Outside the pit he realized how God had rescued him. His clothes were torn to pieces, his body was burned all over, and he knew not which way to go. He changed color when he saw more fiends, none of whom he recognized in that strange place. Some of them had sixty eyes that were loathsome and grisly, some had sixty hands. They said, "Thou shalt not be alone, but shalt have us for company, to teach thee the new laws, as before thou didst learn them in that spot where thou wast among our fellows." The fiends then led the knight towards a foul-smelling body of water, such as he had never seen. It was many miles in breadth and black as pitch. Owain saw passing over it a very strong but narrow bridge. The fiends said, "Lo, Sir Knight, seest thou this? This is the bridge of paradise; across this thou must go, and we shall hurl stones at thee, and the wind shall blow thee over and work thee woe. Thou wilt never pass over this without falling into the midst of our fellows to dwell forevermore. When thou hast fallen down, then all our company will come and wound thee with their hooks. We shall teach thee a new sport, for thou hast served us many a day, and we will lead thee into hell." Owain beheld the bridge and the water under it, so black and dreadful, and began to be sore afraid because of one thing he noted: never did motes dance in the sunbeam thicker than that company of fiends. The bridge[28] was as high as a tower and as sharp as a razor; narrow it was, and the water running underneath burned with lightning and thunder. He was exceedingly woful. There is no clerk who may write with ink, nor no man who can think, nor no master who can divine, one half of the torment there is under the bridge of paradise. We are told that there is the true entrance to hell. Saint Paul bears witness. Whosoever falls down from the bridge will never have redemption in any degree. The fiends then said to the knight, "There is no need for thee to cross this bridge. Flee pain, sorrow, and woe, and we will lead thee fairly back to that place from which thou didst come." Owain began to recall from how many of the tricks of the fiends God had saved him, so he set his foot upon the bridge, and felt no sharp edge, nor was he at all afraid. When the fiends saw that he was more than half over, they began to cry aloud, "Alas, alas, that he was born, this knight we have lost from our prison!"