The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

dragon, feet like a bear, out of his belly came fire and smoke, and his
mouth was like the mouth of a lion! When he had come up to Christian,
he looked upon him with an arrogant stare, and thus began to dispute
with him.
APOLLYON: "Where have you come from — and where are you going?"
CHRISTIAN: "I have come from the City of Destruction,
which is the place of all evil — and am going to the Celestial City."
APOLLYON: "By this I perceive that you are one of my subjects, for all
that country is mine, and I am the prince of it. How is it, then, that you
have run away from your monarch? Were it not that I hope you would
return to my service, I would strike you down with one blow, to the
ground!"
CHRISTIAN: "I was born, indeed, in your dominions — but your service
was hard, and your wages were such as a man could not live on, for the
wages of sin is death!"
APOLLYON: "There is no prince who will thus lightly lose his subjects
— nor will I lose you! But since you complain of your service and wages
— be content to come back, and the best that our country can afford, I
promise to give you."
CHRISTIAN: "But I have pledged myself to another, even to the King of
princes — so how can I, with fairness, go back with you?"
APOLLYON: "You have gone from bad to worse! It is common for those
who have professed themselves to be His servants, after a while to give
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