So when the battle was over, Christian said, I will here give thanks to him that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the lion; to him that did help me against Apollyon.  And so he did, saying: 

  Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend,
  Design’d my ruin; therefore to this end
  He sent him harness’d out, and he with rage,
  That hellish was, did fiercely me engage: 
  But blessed Michael helped me, and I,
  By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly. 
  Therefore to him let me give lasting praise,
  And thank and bless his holy name always.

Then there came to him a hand, with some of the leaves of the tree of life, the which Christian took and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle, and was healed immediately.  He also sat down in that place to eat bread, and to drink of the bottle that was given to him a little before; so being refreshed, he addressed himself to his journey, with his sword drawn in his hand; for, he said, I know not but some other enemy may be at hand.  But he met with no other affront from Apollyon quite through the valley.

Now at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death; and Christian must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the midst of it.  Now this valley is a very solitary place; the prophet Jeremiah thus describes it:  “A wilderness, a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that no man” (but a Christian) “passeth through, and where no man dwelt.”

Now here Christian was worse put to it than in his fight with Apollyon, as by the sequel you shall see.

I saw then in my dream, that when Christian was got to the borders of the Shadow of Death, there met him two men, children of them that brought up an evil report of the good land—­making haste to go back—­to whom Christian spake as follows: 

Chr. Whither are you going?

Men. They said, Back, back, and we would have you do so too, if either life or peace is prized by you.

Why, what’s the matter? said Christian.

Men. Matter? said they; we were going that way as you are going, and went as far as we durst:  and indeed we were almost past coming back; for had we gone a little further, we had not been here to bring the news to thee.

But what have you met with? said Christian.

Men. Why, we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but that by good hap we looked before us, and saw the danger before we came to it.

But what have you seen? said Christian.

Men. Seen! why the valley itself, which is as dark as pitch:  we also saw there the hobgoblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit; we heard also in that valley a continual howling and yelling, as of a people under unutterable misery, who there sat bound in affliction and irons; and over that valley hangs the discouraging clouds of confusion:  death also doth always spread his wings over it.  In a word, it is every whit dreadful, being utterly without order.