with him,
that he might set them on the right way once more. He said: Where were
you last night?
Quoth they: With the men who kept watch of their sheep on The Delectable
Mountains.
Then he said: But when you were at a stand why did you not read your
note?
They told him they had not thought of it.
Now I saw in my dream that he bade them lie down, and whipt them sore,
to teach them the good way in which they should walk; and he said: Those
whom I love I serve thus.
So they gave him thanks for what he had taught them, and went on the
right way up the hill with a song of joy.
At length they came to a land the air of which made men sleep, and here
the lids of Hopeful's eyes dropped, and he said: Let us lie down here
and take a nap.
Christian.--By no means, lest if we sleep we wake no more.
Hopeful.--Nay, friend Christian, sleep is sweet to the man who has spent
the day in toil.
Christian.--Do you not call to mind that one of the men who kept watch
of the sheep bade us take care of The Enchanted Ground? He meant by that
that we should take heed not to sleep; so let us not sleep, but watch.
Hopeful.--I see I am in fault.
Christian.--Now then, to keep sleep from our eyes I will ask you, as we
go, to tell me how you came at first to do as you do now?
Hopeful.--Do you mean how came I first to look to the good of my soul?
Christian.--Yes.
Hopeful.--For a long time the things that were seen and sold at Vanity
Fair were a great joy to me.
Christian.--What things do you speak of?
Hopeful.--All the good of this life; such as lies, oaths, drink; in a
word, love of self and all that tend to kill the soul. But I heard from
you and Faithful that the end of these things is death.
Thus did they talk as they went on their way.
But I saw in my dream that by this time Christian and Hopeful had got
through The Enchanted Ground and had come to the land of Beulah, where
the air is sweet; and as their way lay through this land, they made no
haste to quit it, for here they heard the birds sing all day long, and
the sun shone day and night; the Valley of Death was on the left, and it
was out of the reach of Giant Despair; nor could they from this place so
much as see Doubting Castle.
Now were they in sight of Zion, and here some of the Bright Ones came to
meet them. Here, too, they heard the voice of those who dwelt in Zion,
and had a good view of this land of bliss, which was built of rare gems
of all h
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