Late one night as I sat by my fire and read a familiar book, I found myself overcome by sleep, and as I dreamed, I saw the book before me coming to life before my eyes, transporting me from my living room to a world both familiar and foreign.
I saw in my dream a girl whose name was Christian, who had fled with her family from the City of Destruction, and wore the clothes of a pilgrim on the way to the Celestial City, and carried with her a scroll called Assurance and a key called Promise, which she had received at the cross. It was there that her mother, once Fearful, became Valiant, and her father, who had been called Stubborn, became Steadfast. Even her younger sister had been changed from Sullen to Joyful. Yet Christian was simply Christian, and she was not ashamed of her name or the One she represented.
They had gone a good way down the straight, narrow path when they came to the town of Vanity and passed through its great fair, where their refusal to buy of the fair's goods had enraged the people beyond reason, and they set out to persecute and kill them. It was in that town that Christian's parents and sister died, and Christian alone was taken to a far country and sold as a slave.
She was brought to the heart of Desolation, to a great house called Decadence owned by one Lawless, who set her to work in the fields and among the animals. There were in the house two sisters about Christian's age. The younger of the two was a lively, sympathetic creature, who quickly took to Christian and tried by various means to distract her from her grief. Though she was no longer exactly a child, she had not yet received her proper name, nor made one for herself. But as there were only two young ladies in the house and one did not speak, Christian did not find this particularly troublesome.
The elder girl was rarely seen outside her room, though Christian often saw her at her window, looking out over the field. She wore a very stately gown and a great deal of jewelry, and the sight of Christian often made her start back, as if in horror.
"Don't mind her," the younger girl said of her sister. "She's hopeless."
And it seemed that Hopeless was indeed her name, for she always went about with such a look of defeat and despair as to depress the spirits of the merriest person, so that Christian was rather relieved to be spared her company.
It was, therefore, with great surprise that Christian discovered her in her room late one afternoon, looking over a little book, which was one of the few possessions Christian had in all the world. When she saw that Christian had come in, she quickly closed the book and leapt to her feet.
"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to pry, but I hoped to speak with you a moment, and I couldn't help noticing—"
She stood holding the book for a moment as if unsure whether or not to give it up.
"Is this yours?" she asked finally.
Christian looked at her warily and said that it was.
"And...do you really believe everything that it says?"
Christian affirmed that she did.
"Then," —here the girl's voice dropped to a whisper— "are you really going to the Celestial City?"
As Christian stared in amazement, the girl continued, "Do you know the way? Will you take me with you?"
Now Christian was sorry to disappoint the girl, and had just opened her mouth to admit that she was not at all sure of the way to the gate, which she knew must be the first step on the path, as she had been only a child when she had first come to it. But as she was about to speak, she looked out the window and saw to her surprise a light shining in the growing darkness, and there, at the far end of the field, where moments before there had been only a line of trees, now stood a little wicket gate.