Hope. Indeed our present condition is dreadful, and death would be far more welcome to me than thus forever to abide; but yet let us consider, the Lord of the country to which we are going hath said, “Thou shalt do no murder,” no, not to another man’s person, much more then are we forbidden to take his counsel to kill ourselves.  Besides, he that kills another, can but commit murder upon his body; but for one to kill himself, is to kill body and soul at once.  And, moreover, my brother, thou talkest of ease in the grave, but hast thou forgotten the hell whither for certain the murderers go? for “no murderer hath eternal life,” etc.  And let us consider again, that all the law is not in the hand of Giant Despair; others, so far as I can understand, have been taken by him as well as we, and yet have escaped out of his hands.  Who knows but that God, who made the world, may cause that Giant Despair may die; or that at some time or other he may forget to lock us in; or but he may, in a short time, have another of his fits before us, and he may lose the use of his limbs?  And if ever that should come to pass again, for my part, I am resolved to pluck up the heart of a man, and to try my utmost to get from under his hand.  I was a fool that I did not try to do it before.  But however, my brother, let us be patient, and endure awhile; the time may come that may give us a happy release; but let us not be our own murderers.  With these words Hopeful at present did moderate the mind of his brother; so they continued together in the dark that day, in their sad and doleful condition.

Well, toward evening the Giant goes down into the dungeon again, to see if his prisoners had taken his counsel.  But when he came there he found them alive; and truly alive was all; for now, what for want of bread and water, and by reason of the wounds they received when he beat them, they could do little but breathe.  But I say he found them alive; at which he fell into a grievous rage, and told them, that seeing they had disobeyed his counsel, it should be worse with them than if they had never been born.

At this they trembled greatly, and I think that Christian fell into a swoon; but coming a little to himself again, they renewed their discourse about the Giant’s counsel, and whether yet they had best take it or no.  Now Christian again seemed for doing it; but Hopeful made his second reply as followeth: 

My brother, said he, rememberest thou not how valiant thou hast been heretofore?  Apollyon could not crush thee, nor could all that thou didst hear, or see, or feel, in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  What hardship, terror, and amazement, hast thou already gone through! and art thou now nothing but fears?  Thou seest that I am in the dungeon with thee, a far weaker man by nature than thou art.  Also this Giant hath wounded me as well as thee, and also cut off the bread and water from my mouth, and with thee I mourn without the light.  But let us exercise a little more patience.  Remember how thou playedst the man at Vanity Fair, and wast neither afraid of the chain nor cage, nor yet of bloody death; wherefore let us—­at least to avoid the shame that it becomes not a Christian to be found in—­bear up with patience as well as we can.