THE
PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
Part
II
Section
3
Accompanied
by Great-Heart - the Cross - justified by Christ - Sloth and his companions
hung - the hill Difficulty - the Arbour
THE
HILL DIFFICULTY
Thus
they went on till
they came at the foot of the hill Difficulty; where again their good friend,
Mr. GREAT-HEART, took an occasion to tell them of what happened there when
CHRISTIAN himself went by. So he had them first to the spring.
"Lo," saith he, "this is the spring that CHRISTIAN drank of
before he went up this hill, and then 'twas clear and good; but now 'tis
dirty with the feet of some that are not desirous that pilgrims here should
quench their thirst".
"Seemeth
it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye
must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have
drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?"
Ezekiel 34:18
Thereat
MERCY said, "And why so envious trow?" But said their guide,
"It will do, if taken up, and put into a vessel that is sweet and good;
for then the dirt will sink to the bottom, and the water come out by itself
more clear." Thus, therefore, CHRISTIANA and her companions were
compelled to do. They took it up and put it into an earthen pot, and so let
it stand till the dirt was gone to the bottom; and then they drank thereof.
Next
he showed them the two byways that were at the foot of the hill, where
FORMALITY and HYPOCRISY lost themselves. And said he, "These are
dangerous paths; two were here cast away when CHRISTIAN came by. And
although, as you see, these ways are since stopped up with chains, posts,
and a ditch, yet there are those who will choose to adventure here, rather
than take the pains to go up this hill."
Chris.
"The way of transgressors is hard".
"Good
understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is
hard." Proverbs 13:15
'Tis
wonder that they can get into those ways without danger of breaking their
necks.
Great-heart.
They will venture; yea, if at any time any of the King's servants doth
happen to see them, and doth call unto them, and tell them that they are in
the wrong ways, and do bid them beware of the danger: then they will
railingly return them answer, and say, "As for the word that thou hast
spoken unto us in the name of the King, we will not hearken unto thee: but
we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes out of our own mouths," etc.
"As
for
the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not
hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out
of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out
drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings,
and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem:
for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no
evil." Jeremiah 44:16, 17
Nay,
if you look a little farther, you shall see that these ways are made
cautionary enough; not only by these posts, and ditch, and chain, but also
by being hedged up: yet they will choose to go there.
Chris.
They are idle, they love not to take pains; the uphill way is unpleasant to
them. So it is fulfilled unto them as it is written: "The way of the
slothful man is a hedge of thorns".
"The
way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the
righteous is made plain." Proverbs 15:19
Yea,
they will rather choose to walk upon a snare, than to go up this hill and
the rest of this way to the city.
Then
they set forward, and began to go up the hill, and up the hill they went;
but before they got to the top, CHRISTIANA began to pant, and said, "I
daresay this is a breathing hill; no marvel if they that love their ease
more than their souls choose to themselves a smoother way." Then said
MERCY, "I must sit down"; also the least of the children began to
cry. "Come, come," said GREAT-HEART; "sit not down here, for
a little above is the Prince's arbour." Then took he the little boy by
the hand, and led him up thereto.
When
they were come to the arbour, they were very willing to sit down; for they
were all in a pelting heat. Then said MERCY, "How sweet is rest to them
that labour! And how good is the Prince of pilgrims to provide such resting
places for them!
"Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest." Matthew 11:28
Of
this arbour I have heard much; but I never saw it before. But here let us
beware of sleeping; for as I have heard, that it cost poor CHRISTIAN
dear."
Then
said Mr. GREAT-HEART to the little ones, "Come, my pretty boys, how do
you do? what think you now of going on pilgrimage?" "Sir,"
said the least, "I was almost beat out of heart; but I thank you for
lending me a hand at my need. And I remember now what my mother has told me,
namely, 'That the way to heaven is as up a ladder; and the way to hell is as
down a hill.' But I had rather go up the ladder to life, than down the hill
to death."
Then
said MERCY, "But the proverb is, 'To go down the hill is easy.'"
But JAMES said (for that was his name), "The day is coming when, in my
opinion, going down hill will be the hardest of all." "'Tis a good
boy," said his Master; "thou hast given her a right answer."
Then MERCY smiled; but the little boy did blush.
Chris.
"Come," said CHRISTIANA, "will you eat a bit, a little to
sweeten your mouths, while you sit here to rest your legs? For I have here a
piece of pomegranate which Mr. INTERPRETER put in my hand just when I came
out of his doors; he gave me also a piece of a honeycomb and a little bottle
of spirits." "I thought he gave you something," said MERCY,
"because he called you aside." "Yes, so he did," said
the other; "but, MERCY, it shall still be as I said it should, when at
first we came from home; thou shalt be a sharer in all the good that I have,
because thou so willingly didst become my companion." Then she gave to
them, and they did eat, both MERCY and the boys. And said CHRISTIANA to Mr.
GREAT-HEART, "Sir, will you do as we?" But he answered, "You
are going on pilgrimage, and presently I shall return; much good may what
you have do to you. At home I eat the same every day."
The
Pilgrim's Progress - the lions
The
Pilgrim's Progress - Contents
