find a man that could
take off my burden.
EVANGELIST: What was he?
CHRISTIAN: He looked like a gentleman,
and talked much to me, and got me at last to yield: so I came
hither; but when I beheld this hill, and how it hangs over the
way, I suddenly made a stand, lest it should fall on my head.
EVANGELIST: What said that gentleman to
you?
CHRISTIAN: Why, he asked me whither I
was going; and I told him.
EVANGELIST: And what said he then?
CHRISTIAN: He asked me if I had a
family; and I told him. But, said I, I am so laden with the
burden that is on my back, that I cannot take pleasure in them
as formerly.
EVANGELIST: And what said he then?
CHRISTIAN: He bid me with speed get rid
of my burden; and I told him it was ease that I sought. And,
said I, I am therefore going to yonder gate, to receive farther
direction how I may get to the place of deliverance. So he said
that he would show me a better way, and short, not so attended
with difficulties as the way, sir, that you set me in; which
way, said he, will direct you to a gentleman's house that hath
skill to take off these burdens: so I believed him, and turned
out of that way into this, if haply I might be soon eased of my
burden. But when I came to this place, and beheld things as they
are, I stopped, for fear (as I said) of danger: but I now know
not what to do.
EVANGELIST: Then said Evangelist, Stand
still a little, that I show thee the words of God. So he stood
trembling. Then said Evangelist, "See that ye refuse not Him
that speaketh; for if they escaped not who refused him that
spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away
from Him that speaketh from heaven." He said, moreover, "Now the
just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him." He also did thus apply them:
Thou art the man that art running into this misery; thou hast
begun to reject the counsel of the Most High, and to draw back
thy foot from the way of peace, even almost to the hazarding of
thy perdition.
[17] Then Christian fell down at his
feet as dead, crying, Woe is me, for I am undone! At the sight
of which Evangelist caught him by the right hand, saying, "All
manner of sin and blasphemies shall be forgiven unto men." "Be
not faithless, but believing." Then did Christian again a little
revive, and stood up trembling, as at first, before Evangelist.
Then Evangelist proceeded, saying, Give
more earnest heed to the things that I shall tell thee of. I
will now show thee who it was that deluded thee, and who it was
also to whom he sent thee. The man that met thee is one Worldly
Wiseman, and rightly is he so called; partly because he savoreth
only the doctrine of this world, (therefore he always goes to
the town of Morality to church;) and partly because he loveth
that doctrine best, for it saveth him best from the cross, and
because he is of this carnal temper, therefore he seeketh to
pervert my ways, though right. Now there are three things in
this man's counsel that thou must utterly abhor.
1. His turning thee out of the way.
2. His laboring to render the cross
odious to thee.
3 And his setting thy feet in that way
that leadeth unto the administration of death.
First, Thou must abhor his turning thee
out of the way; yea, and thine own consenting thereto; because
this is to reject the counsel of God for the sake of the counsel
of a Worldly Wiseman. The Lord says, "Strive to enter in at the
straight gate," the gate to which I send thee; "for strait is
the gate that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
From this little wicket-gate, and from the way thereto, hath
this wicked man turned thee, to the bringing of thee almost to
destruction: hate, therefore, his turning thee out of the way,
and abhor thyself for hearkening to him.
Secondly, Thou must abhor his laboring
to render the cross odious unto thee; for thou art to prefer it
before the treasures of Egypt. Besides, the King of glory hath
told thee, that he that will save his life shall lose it. And he
that comes after him, and hates not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own
life also, he cannot be his disciple. I say, therefore, for a
man to labor to persuade thee that that shall be thy death,
without which, the truth hath said, thou canst not have eternal
life, this doctrine thou must abhor.
[18] Thirdly, Thou must hate his
setting of thy feet in the way that leadeth to the ministration
of death. And for this thou must consider to whom he sent thee,
and also how unable that person was to deliver thee from thy
burden.
He to whom thou wast sent for ease,
being by name Legality, is the son of the bond-woman which now
is, and is in bondage with her children, and is, in a mystery,
this Mount Sinai, which thou hast feared will fall on thy head.
Now if she with her children are in bondage, how canst thou
expect by them to be made free? This Legality, therefore, is not
able to set thee free from thy burden. No man was as yet ever
rid of his burden by him; no, nor ever is like to be: ye cannot
be justified by the works of the law; for by the deeds of the
law no man living can be rid of his burden: Therefore Mr.
Worldly Wiseman is an alien, and Mr. Legality is a cheat; and
for his son Civility, notwithstanding his simpering looks, he is
but a hypocrite, and cannot help thee. Believe me, there is
nothing in all this noise that thou hast heard of these sottish
men, but a design to beguile thee of thy salvation, by turning
thee from the way in which I had set thee. After this,
Evangelist called aloud to the heavens for confirmation of what
he had said; and with that there came words and fire out of the
mountain under which poor Christian stood, which made the hair
of his flesh stand up. The words were pronounced: "As many as
are of the works of the law, are under the curse; for it is
written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them."
Now Christian looked for nothing but
death, and began to cry out lamentably; even cursing the time in
which he met with Mr. Worldly Wiseman; still calling himself a
thousand fools for hearkening to his counsel. He also was
greatly ashamed to think that this gentleman's arguments,
flowing only from the flesh, should have the prevalency with him
so far as to cause him to forsake the right way. This done, he
applied himself again to Evangelist in words and sense as
follows.
CHRISTIAN: Sir, what think you? Is
there any hope? May I now go back, and go up to the wicket-gate?
Shall I not be abandoned for this, and sent back from thence
ashamed? I am sorry I have hearkened to this man's counsel; but
may my sin be forgiven?
EVANGELIST: Then said Evangelist to
him, Thy sin is very great, for by it thou hast committed two
evils: thou hast forsaken the way that is [19] good, to tread in
forbidden paths. Yet will the man at the gate receive thee, for
he has good-will for men; only, said he, take heed that thou
turn not aside again, lest thou "perish from the way, when his
wrath is kindled but a little."