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Now morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to return, but to see, by the light of the day, what hazards he had gone through in the dark. So he saw more perfectly the ditch that was on the one hand, and the quag that was on the other; also how narrow the way was which led betwixt them both; also now he saw the Hobgoblins, and Satyrs, and Dragons of the pit, but all afar off; for after break of day, they came not nigh; yet they were discovered to him, according to that which is written, He discovered deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the Shadow of Death.
A way full of snares, traps, gins and nets
Now was Christian much affected with his deliverance from all the dangers of his solitary way; which dangers, though he feared them more before, yet he saw them more clearly now, because the light of the day made them conspicuous to him. And about this time the sun was rising, and this was another mercy to Christian; for you must note, that though the first part of the Valley of the Shadow of Death was dangerous, yet this second part which he was yet to go, was, if possible, far more dangerous: for from the place where he now stood, even to the end of the Valley, the way was all along set so full of Snares, Traps, Gins, and Nets here, and so full of Pits, Pitfalls, deep Holes, and Shelvings down there, that had it now been dark, as it was when he came the first part of the way, had he had a thousand souls, they had in reason been cast away; but as I said, just now the sun was rising. Then said he, His candle shineth on my head, and by his light I go through darkness.
End of the valley : blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of men
In this light therefore he came to the end of the Valley. Now I saw in my Dream, that at the end of this Valley lay blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of men, even of Pilgrims that had gone this way formerly; and while I was musing what should be the reason, I espied a little before me a cave, where two Giants, Pope and Pagan, dwelt in old time; by whose power and tyranny the men whose bones, blood, ashes, etc. lay there, were cruelly put to death. But by this place Christian went without much danger, whereat I somewhat wondered; but I have learnt since, that Pagan has been dead many a day; and as for the other, though he be yet alive, he is by reason of age, and also of the many shrewd brushes that he met with in his younger days, grown so crazy, and stiff in his joints, that he can now do little more than sit in his cave's mouth, grinning at Pilgrims as they go by, and biting his nails, because he cannot come to them. So I saw that Christian went on his way; yet at the sight of the old man that sat in the mouth of the cave, he could not tell what to think, specially because he spake to him, though he could not go after him, saying, You will never mend till more of you be burned: But he held his peace, and set a good face on't, and so went by and catched no hurt.
Interpretation:
Christian after encountering his dark experience in the deep ditch during the night in the shadow of the valley of death, now sees during the morning time what things and persons he had encountered in the night. When we walk blindly through the valley of the shadow of death during the night, we can definitely see how we have walked through this dreadful valley saving our souls from the pit of the hell. When we sit calmly and read our Bible, we can find how we can avoid falling into the snares, nets, pits, etc.
John Bunyan in this chapter refers to two giants at the mouth of a cave i.e. Pope and Pagans who had murdered the faithful Christians for their faith and testimony.
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