“Why,” said he to Christian and Hopeful, “should you choose to live?  You know you can never get out of Doubting Castle.  What!  Will you slowly starve to death like rats in a hole, instead of putting a sudden end to your misery, like men.  I tell you again, you will never get out.”

But when he was gone, Christian and Hopeful went down on their knees in their dungeon and prayed long and earnestly.  Then Christian suddenly bethought himself, and after fumbling in his bosom, he drew out a key, saying, “What a fool am I to lie in a dismal dungeon when I can walk at liberty!  Here is the key that I have been carrying in my bosom, called Promise, that will open every lock in Doubting Castle.”

He at once tried it at the dungeon door, and turned the bolt with ease.  He then led Hopeful to the iron gate of the castle, and though the lock went desperately hard, yet the key opened it.  But as the gate moved, it made such a creaking that Giant Despair was aroused.

Hastily rising up, the giant set out to pursue the prisoners; but seeing that all the land was now flooded with sunshine, he fell into one of his helpless fits, and could not even get as far as the castle gate.

III.—­The Celestial City

Having thus got safely out of Doubting Castle, Christian and Hopeful made their way back to the banks of the river of life, and, following the rough and stony way, they came at last to the Delectable Mountains.  And going up the mountains they beheld the gardens and orchards, the vineyards, the fountains of water; and here they drank and washed themselves, and freely ate of the pleasant grapes of the vineyards.  Now, on top of the mountains there were four shepherds feeding their flocks, and the pilgrims went to them, and, leaning upon their staffs, they asked them the way to the Celestial City.  And the shepherds took them by the hand and led them to the top of Clear, the highest of all the Delectable Mountains, and the pilgrims looked and saw, faintly and very far off, the gate and the glory of the Celestial City.

And I saw in my dream that the two pilgrims went down the Delectable Mountains along the narrow way, and after walking some distance they came to a place where the path branched.  Here they stood still for a while, considering which way to take, for both ways seemed right.  And as they were considering, behold, a man black of flesh and covered with a white robe, came up to them, and offered to lead them down the true way.  But when they had followed him for some time they found that he had led them into a crooked road, and there they were entangled in a net.

Here they lay bewailing themselves, and at last they espied a Shining One coming toward them, with a whip in his hand.

“We are poor pilgrims going to the Celestial City,” said Christian and Hopeful.  “A black man clothed in white offered to lead us there, but entangled us instead in this net.”