Produced by Bruce W MillerTHE PILGRIMS PROGRESS IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLEby Mary GodolphinAUTHORS PREFACEIn offering to the public another volume on my plan of reducing populartales into words of One Syllable exclusively I wish it to be clearlyunderstood that it is intended for Adult Beginners no less than forChildren There is a large class of persons who do not begin to acquirethe art of reading till somewhat late in life and it is for such that Ithink a book of this Character is peculiarly applicableIt may be objected that my system involves the use of words whichthough short are difficult to understand and might be made moreintelligible in polysyllabic language But I have endeavored as far aspossible to avoid hard and technical expressions and I cannot butthink that the mere fact of the brevity of the words must be a greatattraction to beginners of all ages By this method the labor ofdividing and accentuating words is avoided a difficulty which pupilswho have only attained to the knowledge of monosyllables cannot conquerby independent effortI take this opportunity of acknowledging the great favor with which myprevious books of the same character have been received and I am gladto hear that they have been found useful as Prizes in SchoolsI have thought it necessary to retain all the names of Persons andPlaces in their original form but this is the only exception to mygeneral rulePILGRIMS PROGRESSPART IAs I went through the wild waste of this world I came to a place wherethere was a den and I lay down in it to sleep While I slept I had adream and lo I saw a man whose clothes were in rags and he stood withhis face from his own house with a book in his hand and a great loadon his back I saw him read from the leaves of a book and as he readhe wept and shook with fear and at length he broke out with a loud cryand said What shall I do to save my soulSo in this plight he went home and as long as he could he held hispeace that his wife and babes should not see his grief But at lengthhe told them his mind and thus he spoke O my dear wife and you mybabes I your dear friend am full of woe for a load lies hard on meand more than this I have been told that our town will be burnt withfire in which I you my wife and you my sweet babes shall be lost ifmeans be not found to save usThis sad tale struck all who heard him with awe not that they thoughtwhat he said to them was true but that they had fears that some weightmust be on his mind so as night now drew near they were in hopes thatsleep might soothe his brain and with all haste they got him to bedWhen the morn broke they sought to know how he did He told them Worseand worse and he set to talk once more in the same strain as he haddone but they took no heed of it By and by to drive off his fit theyspoke harsh words to him at times they would laugh at times they wouldchide and then set him at nought So he went to his room to pray forthem as well as to nurse his own grief He would go too into thewoods to read and muse and thus for some weeks he spent his timeNow I saw in my dream that one day as he took his walk in the fieldswith his book in his hand he gave a groanfor he felt as if a cloudwere on his souland he burst out as he was wont to do and said Whowill save me I saw too that he gave wild looks this way and that asif he would rush off yet he stood still for he could not tell whichway to go At last a man whose name was Evangelist came up to him andsaid Why dost thou weepHe said Sir I see by this book in my hand that I am to die and thatthen God will judge me Now I dread to dieEvangelistWhy do you fear to die since this life is fraught withwoeThe man said I fear lest a hard doom should wait me and that this loadon my back will make me sink down till at last I shall find I am inTophetIf this be your case said Evangelist why do you stand stillBut the man said I know not where to goThen he gave him a scroll with these words on it Fly from the wrath tocomeWhen the man read it he said Which way must I flyEvangelist held out his hand to point to a gate in the wide field andsaid Do you see the Wicket GateThe man said NoDo you see that lightHe then said I think I doKeep that light in your eye quoth Evangelist and go straight up to itso shall you see the gate at which when you knock it shall be toldyou what you are to doThen I saw in my dream that Christianfor that was his nameset off torunNow he had not gone far from his own door when his wife and young oneswho saw him gave a loud wail to beg of him to come back but the manput his hands to his ears and ran on with a cry of Life Life Thefriends of his wife too came out to see him run and as he went somewere heard to mock him some to use threats and there were two who setoff to fetch him back by force the names of whom were Obstinate andPliable Now by this time the man had gone a good way off but at lastthey came up to himThen said Christian Friends why are you comeTo bid you go back with us said theyBut quoth he that can by no means