Hinds’ Feet on High Places

Arriving at the foot of the mountains on the other side of the valley, Much-Afraid and her companions find the Shepherd waiting for them by what appears to be an automatic lift up the mountain. Taking seats upon the lift, they start up the mountain in pairs until reaching the top and arriving at the borderland of the Kingdom of Love. Awestruck by the beauty of the mountains and fields of flowers, Much-Afraid notices that the air is dominated by “the voice of a mighty waterfall, leaping down another great cliff which towered above them, and whose rushing waters sprang from the snows in the High Places themselves” (105). She discovers that these are the Falls of Love, which rush down from the High Places down into the valleys and low places to “give itself with no reserve” in an act of self-giving (107).

On the last day in that place, the Shepherd takes Much-Afraid by herself up to the peak of one of the High Places and is “transfigured before her” into his true form: “the King of Love himself, King of the whole Realm of Love” (109). Telling her to kneel, the Shepherd King removes a flaming coal from a nearby altar and touches Much-Afraid’s lips and tells her, “thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged” (110). With this she faints and awakens at the foot of the mountain once again, seeing the Shepherd in his old form as she has come to know him. The Shephard states: “Dare to begin to be happy. […] I will give you your heart’s desire” (111).

Hiking up the mountains, Much-Afraid, Sorrow, and Suffering come upon another cabin in which they take their rest. In the middle of the night, the Shepherd tells Much-Afraid that she must take her heart’s desire up into the mountain, “to the place that I will show you,” and offer it there “as a Burnt Offering to me” (114). Not understanding but desiring to obey, Much-Afraid wakens her companions at dawn and sets out for the place that is yet to be revealed. Along the way her old enemies Fear, Bitterness, Resentment, Pride, and Self-Pity rush past them and warn them of an impending avalanche, and the three companions only just find a cave in which to hide as the storms and floods rush by. Struggling with fear and doubt in the darkness of the cave, Much-Afraid wonders if she should just get rid of all the stones she has collected: “Were they not all worthless promises which he gave me on the way here?” (116).

Once the storm passes, she sets out again. Growing weaker up the path, she struggles, only continuing thanks to Sorrow and Suffering, who seem “more vigorous and strong” the higher they go and the more difficult the path becomes (118). The next day they find a spring of water whose bitterness is only softened by throwing a branch into its midst, and on the third day of this trip they finally reach the place that was appointed by the Shepherd.

Much-Afraid and her companions had been led “to the edge of a yawning chasm” (120), shrouded in midst, with no way over or around. Sorrow and Suffering inform Much-Afraid that there is no choice but to jump into the darkness, to which Much-Afraid responds with uncharacteristic resolve: “‘Of course,’ said Much-Afraid at once. ‘I did not realize at first, but that is the thing to do’” (120). With the help of her companions, she braces herself and leaps off into the unknown, landing rather softly thanks to the help of her friends. Once at the bottom, she finds an altar with a shadowy figure behind it, and without being able to call on the Shepherd for help, she realizes that she must make her sacrifice on her own. As she is unable to rip the flower of natural love out of her own heart, the priest of the altar offers to do it for her.

Much-Afraid thankfully accepts his offer but tells him that she must be bound hand and foot to ensure the success of the act: “I am a very great coward. I am afraid that the pain may cause me to try to resist you” (122). Bound with rope and lying prone upon the altar, the priest is able to remove the flower and roots of human love from Much-Afraid’s heart, and “nothing but ashes remained, either of the love itself, which had been so deeply planted in her heart, or of the suffering and sorrow which had been her companions on that long, strange journey” (123).