a kind of hissing as of serpents, and then, the ground under their feet begins to shake. words of lamentation as if spoken by some in extreme Torment. Passing by a monument erected to commemorate Christian's victory over Apollyon, Great-heart leads his charges into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where they hear "a groaning as of dead men. Here one may think, and break at heart, and melt in one's spirit, until one's eyes become like the fishpools of Heshbon" (Song of Sol. Methinks here one may without molestation be thinking what he is, whence he came, what he has done, and what the King has called him. Mercy, for her part, finds the green and solitary Valley of Humiliation the pleasantest spot she has ever seen: "I love to be in such places where there is no rattling with coaches, nor rumbling with wheels. He had been too proud, too self-satisfied, and needed a bit of humiliation, which was arranged by the Lord, or rather, by Satan, always willing to oblige in punishing sinners. It now appears that Christian had brought Apollyon upon himself, as it were, because of his slips and derelictions along the Holy Way. She is reassured by Great-heart, who says that "here is nothing to hurt us unless we procure it to ourselves." The valley turns out to be as Great-heart said it would be, "as fruitful a place as any the crow flies over." Descending from Palace Beautiful into the Valley of Humiliation, Christiana becomes very apprehensive, recalling that it was here that Christian had encountered and been almost killed by that "foul fiend," Apollyon.
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