“By-path Meadow”
—Evening Service Devotional from “The Pilgrim’s Progress”—

Now I beheld in my dream that they had not journeyed far when the river divided and began to flow in two different directions. They were sorry to see it for they dared not go out of the way. Now the way led away from the river and was rough, and their feet grew tender because of their travels. So the souls of the pilgrims became more and more discouraged because of the ruggedness of the way. (And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to go around the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. – Num. 21:4) 

Still they went on and wished for a better way. A little ahead of them, to the left of the road stretched a fenced meadow accessed by a stile. That meadow is called By-path Meadow. 

Christian said to Hopeful, “If this meadow lies alongside our way, let’s cross over into it.” So he walked over to the stile to investigate, and saw that a pathway on the other side of the fence seemed to run parallel with the way. 

“It’s exactly what I wished for.” Christian pointed to the path on the other side of the fence. “Here the going is much easier. Come on Hopeful, let’s cross over.” “But . . .” Hopeful’s mouth screwed to one side. “What if this path should lead us out of the way?”

“That’s not likely,” Christian said. “Look, doesn’t it run alongside our way, but just on the other side of the fence?”

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[Bunyan, John. Pilgrim’s Progress (Illustrated): Updated, Modern English. More than 100 Illustrations. (Bunyan Updated Classics) (pp. 127-128). Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.]