After the Rescue

They brought the pilgrims to Mount Charity. There they showed them a man with a roll of cloth lying before him. From it he cut coats and clothes for the poor people standing around him, yet the roll of cloth never grew smaller.

The pilgrims asked, "What does this mean?" The shepherds answered, "This shows that the person who has a heart to give the fruit of his work to the poor will not be left without what he needs. The one who refreshes others will also be refreshed. The cake the widow gave to the prophet did not leave her barrel empty."

They also brought them to a place where two people, named Fool and Want-Wit, were washing a filthy man, trying to make him clean. But the more they washed him, the dirtier he became. The pilgrims asked the shepherds what this meant. They answered, "This is how it will be with a corrupt person. Every effort to give such a person a good name, while the heart remains unchanged, will only make the corruption more obvious in the end. This was true of the Pharisees, and it will be true of all hypocrites."

Then Mercy, Matthew's wife, said to Christiana, her mother, "Mother, I would like, if possible, to see the hole in the hill, the place people call the side-road to hell." Christiana told the shepherds what Mercy desired. They took her to the door in the side of the hill, opened it, and told her to listen for a while. She listened and heard one voice say, "Cursed be my father for holding my feet back from the way of peace and life." Another cried, "I wish I had been torn apart before I lost my soul to save my life." Another said, "If I could live again, I would deny myself rather than come to this place." Then the ground seemed to groan and tremble under Mercy's feet. She turned pale and came away shaking, saying, "Blessed are the ones rescued from this place."

When the shepherds had shown them these things, they brought them back to the palace and cared for them with all the house could provide. Mercy, being pregnant, strongly desired something she had seen there, but she was ashamed to ask for it. Her mother-in-law noticed that she looked unwell and asked what was wrong. Mercy said, "There is a mirror hanging in the dining room, and I cannot stop thinking about it. If I do not have it, I fear harm may come to my child." Her mother answered, "I will tell the shepherds what you need. They will not refuse you." Mercy said, "I am ashamed for these men to know what I desire." Her mother replied, "My daughter, it is not shameful to desire such a thing. It is a good desire." So Mercy said, "Then, mother, please ask the shepherds whether they are willing to sell it."