DONNING THE ARMOUR.
It was as if in a dream that Amer rose up again and looked about him. A
very large expanse of country lay around him; hills and valleys, rivers
and lakes, trees under which to rest, and far, far away, almost too far
for eye to see, a haze of golden glory fascinated his eyes.
"The City!" he cried under his breath.
He turned and looked for a moment at the town of Punon that he had
left behind, and was appalled to see its gloom. He had never realized
its darkness to such an extent before. He could hear the faint sound
of revelry, and caught a distant sight of its flickering torch-lights,
but he shivered as he looked at it, and turned again with joy to face
the East, in which direction the Radiant City lay. He shouted for very
gladness of heart. He felt as if he had wings, and imagined that the
journey to the City could be nothing but joy. The way looked easy and
beautiful. No rough stones or rocky passes could he see, and every step
he took seemed to bring him higher, and the breezes blew fresher.
Suddenly he became conscious of the presence of the Ambassador.
"My lad," he said, "you will need a guide book to show you the way. It
must be your constant companion. There will be enemies on the road who
will make every effort to take it from you, but you must lose anything
rather than the Book. If you give up the Book you are lost, and will
never find your way to the City. It is your most precious possession."
Amer eagerly took the Book from the Ambassador's hand, and opened its
pages at once to read.
He was surprised at the words that met his eyes. They spoke of a great
enemy that he would meet, and of the necessity of wearing armour so as
to be able to wrestle against "'principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.'" It spoke also of the "'fiery darts of the wicked.'"
Amer looked up into the Ambassador's face with a look of perplexity on
his own.
"I do not understand the Guide Book," he said, "It speaks of enemies,
and I see none."
"The first part of the way is often easy," answered the Ambassador.
"There was once a people who started on a journey to a land flowing
with milk and honey, and the Great King to whom they belonged led them
a long way round, in order that they might not meet the enemy too soon,
and so be discouraged and turn back. But you never know when the enemy
will be upon you, and you must be clad in the King's armour."
"Where is it to be had?"
"It is lying at your feet," answered the Ambassador.
No sooner did Amer see the armour than he began to don it.
"It must never on any account be laid aside," said the Ambassador, "the
great enemy is on the watch, and if ever you lay it aside he will take
advantage of you."
"What is the enemy like?" asked Amer earnestly, "and what is his name?"
"His name is the Devil," answered the Ambassador, "and his servants are
legion. It is not very likely that you will have to confront the Devil
himself, as you are too small and insignificant. But should you grow
into a very useful and powerful servant of the Great King, should you
in the future fight many of His enemies and give help on the road to
many of His servants, it is possible that the great enemy may attack
you in person, and then woe to you if your sword has grown rusty, or if
you are not wearing your armour."
"Will the road become more difficult and more dangerous as I near the
Radiant City?" asked Amer.
"I do not know. Everyone is not led in exactly the same path, even
though they are all going to the Radiant City, and so in the same
direction. Some, I think, have their worst fights at the beginning,
others in the middle of their course, some are fighting up to the very
end, even as they cross the river. But I think, probably, it is the
best soldiers and the most valiant who have to fight then. The great
enemy will not leave them alone, and makes every effort to prevent them
crossing into the Radiant City; the more valiant the soldier the harder
the fight."
"I mean to be a valiant soldier, and will never turn my back to the
foe," said Amer.
"My son," answered the Ambassador, "be on the watch! I already see an
enemy in the long grass close at your side, although you perceive him
not his name is Boastful. He does not look formidable, and is so small
that you may be inclined to despise him."
Amer smiled incredulously, but before he had turned round to look
behind him, he felt a knock on his shoulder which gave him pain, and in
a minute he was lying prone on the ground, while a small creature stood
a few yards in front of him grinning at him triumphantly.
Amer sprang up dismayed and ashamed of having been so easily overcome
by such an insignificant enemy, but when once on his feet he found he
was alone. He remembered then that he had been struck on the back, and
that there was no armour provided for the back. He pondered over this,
and the next time he met the Ambassador he asked him how this was.
"It is probably to show you that you must ever be ready to face the
foe. You must keep such a watch that you cannot be taken by surprise;
and you must never show fear and fly. If once you turn your back to the
enemy, either through carelessness or fear, woe to you."
"I begin to think the way is not as easy as I thought," said Amer,
sadly.
After this mishap, Amer began to walk more carefully, and kept a watch
over Boastful and other foes, who, because so small of stature, were
not easily detected.
One of these enemies was a most offensive little man of the name of
Irritability, who, if Amer set his foot on a slippery stone, or if the
heat of the sun was unusual, or the wind piercing as it swept across
the plain, would suddenly fly at the young soldier, and give him a blow
on the mouth.
And Amer found that this worrying sprite often prepared the way for a
much more formidable enemy, a relation of his called Temper; and that
Temper was the name of a family composed of three brothers, each one
more disagreeable and objectionable than the last.
The youngest of these brothers would walk doggedly and silently beside
his victim with a great gloom on his face, and every hour that he was
allowed to remain he grew more morose, and finally would cling on to
his coat, so acting as a drag. His name was Sulks, and he was the most
difficult of the three to get rid of, unless he was snubbed the moment
he arrived.
The second brother was a very dangerous fellow, for he was perpetually
handing daggers to his victim, urging him to do his work for him. His
name was Revenge.
But the eldest of the three worried Amer the most. When the lad had
lived in Punon he had had to do with him, and was surprised to meet
him so often on his journey to the Radiant City. While in Punon, Amer
had thought little of him, and had not looked on him exactly as an
enemy, in fact he had more than once found him useful there, for being
somewhat tall and imposing looking, and moreover of a fierce expression
of countenance, people had been afraid of Amer when they found him in
the company of this enemy, whose name was Passionate; consequently the
lad had more than once got his way with others simply on account of the
fear of his companion. But once having started on his journey to the
Radiant City, Amer felt he must entirely give up his company, and was
surprised and mortified that this enemy was not so easily disposed of
as he had imagined. It was true that his visits did not last so long as
formerly, but long enough to make Amer's fellow travellers who passed
by look askance at him, saying among themselves,
"Can he really be on his way to the Radiant City, as Temper walks by
his side?"
But except for these, Amer met few enemies at first, and wondered at
times what the Guide Book meant when it spoke of Principalities and
Powers against which he would have to wrestle.