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Файл:The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood Of Great Renown, In Nottinghamshire
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ew his cudgel from his hand as he fell. At this the others
ducked to avoid another blow, then, taking to their heels,
scampered, the one one way and the other the other, as
though they had the west wind’s boots upon their feet.
Robin looked aer them, laughing, and thought that never had
he seen so eet a runner as the Lame man; but neither of
the beggars stopped nor turned around, for each felt in his
mind the wind of Robin’s cudgel about his ears.
en Robin turne
d to the two stout knaves lying upon
the ground. Quoth he, ‘ese fellows spake somewhat about
certain moneys they were taking to Lincoln; methinks I
may nd it upon this stout blind fellow, who hath as keen
sight as e’er a trained woodsman in Nottingham
or Yorkshire. It were a pity to let sound money stay in the pockets of
such thieving knaves.’ So saying, he stooped over the burly
rascal and searched among his rags and tatters, till presently his ngers felt a leathern pouch slung around his bo
dy
beneath his patched and tattered coat. is he stripped
away and, weighing it in his hands, bethought himself that
it was mighty heavy. ‘It were a sweet thing,’ said he to himself, ‘if this were lled with gold instead of copper pence.’
en, sitting d
own upon the grass, he opened the pocket
and looked into it. ere he found four round rolls wrapped
up in dressed sheepskin; one of these rolls he opened; then
his mouth gaped and his eyes stared, I wot, as though they
would never close again, for what
did he see but y pounds
of bright golden money? He opened the other pockets and
found in each one the same, y bright new-stamped golden pounds. Quoth Robin, ‘I have o heard that the Beggars’
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T M A R H
281
Guild was over-rich, but never did I think that they sent
such sums as this to their treasury. I shall take it with me,
for it will be better used for charity and the good of my merry band than in the enriching of such knaves as these.’ So
saying, he
rolled up the money in the sheepskin again, and
putting it back in the purse, he thrust the pouch into his
own bosom. en taking up the ask of Malmsey, he held
it toward the two fellows lying on the grass, and quoth he,
‘Sweet friends,
I drink your health and thank you dearly
for what ye have so kindly given me this day, and so I wish
you good den.’ en, taking up his sta, he le the spot and
went merrily on his way.
But when the two stout beggars that had been
rapped
upon the head roused themselves and sat up, and when the
others had gotten over their fright and come back, they
were as sad and woebegone as four frogs in dry weather, for
two of them had cracked crowns, their Malmsey was all
gone, and they had
not so much as a farthing to cross their
palms withal.
But aer Robin le the little dell he strode along merrily,
singing as he went; and so blithe was he and such a stout
beggar, and, withal, so fresh and
clean, that every merry
lass he met had a sweet word for him and felt no fear, while
the very dogs, that most times hate the sight of a beggar,
snued at his legs in friendly wise and wagged their tails
pleasantly; for d
ogs know an honest man by his smell, and
an honest man Robin was— in his own way.
us he went along till at last he had come to the way-
side cross nigh Ollerton, and, being somewhat tired, he sat
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD282
281
him down to rest upon the grassy bank in front of it. ‘It
groweth nigh time,’ quoth he to himself, ‘that I were getting back again to Sherwood; yet it would please me well to
have one more merry adventure ere I go back again to my
y band.’
joll
So he looked up the road and down the road to see who
might come, until at last he saw someone drawing near, riding upon a horse. When the traveler came nigh enough for
him to see him well, Robin laughed, for a strange
enough
gure he cut. He was a thin, wizened man, and, to look upon
him, you could not tell whether he was thirty years old or
sixty, so dried up was he even to skin and bone. As for the
nag, it was as thin as the
rider, and both looked as though
they had been baked in Mother Huddle’s Oven, where folk
are dried up so that they live forever.
But although Robin laughed at the droll sight, he knew
the wayfarer to be a certain rich corn engrosser of Work sop,
who more
than once had bought all the grain in the countryside and held it till it reached even famine prices, thus
making much money from the needs of poor people, and
for this he was hated far and near by everyone that knew
aught of him.
So, a
er a while, the Corn Engrosser came riding up to
where Robin sat; whereupon merry Robin stepped straightway forth, in all his rags and tatters, his bags and pouches
dangling about him, and laid his hand upon the horse’s bri-
dle rein, calling upon the
other to stop.
‘Who art thou, fellow, that doth dare to stop me thus
upon the King’s highway?’ said the lean man, in a dry, sour
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T M A R H
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voice.
‘Pity a poor beggar,’ quoth Robin. ‘Give me but a farthing
to buy me a piece of bread.’
‘Now, out upon thee!’ snarled the other. ‘Such sturdy
rogues as thou art are better safe in the prisons or dancing
upon nothing, with a hempen collar about
the neck, than
strolling the highways so freely.’
‘Tut ,’ quoth Robin, ‘how thou talkest! ou and I are
brothers, man. Do we not both take from the poor people
that which they can ill spare? Do we not make our livings
by doing nought of any good
? Do we not both live without
touching palm to honest work? Have we either of us ever
rubbed thumbs over honestly gained farthings? Go to! We
are brothers, I say; only thou art rich and I am poor; where-
fore, I prythee once more, give me a penny.’
‘Doss thou
prate so to me, sirrah?’ cried the Corn En-
grosser in a rage. ‘Now I will have thee soundly whipped
if ever I catch thee in any town where the law can lay hold
of thee! As for giving thee a penny, I swear to thee that I
have not so much as
a single groat in my purse. Were Robin
Hood himself to take me, he might search me from crown
to heel without nding the smallest piece of money upon
me. I trust I am too sly to travel so nigh to Sherwood with
money in my pouch,
and that thief at large in the woods.’
en merry Robin looked up and down, as if to see that
there was no one nigh, and then, coming close to the Corn
Engrosser, he stood on tiptoe and spake in his ear, ‘inkest
thou in sooth that I am a
beggar, as I seem to be? Look upon
me. ere is not a grain of dirt upon my hands or my face
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD284
283
or my body. Didst thou ever see a beggar so? I tell thee I am
as honest a man as thou art. Look, friend.’ Here he took the
purse of money from his breast and showed to the dazzled
eyes of the Corn Engrosser the bright golden pieces.
‘Friend,
these rags serve but to hide an honest rich man from the
eyes of Robin Hood.’
‘Put up thy money, lad,’ cried the other quickly. ‘Art thou
a fool, to trust to beggar’s rags to shield thee from Robin
Hood? If he
caught thee, he would strip thee to the skin, for
he hates a lusty beggar as he doth a fat priest or those of my
kind.’
‘Is it indeed so?’ quoth Robin. ‘Had I known this, mayhap
I had not come hereabouts in this garb. But I must go for-
d now, as much depends upon my journeying. Where
war
goest thou, friend?’
‘I go to Grantham,’ said the Corn Engrosser, ‘but I shall
lodge tonight at Newark, if I can get so far upon my way.’
‘Why, I myself am on the way to Newark,’ quoth merry
Robin, ‘so that, as
two honest men are better than one in
roads beset by such a fellow as this Robin Hood, I will jog
along with thee, if thou hast no dislike to my company.’
‘Why, as thou art an honest fellow and a rich fellow,’ said
the Corn Engrosser, ‘I mind not thy company; but, in sooth,
I have no great fondness for beggars.’
‘en forward,’ quoth Robin, ‘for the day wanes and it
will be dark ere we reach Newark.’ So o they went, the lean
horse hobbling along as before, and Robin
running beside,
albeit he was so quaking with laughter within him that he
could hardly stand; yet he dared not laugh aloud, lest the
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T M A R H
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Corn Engrosser should suspect something. So they trav-
eled along till they reached a hill just on the outskirts of
Sherwood. Here the lean man checked his lean horse into a
walk, for the road was steep, and he wished to save his nag’s
strength, having
far to go ere he reached Newark. en he
turned in his saddle and spake to Robin again, for the rst
time since they had le the cross. ‘Here is thy greatest dan-
ger, friend,’ said he, ‘for here we are nighest to that vile thief
Robin Hoo
d, and the place where he dwells. Beyond this
we come again to the open honest country, and so are more
safe in our journeying.’
‘Alas!’ quoth Robin, ‘I would that I had as little money by
me as thou hast, for this day I fear that Robin Hood
will get
every groat of my wealth.’
en the other looked at Robin and winked cunningly.
Quoth he, ‘I tell thee, friend, that I have nigh as much by me
as thou hast, but it is hidden so that never a knave in Sher-
wood could nd it.’
‘ou d
ost surely jest,’ quoth Robin. ‘How could one hide
so much as two hundred pounds upon his person?’
‘Now, as thou art so honest a fellow, and, withal, so much
younger than I am, I will tell thee that which I have told to
no man in
all the world before, and thus thou mayst learn
never again to do such a foolish thing as to trust to beggar’s
garb to guard thee against Robin Hood. Seest thou these
clogs upon my feet?’
‘Yea,’ quoth Robin, laughing, ‘truly, they are large enough
any man to see, even were his sight as foggy as that of
for
Peter Patter, who never could see when it was time to go to
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD286
285
work.’
‘Peace, friend,’ said the Corn Engrosser, ‘for this is no
matter for jesting. e soles of these clogs are not what they
seem to be, for each one is a sweet little box; and by twisting the second nail from the toe, the upper of
the shoe and
part of the sole lis up like a lid, and in the spaces within
are fourscore and ten bright golden pounds in each shoe, all
wrapped in hair, to keep them from clinking and so telling
tales of themsel
ves.’
When the Corn Engrosser had told this, Robin broke
into a roar of laughter and, laying his hands upon the bridle
rein, stopped the sad-looking nag. ‘Stay, good friend,’ quoth
he, between bursts of merriment, ‘thou art the slyest old fox
that e’er I saw
in all my life!—In the soles of his shoon, quotha!—If ever I trust a poor-seeming man again, shave my
head and paint it blue! A corn factor, a horse jockey, an estate agent, and a jackdaw for cunningness, say I!’ And he
laughed
again till he shook in his shoes with mirth.
All this time the Corn Engrosser had been staring at
Robin, his mouth agape with wonder. ‘Art thou mad,’ quoth
he, ‘to talk in this way, so loud and in such a place? Let us
forward, and
save thy mirth till we are safe and sound at
Newark.’
‘Nay,’ quoth Robin, the tears of merriment wet on his
cheeks, ‘on second thoughts I go no farther than here, for
I have good friends hereabouts. ou mayst go forward if
thou dost list, thou sweet pretty fellow, but
thou must go
forward barefoot, for I am afraid that thy shoon must be le
behind. O with them, friend, for I tell thee I have taken a
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great fancy to them.’
At these words the corn factor grew pale as a linen nap-
kin. ‘Who art thou that talkest so?’ said he.
en merry Robin laughed again, and quoth he, ‘Men
hereabouts call me Robin Hood; so, sweet friend, thou
hadst best do my
bidding and give me thy shoes, wherefore
hasten, I prythee, or else thou wilt not get to fair Newark
Town till aer dark.’
At the sound of the name of Robin Hood, the corn fac-
tor quaked with fear, so that he had to seize his
horse by
the mane to save himself from falling o its back. en
straightway, and without more words, he stripped o his
clogs and let them fall upon the road. Robin, still holding
the bridle rein, stooped and picked them up. en he
said,
‘Sweet friend, I am used to ask those that I have dealings
with to come and feast at Sherwood with me. I will not ask
thee, because of our pleasant journey together; for I tell thee
there be those in Sherwood that would not be so gentle with
thee as I have been. e name of Corn Engrosser leaves a
nasty taste upon the tongue of all honest men. Ta ke a fool’s
advice of me and come no more so nigh to Sherwood, or
mayhap some day thou mayst of a sudden nd a clothyar
d
sha betwixt thy ribs. So, with this, I give thee good den.’
Hereupon he clapped his hand to the horse’s ank and o
went nag and rider. But the man’s face was all bedewed with
the sweat of fright, and never again, I wot, was he found so
close to Sherwood Forest as he had been this day.
Robin stood and looked aer him, and, when he was
fairly gone, turned, laughing, and entered the forest carry-
THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF R OBIN H OOD288
287
ing the shoes in his hand.
at night in sweet Sherwood the red res glowed bright-
ly in wavering light on tree and bush, and all around sat or
lay the stout fellows of the band to hear Robin Hood and
Little John tell their ad
ventures. All listened closely, and
again and again the woods rang with shouts of laughter.
When all was told, Friar Tuck spoke up. ‘Good master,’
said he, ‘thou hast had a pretty time, but still I hold to my
saying, that the life of the barefoot friar is
the merrier of
the two.’
‘Nay,’ quoth Will Stutely, ‘I hold with our master, that he
hath had the pleasanter doings of the two, for he hath had
two stout bouts at quartersta this day.’
So some of the band held with Robin Hood and some
with Little John.
As for me, I think—But I leave it with you
to say for yourselves which you hold with.
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Robin Hood Shoots
Before Queen Eleanor
HE HIGHROAD stretched white and dusty in the hot
T
summer aernoon sun, and the trees stood motionless
along the roadside. All across the meadow lands the hot air
danced and quivered, and in the limpid waters of the low-
brook, spanned by a little stone bridge, the sh hung
land
motionless above the yellow gravel, and the dragony sat
quite still, perched upon the sharp tip of a spike of the rush-
es, with its wings glistening in the sun.
Along the
white barb, and the folk that he passed stopped and turned
and looked aer him, for never had so lovely a lad or one
so gaily clad been seen in Nottingham before. He could
have been more than sixteen years of age, and was as fair as
any maiden. His long yellow hair owed behind him as he
rode along, all clad in silk and velvet, with jewels ashing
and dagger jingling against the
came the Queen’s Page, young Richard Partington, from famous London Tow n down into Nottinghamshire, upon Her
Majesty’s bidding, to seek Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest.
e road was hot and dusty and his journey had been
long, for that day
Town, a good twenty miles and more; wherefore young Par-
road a youth came riding upon a fair milk-
not
pommel of the saddle. us
he had come all the way from Leicester
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