Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood Of Great Renown, In Nottinghamshire
.pdf
have and bless Saint Cedric for thy company. But, sweet
chuck, I prythee bring three quarts of ale at least, one for
thy drinking and two for mine, for my thirst is such that
methinks I can drink ale as the sands of the River Dee drink
sa
lt water.’
So Robin straightway le the Beggar, who, upon his part,
went to a budding lime bush back of the hedge, and there
spread his feast upon the grass and roasted his eggs upon
a little fagot re, with a deness gained by long labor in
that line. Aer a while back came Robin bearing a goodly
skin of ale upon his shoulder, which he laid upon the grass.
en, looking upon the feast spread upon the ground—and
a fair sight it was to look upon— he slowly
rubbed his hand
over his stomach, for to his hungry eyes it seemed the fairest
sight that he had beheld in all his life.
‘Friend,’ said the Beggar, ‘let me feel the weight of that
skin.
‘Yea, truly,’ quoth Robin, ‘help thyself, sweet chuck, and
meantime let
me see whether thy pigeon pie is fresh or no.’
So the one seized upon the ale and the other upon the
pigeon pie, and nothing was heard for a while but the
munching of food and the gurgle of ale as it le the skin.
At last, aer a long time had passed thus, Robin pushed
the food from him and heaved a great sigh of deep content,
for he felt as though he had been made all over anew.
‘And now, good friend,’ quoth he, leaning upon one elbow,
would have at thee about that other matter of seriousness
‘I
of which I spoke not long since.’
‘How!’ said the Beggar reproachfully, ‘thou wouldst sure-
270
T M A R H
271
ly not talk of things appertaining to serious aairs upon
such ale as this!’
‘Nay,’ quoth Robin, laughing. ‘I would not check thy
thirst, sweet friend; drink while I talk to thee. us it is: I
would have thee know that I have taken a liking to thy cra
and would fain have a taste of a beggar’s life mine own self.’
Said the Beggar, ‘I marvel not that thou hast taken a lik-
ing to my manner of life, good fellow, but ‘to like’ and ‘to
do’ are two matters of dierent sorts. I tell thee, friend, one
serve a long apprenticeship ere one can learn to be
must
even so much as a clapper-dudgeon, much less a crank or
an Abraham-man.[3] I tell thee, lad, thou art too old to en-
ter upon that which it may take thee years to catch the
hang
of.’
[3] Classes of traveling mendicants that infested England
as late as the middle of the seventeenth century. VIDE Da-
kkar’s ENGLISH VILLAINIES, etc.
‘Mayhap that may be so,’ quoth Robin, ‘for I bring to
mind that Gaer Swanthold sayeth Jack Shoemaker
maketh
ill bread; Tom Baker maketh ill shoon. Nevertheless, I have
a mind to taste a beggar’s life, and need but the clothing to
be as good as any.’
‘I tell thee, fellow,’ said the Beggar, ‘if thou wert clad as
sweetly as good Saint Wynten, the
patron of our cra, thou
wouldst never make a beggar. Marry, the rst jolly traveler
that thou wouldst meet would beat thee to a pudding for
thrusting thy nose into a cra that belongeth not to thee.’
‘Nevertheless,’ quoth Robin, ‘I would have a
try at it; and
methinks I shall change clothes with thee, for thy garb see-
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD272
271
meth to be pretty, not to say gay. So not only will I change
clothes, but I will give thee two golden angels to boot. I have
brought my stout sta with me, thinking that I might have
to rap some one of the brethren of thy cloth over the
head
by way of argument in this matter, but I love thee so much
for the feast thou hast given me that I would not li even my
little nger against thee, so thou needst not have a crumb
of fear.’
To this the Beggar listened with his knuckles
resting
against his hips, and when Robin had ended he cocked his
head on one side and thrust his tongue into his cheek.
‘Marry, come up,’ quoth he at last. ‘Li thy nger against
me, forsooth! Art thou out of thy wits, man? My name is
Riccon Haze
l, and I come from Holywell, in Flintshire, over
by the River Dee. I tell thee, knave, I have cracked the head
of many a better man than thou art, and even now I would
scald thy crown for thee but for the ale thou hast given me.
Now thou
shalt not have so much as one tag-rag of my coat,
even could it save thee from hanging.’
‘Now, fellow,’ said Robin, ‘it would ill suit me to spoil thy
pretty head for thee, but I tell thee plainly, that but for this
feast I would do that
to thee would stop thy traveling the
country for many a day to come. Keep thy lips shut, lad, or
thy luck will tumble out of thy mouth with thy speech!’
‘Now out, and alas for thee, man, for thou hast bred thy-
self ill
this day!’ cried the Beggar, rising and taking up his
sta. ‘Ta ke up thy club and defend thyself, fellow, for I will
not only beat thee but I will take from thee thy money and
leave thee not so much as a clipped groat to buy thysel
f a
272
T M A R H
273
lump of goose grease to rub thy cracked crown withal. So
defend thyself, I say.’
en up leaped merry Robin and snatched up his sta
also. ‘Take my money, if thou canst,’ quoth he. ‘I promise
freely to give thee every farthing if thou dost touch me.’
he twirled his sta in his ngers till it whistled again.
And
en the Beggar swung his sta also, and struck a mighty
blow at Robin, which the yeoman turned. ree blows the
Beggar struck, yet never one touched so much as a hair of
Robin’s
head. en stout Robin saw his chance, and, ere you
could count three, Riccon’s sta was over the hedge, and
Riccon himself lay upon the green grass with no more motion than you could nd in an empty pudding bag.
‘How now!’ quoth merry Robin,
laughing. ‘Wilt thou
have my hide or my money, sweet chuck?’ But to this the
other answered never a word. en Robin, seeing his plight,
and that he was stunned with the blow, ran, still laughing,
and brought the skin of ale and poured
some of it on the
Beggar’s head and some down his throat, so that presently
he opened his eyes and looked around as though wondering
why he lay upon his back.
en Robin, seeing that he had somewhat gathered the
wits that had just been rapped out of his
head, said, ‘Now,
good fellow, wilt thou change clothes with me, or shall I
have to tap thee again? Here are two golden angels if thou
wilt give me freely all thy rags and bags and thy cap and
things. If thou givest
them not freely, I much fear me I shall
have to—‘ and he looked up and down his sta.
en Riccon sat up and rubbed the bump on his crown.
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD274
273
‘Now, out upon it!’ quoth he. ‘I did think to drub thee sweet-
ly, fellow. I know not how it is, but I seem, as it were, to
have bought more beer than I can drink. If I must give up
my clothes, I must, but rst promise me, by thy word as a
true yeoman, that thou wilt take nought from me but my
clothes.’
‘I promise on the word of a true yeoman,’ quoth Robin,
thinking that the fellow had a few pennies that he would
save.
ereupon the Beggar drew a little knife that hung at his
and, ripping up the lining of his coat, drew thence ten
side
bright golden pounds, which he laid upon the ground beside him with a cunning wink at Robin. ‘Now thou mayst
have my clothes and welcome,’ said he, ‘and thou mightest
have had
them in exchange for thine without the cost of a
single farthing, far less two golden angels.’
‘Marry,’ quoth Robin, laughing, ‘thou art a sly fellow, and
I tell thee truly, had I known thou hadst so much money by
thee maybe thou mightst
not have carried it away, for I war-
rant thou didst not come honestly by it.’
en each stripped o his clothes and put on those of
the other, and as lusty a beggar was Robin Hood as e’er you
could nd of a summer’s day. But stout Riccon
of Holywell
skipped and leaped and danced for joy of the fair suit of
Lincoln green that he had so gotten. Quoth he, ‘I am a gay-
feathered bird now. Truly, my dear Moll Peascod would
never know me in this dress. ou mayst keep the cold
pieces of
the feast, friend, for I mean to live well and lustily
while my money lasts and my clothes are gay.’
274
T M A R H
275
So he turned and le Robin and, crossing the stile, was
gone, but Robin heard him singing from beyond the hedge
as he strode away:
‘For Polly is smiling and Molly is glad
When the beggar comes in at the door,
And Jack and Dick call him a ne lusty lad,
And the hostess runs up a great score.
en hey, Willy Waddykin,
Stay, Billy Waddykin,
And let the brown ale ow free, ow free,
e beggar’s the man for me.’
Robin listened till the song ended in the distance, then
he also crossed the stile
into the road, but turned his toes
away from where the Beggar had gone. e road led up a
gentle hill and up the hill Robin walked, a half score or
more of bags dangling about his legs. Onward he strolled
for a long
time, but other adventure he found not. e road
was bare of all else but himself, as he went kicking up little
clouds of dust at each footstep; for it was noontide, the most
peaceful time of all the day, next to
twilight. All the earth
was silent in the restfulness of eating time; the plowhorses
stood in the furrow munching, with great bags over their
noses holding sweet food, the plowman sat under the hedge
and the plowboy also, and they,
too, were munching, each
one holding a great piece of bread in one st and a great
piece of cheese in the other.
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD276
275
So Robin, with all the empty road to himself, strode
along whistling merrily, his bags and pouches bobbing
and dangling at his thighs. At last he came to where a little
grass-grown path le the road and, passing through a stile
and down a hill, led into a little dell and on across a rill in
the valley and up the hill on the other side, till it reached a
windmill that stood on the cap of the rise where the wind
bent the trees in
swaying motion. Robin looked at the spot
and liked it, and, for no reason but that his fancy led him,
he took the little path and walked down the grassy sunny
slope of the open meadow, and so came to the little dingle
d, ere he knew it, upon four lusty fellows that sat with
an
legs outstretched around a goodly feast spread upon the
ground.
Four merry beggars were they, and each had slung about
his neck a little board that rested upon his breast. One
board had
written upon it, ‘I am blind,’ another, ‘I am deaf,’
another, ‘I am dumb,’ and the fourth, ‘Pity the lame one.’
But although all these troubles written upon the boards
seemed so grievous, the four stout fellows sat around feasting as merrily as though Cain’s wife
had never opened the
pottle that held misfortunes and let them forth like a cloud
of ies to pester us.
e deaf man was the rst to hear Robin, for he said,
‘Hark, brothers, I hear someone coming.’ And the blind
man was the rst to see
him, for he said, ‘He is an honest
man, brothers, and one of like cra to ourselves.’ en the
dumb man called to him in a great voice and said, ‘Welcome, brother; come and sit while there is still some of the
276
T M A R H
277
feast le and a little Malmsey in the pottle.’ At this, the lame
man, who had taken o his wooden leg and unstrapped his
own leg, and was sitting with it stretched out upon the grass
so as to rest it, made room for Robin among
them. ‘We are
glad to see thee, brother,’ said he, holding out the ask of
Malmsey.
‘Marry,’ quoth Robin, laughing, and weighing the ask in
his hands ere he drank, ‘methinks it is no more than seemly
of you all to be glad to
see me, seeing that I bring sight to
the blind, speech to the dumb, hearing to the deaf, and such
a lusty leg to a lame man. I drink to your happiness, brothers, as I may not drink to your health, seeing ye are already
hale, win
d and limb.’
At this all grinned, and the Blind beggar, who was the
chief man among them, and was the broadest shouldered
and most lusty rascal of all, smote Robin upon the shoulder,
swearing he was a right merry wag.
‘Whence comest thou, lad?’
asked the Dumb man.
‘Why,’ quoth Robin, ‘I came this morning from sleeping
overnight in Sherwood.’
‘Is it even so?’ said the Deaf man. ‘I would not for all
the money we four are carrying to Lincoln Tow n sleep one
night in Sherwood. If Robin Hood caught
one of our trade
in his woodlands he would, methinks, clip his ears.’
‘Methinks he would, too,’ quoth Robin, laughing. ‘But
what money is this that ye speak of?’
en up spake the Lame man. ‘Our king, Peter of York,’
said he, ‘hath sent us
to Lincoln with those moneys that—‘
‘Stay, brother Hodge,’ quoth the Blind man, break-
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD278
277
ing into the talk, ‘I would not doubt our brother here, but
bear in mind we know him not. What art thou, brother?
Upright-man, Jurkman, Clapper-dudgeon, Dommerer, or
Abraham-man?’
At these words Robin looked from one man to the other
with mouth agape. ‘Truly,’ quoth
he, ‘I trust I am an upright man, at least, I strive to be; but I know not what thou
meanest by such jargon, brother. It were much more seemly,
methinks, if yon Dumb man, who hath a sweet voice, would
give us a song.’
At these words a silence fell
on all, and aer a while the
Blind man spoke again. Quoth he, ‘ou dost surely jest
when thou sayest that thou dost not understand such words.
Answer me this: Hast thou ever bbed a chouse quarrons in
the Rome pad for the loure
in his bung?’[4]
[4] I.E., in old beggar’s cant, ‘beaten a man or gallant
upon the highway for the money in his purse.’ Dakkar’s
ENGLISH VILLAINIES.
‘Now out upon it,’ quoth Robin Hood testily, ‘an ye make
sport of me by pattering such
gibberish, it will be ill for you
all, I tell you. I have the best part of a mind to crack the
heads of all four of you, and would do so, too, but for the
sweet Malmsey ye have given me. Brother, pass the pottle
grow cold.’
lest it
But all the four beggars leaped to their feet when Robin
had done speaking, and the Blind man snatched up a heavy
knotted cudgel that lay beside him on the grass, as did the
others likewise. en Robin, seeing that things were like
ill with him, albeit he knew not what all the coil was
to go
278
T M A R H
279
about, leaped to his feet also and, catching up his trusty
sta, clapped his back against the tree and stood upon his
guard against them. ‘How, now!’ cried he, twirling his sta
betwixt his ngers, ‘would you four stout fellows set upon
one man? Stan
d back, ye rascals, or I will score your pates
till they have as many marks upon them as a pothouse door!
Are ye mad? I have done you no harm.’
‘ou liest!’ quoth the one who pretended to be blind and
who, being the lustiest villain, was
the leader of the others,
‘thou liest! For thou hast come among us as a vile spy. But
thine ears have heard too much for thy body’s good, and
thou goest not forth from this place unless thou goest feet
foremost, for this day
thou shalt die! Come, brothers, all to-
gether! Down with him!’ en, whirling up his cudgel, he
rushed upon Robin as an angry bull rushes upon a red rag.
But Robin was ready for any happening. ‘Crick! Crack!’ he
struck two blows as quick as
a wink, and down went the
Blind man, rolling over and over upon the grass.
At this the others bore back and stood at a little distance
scowling upon Robin. ‘Come on, ye scum!’ cried he merrily. ‘Here be cakes and ale for a
ll. Now, who will be next
served?’
To this speech the beggars answered never a word, but
they looked at Robin as great Blunderbore looked upon
stout Jack the slayer of giants, as though they would fain
eat him, body and bones; nevertheless,
they did not care to
come nigher to him and his terrible sta. en, seeing them
so hesitate, Robin of a sudden leaped upon them, striking
even as he leaped. Down went the Dumb man, and away
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD280
279
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]