by Jim Pappas
Well, Great-heart and his crew were seven days in pulling down Doubting Castle and all the false sciences that held it up. To show their utter abhorrence of Despair and his warty wife, they buried both under a large pile of stones. For the first few days Mr. Despondency and Much-afraid could only watch from a safe distance. But it was not long until sunshine, rest, pure air, and good food had in no small degree revived them. On the last day, Despondency was even able to wield a crowbar for a few joyous minutes. The last thing he did was to carry a large stone (large for him, that is) to the summit of Despair's cairn and drop it contemptuously on top.
Well, when Doubting Castle was down and its walls tumbled into the moat, the pilgrims took the stinking head of the giant and hacked their way back to the straight way. And oh, you cannot imagine the joy that filled the air when they were reunited with their families! And oh, you cannot guess how touched Christiana was to receive that tattered old kerchief. The one that as a bride she had once monogrammed for her handsome groom. Yea, its first use upon seeing daylight was to dry Christiana's tears.
As for Feeble-mind and Ready-to-halt, when they saw the head of the giant, they rejoiced that yet another fearsome obstacle was removed from their pathway. Then Ready-to-halt proposed that they celebrate with a dance. Now Christiana was a right handy one with the fiddle and Mercy was no mean player upon the lute. And, owing to the joy of their victorious reunion, they were both well disposed to celebrate their victory. So they struck up a brisk tune and Mr. Ready-to-halt took Much-afraid by the hand, saying, "Miss Much-afraid, come. Let us celebrate your release with a dance."
"Oh, I don't know if I can dance," said she. "I can barely . . . "
"But of course you can," said he, taking her by the hand and towing her to the center of the circle. There he bowed to his partner and gave a nod to the waiting musicians.
So the music began. And a very merry jig it was too! Ready-to-halt, the cripple, danced with a crutch in one hand while he guided Miss Much-afraid with the other. Now, although the maid was timid at the start, she was not slow to learn and before long the taut lines of her fearful face had dissolved into smiles. Mercy laughed, Mr. Despondency clapped his bony hands to the beat, the children laughed and kept time on improvised drums, and even Old Mr. Feeble-mind could not refrain from cracking a smile when he thought no one was looking. And let me tell you, when once Miss Much-afraid got started, she answered the music most handsomely (and when the music was ended, I think I beheld a quick look of disappointment on her thin face).
Now I saw in my dream that when all these things were finished, Mr. Great-heart and Matthew hefted the massive head of Giant Despair onto a pole alongside the highway. They set it right across from the pillar that Christian had erected and then were occupied for some time carving these verses in stone:
"This is the head of him whose name only,
In Former times, did pilgrims terrify.
His castle's down; and Diffidence his wife
Brave Master Great-heart has bereft of life.
Despondency, his daughter Much-afraid,
Great-heart for them also the man has played.
Who hereof doubts, if he'll but cast his eye
Up hither, may his scruples satisfy!"
This head, also when doubting cripples dance,
Doth show from fears they have deliverance."
CHAPTER XXVI
The Shepherds
This done, the pilgrims resumed their travels and were soon past the difficult places of the way. It was not many days after, that they came to the Delectable Mountains where Christian and Hopeful had refreshed themselves with the various delicacies of the place. They were welcomed by the shepherds whose names were Watchful, Experience, Knowledge and Sincere. Said Knowledge:
"Greetings, good sir! My, but you have got a goodly company with you this trip! Pray tell, where did you find all these?"
Then Mr. Great-heart replied in a verse:
"First, here's Christiana and her train:
Her sons, and her son's wives; who, like the wain,
Keep by the pole, and do by compass steer
From sin to grace, else they had not been here.
Next, here's Old-honest come on pilgrimage.
Ready-to-halt too, who, I dare engage,
True hearted is: and so is Feeble-mind,
Who willing was not to be left behind.
Despondency, good man is coming after;
And so also is Much-afraid, his daughter.
May we have entertainment here, or must
We farther go? Let's know whereon to trust?"
"Of course you can stay here," replied Knowledge. "We are well able to care for the feeble as well as for the strong. Come, dear Mr. Feeble-mind. Enter in first."
"Me?" questioned the stooped old man, looking about to see if perchance Knowledge was addressing someone behind him. "Oh, but I am the lowest among the least."
"Good," answered Knowledge, "for our Lord has said that 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me'. Therefore do we thank thee for this opportunity to bless our Lord."
"Indeed? Well then, I bless you too," said Feeble-mind thankfully. Now as he stepped over the threshold of the palace, everyone noted that he carried his head a little bit higher.
"And all the rest of you: fathers, mothers, little children, come. Enter in. Enter in."
"I see that you are true shepherds indeed," said Great-heart gratefully, "for you know how to care for the weak and feeble as well as the strong."
When everyone was gathered within and comfortably seated, Sincere came up to Feeble-mind with note pad in hand and a white towel draped over one arm, saying, "Pray tell, Mr. Feeble-mind, what would you have for supper?"
"Me?" answered he, looking about him with no little astonishment. "Why, there must be some mistake here, sir, for as I told you, I am the poorest of the poor. Ask one of these great ones and I shall be content to compete with the dogs for the crumbs that fall from my master's table."
"Poorest of the poor, do you say?" asked Sincere. "Good. Then I am speaking to the right person. Our Lord has charged us to care for all the members of His family. He makes no distinction between great or small, black or white, male or female. All are precious in His sight and what will please you will please all. Therefore, what will you have for supper?"
"Why, I never!" answered he. So he placed his order and the shepherds had soon prepared them all a nourishing feast of things easy of digestion and pleasant to the palate. Thus were all refreshed before they retired to their rooms for the night.
When morning was come, because the day was especially clear and the snow-capped mountains easy to view, the shepherds took them out into the fields to show them what they had shown to Christian before.
Then they had them to some new places. The first was to Mount Marvel. There they looked and beheld a man that needed only to speak a word in the name of the Lord and behold, the hills would tremble before him. At other times, he would say to a mountain, "Be thou removed," and lo, it would be carried into the midst of the sea!
"Dear shepherds!" exclaimed James. "Who is this? We have never seen such great faith. No, not even in Israel."
"'Tis the son of Mr. Great-grace," answered Experience, proudly. "He is here to show you how to use faith and the word of promise to tumble hardships and difficulties out of the path."
"Ah! We know about the key of promise," exclaimed Matthew. "We used it against Giant Despair."
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Sincere. "And greater things than that shall you do because Christ has gone to His Father. Come."
Then they had them to another place, called Mount Innocent. There they saw a man named Godly-man clothed all in white and standing with his face lift towards heaven. Behind him stood two envious ones, Prejudice and Ill-will by name, who were continually casting dirt and mire upon him.
Prejudice
Ill-will
"Take that, filthy
one!" shouted Prejudice as he threw a handful of dirt at him.
"You missed him again!" sneered Ill-will.
"I did not! 'Twas a direct hit!"
"Oh, yeah? Well then, show me the stain, clown."
"I hit'm, I tell ya."
"Sure you did," mocked Ill-will. "Here, stand aside and let me have at him with some slime."
So he gathered up a glob of the ooey-gooeyest slime to be found in all those parts and flung it at Godly-man. "Hah!" shouted he. But although it mucked up the hands and clothes of the assailant, the blob of slime only rolled off the snow-white garment like water off a duck's back.
"Ha, ha, ha!" mocked Prejudice. "Throwing stuff don't work! Here, I brought some real muck from the tar pits. I'll use this brush to blacken his character from head to toe."
And this he assayed to do. But I saw that when his bucket was empty and his hands, face, and garments all tarred and gooey, the man in white remained as pure and clean as before.
"Ha! Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Ill-will. "Not a stain! You are impotent against him!"
"Well, so are you!"
"Sure I am. But at least I have enough sense to admit it."
"Ahh, grrr," grizzled Prejudice in helpless frustration. "I'll blacken him yet!"
"No, you won't. I'll bet you a crown to a shilling that if you dunked him into the muckiest part of the Slough of Despond, he would pop to the top as white as snow. Come on. Off with us."
"There has to be a way to blacken his robe!" snapped Prejudice, looking back angrily. "Only how?"
"There is only one way to besmirch one such as him," declared Ill-will."
"Being?"
"You have to separate him from his God."
"What! With him praying all the time? How could we do that?"
"Know any wanton women whose faces are prettier than their souls?"
"What for?"
"We've got to seduce him like Balak did the children of Israel. So do you know of any?"
"Not in these parts," grumbled Prejudice. "And, knowing him, he's probably taken Job's vow like that guy Faithful and Joseph before him. Oh, well. We tried."
So they departed, leaving the man as pure as before.
"What does this parable mean?" asked James.
"This man is named Godly-man," answered Experience, "and this white robe is the purity of his life in Christ. Prejudice and Ill-will hate to be compared to his innocence and so seek to make him as vile as themselves. But, as you have seen, a godly character cannot be stained."
"And can it be so with us?" asked Samuel.
"Aye," continued Experience. "No words that men speak against thee can defile thy soul. Yea, by and by God will cause your innocence to break forth as the light, and your righteousness as the noonday."
"May it be soon!" exclaimed Christiana. And all present said, "Amen!"
Then they took them and had them to Mount Charity, where they showed them a man that had a bundle of cloth lying before him. Out of it he continually cut coats and garments for the poor that gathered about him, yet his roll of cloth never grew smaller.
"Christiana, look!" exclaimed Mercy in amazement.
"Aye, I do see it," answered Christiana.
"Dear shepherds," asked Mercy, "is this true? Could this man indeed serve multitudes and still have a full bolt of cloth?"
"Aye," answered Sincere. "This shows how he that watereth shall be watered also himself. And also to remind thee of the widow whose flour and oil failed not - even though she gave her last morsel to the prophet Elijah."
"It reminds me," said Mercy, "of the words of our Lord who said, 'Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over'."
"Also the verse He spake which saith, 'With the measurement that you give, so shall it be measured back to you'," added Christiana.
"I only wish we could have had a bolt of cloth like that back in Vanity Faire," said Mercy wistfully.
"Did you not?" asked Experience.
"Oh, no," she answered. "We were all the time buying new ones."
"And did you ever run out?" inquired he.
"No. Never!" she answered proudly. "In fact we left many behind for those who would continue our ministry."
"Then you have already experienced the same miracle as you see in this parable, haven't you?" observed Knowledge.
"Aye," she replied with a smile of recognition. "I suppose we have."
They then took them to another place where they saw one named Fool and another called Want-wit trying to make an Ethiopian's skin lighter with soap and water. But their continued efforts only made his irritated skin turn red and cause him to long for escape.
"What means this?" asked Joseph.
"It looks like a couple of Pharisees and hypocrites trying to make the outside of the cup clean while leaving the inside full of filth," observed Matthew.
"Aye," agreed Watchful. "'Tis is a symbol of those who seek to change men's hearts by enforcing outward obedience. The only change made is to create a longing for escape."
"And do these men spend all their time trying to change this poor man?" asked James.
"Nay," answered Sincere. "They spend equal time painting out the spots on a leopard. But as soon as they release him, he runs to the river and all their labor is washed away."
"My, my," said Christiana sadly. "These men are just like so many of the ministers back in Destruction. Yea, I was once a painted leopardess myself. And 'twas in my poor painted-on self-righteousness that I railed on my poor husband when he sought to be cleansed from within."
Then said Mercy, "Mother, I would like to see the door in the hill that is called the By-way to hell." So they took her and the others to said door. After opening it, they bade them all listen for words that might make them wise unto salvation. So they did. By and by there came a voice from the past, saying, "Cursed be my father for holding my feet back from the way of peace and life!" Then another cried out, saying, "Oh, that I had been torn in pieces before I cast away my soul to save my life!" Yet another said mournfully, "If I were to have a second chance, how would I deny myself of anything rather than lose eternal life!" Then the earth groaned and quaked under their feet and Mercy's face looked white as a sheet. So she came away from that parable saying, "Blessed be they that are delivered from that place."
Now after the shepherds had showed them all these things, they had them back to the palace, and entertained them with the best the house would afford. So the party stayed there a good long time.
Now there came a day when Christiana came to visit Mercy. And behold, she wore an expression of abject sadness! It was a look that Christiana had not seen since the early days when Mercy feared for her acceptance as a pilgrim. This was such a rare expression for this woman of generosity that Christiana determined to know its cause.
"Mercy, why are you so sad? We are here in a spacious country and lodged in a fine house. You are about to bring forth your first child and yet you look as if you were pining away in a dungeon. Why, sure it is that this is nothing but a sickness of the heart. Do tell, what is its cause and how we may apply a cure?"
"I cannot explain it fully, Mother fair," answered Mercy from the depths of her melancholy. "But I have a deep longing for something in this house which I can neither hope to satisfy or put away. This is why I am so low. Indeed, I fear that my sadness may cause me to lose the child."
"Mercy!" chided Christiana. "There is no good thing that the Lord of the Hill will withhold from them that serve Him. If your desire is a just one, it shall be granted thee. What is it?"
"Mother, that which consumes my soul is the desire to possess the wondrous looking-glass that hangs up in the dining room."
"What! Why, 'tis no shame to long for such a glass as that!" exclaimed Christiana. "Why, I'll wager that the shepherds will commend thee on thy fine discernment."
"Do you think so?" she asked, her voice now tinged with a trace of hope. "Do you really think so?"
"Aye. That I
do. Would you like me to inquire of it for you?"
"Oh! Would you really?" cried the young woman eagerly. "Yes. Oh, yes, yes! Please ask them if they would sell it to me, for truly, I am caught in a hard place and can see no other escape."
"So I shall - come. Let us go," said Christiana resolutely (for as you have seen, Christiana was a woman who was not only decisive but quick of action).
Now let me pause and describe the glass for which Mercy longed with such all-consuming passion. Ah, it was one of a thousand. Looking into it straight on, it will perfectly reproduce your own likeness. If you kneel before it and stay for a few moments, it will show you what lies within your heart. Yea, 'twill reveal the hidden inner man with all his thoughts and motives.