“But,” said Christian, “I walk by the Rule of my Master, and you walk just as you like best.”

Then said they, “We see not how thou art different to us, except by the coat thou wearest, and that, we suppose, was given thee by some of thy neighbors, to hide thy rags.”

“Well,” said Christian, “the Lord of the City to which I go gave me this coat the day that he took away from me my rags.  He will surely know me, since I have His coat on my back.  I have also a mark in my forehead, which you may not have noticed, and this was given to me by one of my Lord’s friends, on the day my burden fell off my shoulders.  I will tell you too, that I had a roll given me, to comfort me by reading, as I go on the way.  I am also to give in the roll at the Celestial Gate.  All these things I think you are without, because you came not in at the gate.”

To these things they gave him no answer, only they looked at each other and laughed.  I beheld then, that they all went on without talking much together, till they came to the foot of the hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which was a spring.  The narrow way lay right up the hill, but there were also two other ways here.  One turned to the left hand and the other to the right at the bottom of the hill.  Christian now went to the spring and drank to refresh himself, and then began to go up the narrow path that led to the top of the hill.  The other two also came to the foot of the hill.  But when they saw that the hill was steep and high, they made up their minds to go in the other paths that lay round the side of the hill.  So one took the way that was called Danger, which led him into a great wood, and the other took the way called Destruction, which led him into a wide field, full of dark mountains, where he stumbled and fell and rose no more.  I looked then to Christian to see him go up the hill, and then I saw that he had begun to clamber upon his hands and his knees, because of the steepness of the place.  Now about midway to the top of the hill was a pleasant arbor, made by the Lord of the hill for the refreshing of weary travelers.  When Christian got there he sat down to rest, then he pulled out his roll and read in it to comfort himself, and he began again to look at the garment that was given to him at the Cross.  Thus he at last fell into a slumber, and then into a sound sleep, which kept him in that place, until it was almost night, and in his sleep his roll fell out of his hand.  Now, as he was sleeping, there came one to him and awaked him.  Then Christian suddenly started up and sped on his way till he came to the top of the hill.

When he was got to the top of the hill, there came two men running to meet him.  The name of the one was Timorous, and the other Mistrust.

“Sirs,” said Christian, “what is the matter?  You run the wrong way.”

Timorous answered that they were going to the City of Zion and had got up that difficult place.  “But,” said he, “the farther we go, the more danger we meet with, wherefore we turned and are going back again.”