In the Similitude of a Dream III…

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… At this his relations were sore amazed; not for that they believed

that what he said to them was true, but because they thought that

some frenzy distemper had got into his head; therefore, it drawing

towards night, and they hoping that sleep might settle his brains,

with all haste they got him to bed.

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But the night was as troublesome to him as the day; wherefore,

instead of sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears.

So, when the morning was come, they would know

how he did. He told them, Worse and worse:

he also set to talking to them again; but they began to be hardened.

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They also thought to drive away his distemper

by harsh and surly carriages to him; sometimes they would

deride, sometimes they would chide, and sometimes

they would quite neglect him.

Wherefore he began to retire himself to his chamber…

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… to pray for and pity them,

and also to console his own misery;

he would also walk solitarily in the fields,

sometimes reading, and sometimes praying:

and thus for some days he spent his time.

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Now, I saw, upon a time, when he was walking in the fields,

that he was, as he was wont, reading in his book,

and greatly distressed in his mind;

and as he read, he burst out, as he had done once before, crying,

What shall I do to be saved?

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The Pilgrim’s Progress

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Reflections from the, ‘Castles of the Mind’, weekend,

organised by Steve Tanham and Barbara Walsh.

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