Great. Why, what would or could you have done to have helped yourself, if we indeed had been of that company?
Hon. Done! why, I would have fought as long as breath had been in me; and, had I so done, I am sure you could never have given me the worst on't, for a Christian can never be overcome unless he shall yield of himself.
Great. "Well said, Father Honest," quoth the guide; "for by this I know thou art a cock of the right kind, for thou hast said the truth."
Hon. And by this also I know that thou knowest what true pilgrimage is; for all others do think that we are the soonest overcome of any.
CONVERSES WITH HONEST
Great. Well, now we are so happily met, pray let me crave your name, and the name of the place you came from.
Hon. My name I cannot; but I came from the town of Stupidity; it lieth about four degrees beyond the City of Destruction.
Great. Oh! are you that countryman? then I deem I have half a guess of you: your name is old Honesty, is it not?
Hon. So the old gentleman blushed, and said, "Not Honesty, but Honest is my name; and I wish that my nature may agree to what I am called. But, sir," said the old gentleman, "how could you guess that I am such a man, since I came from such a place?"
Great. I had heard of you before by my Master; for He knows all things that are done on the earth. But I have often wondered that any should come from your place, for your town is worse than is the City of Destruction itself.