brave fight we have in hand."
"Ay, marry," quoth Little John, "and that right speedily.
Never have I been more laggard in fighting than in eating and drinking.
So come thou straight forth into the
passageway, where there
is good room to swing a sword, and I will try to serve thee."
Then they both stepped forth into the broad passage that led
to the Steward's
pantry, where each man drew his sword again
and without more ado fell upon the other as though he would hew
his fellow limb from limb. Then their swords clashed upon one
another with great din, and sparks flew from each blow in showers.
So they fought up and down the hall for an hour and more, neither
striking the other a blow, though they
strove their best to do so;
for both were
skillful at the fence; so nothing came of all their labor.
Ever and anon they rested, panting; then, after getting
their wind, at it they would go again more
fiercely than ever.
At last Little John cried aloud, "Hold, good Cook!"
whereupon each
rested upon his sword, panting.
"Now will I make my vow," quoth Little John, "thou art the very best
swordsman that ever mine eyes
beheld. Truly, I had thought to carve
thee ere now."
"And I had thought to do the same by thee," quoth the Cook,
"but I have missed the mark somehow."
"Now I have been thinking within myself," quoth Little John,
"what we are fighting for; but
albeit I do not
rightly know."
"Why, no more do I," said the Cook. "I bear no love for that pursy Steward,
but I thought that we had engaged to fight with one another and that it
must be done."
"Now," quoth Little John, "it doth seem to me that instead
of striving to cut one another's throats, it were better for us
to be boon
companions. What sayst thou, jolly Cook, wilt thou
go with me to Sherwood Forest and join with Robin Hood's band?
Thou shalt live a merry life within the woodlands, and sevenscore
good
companions shalt thou have, one of whom is mine own self.
Thou shalt have three suits of Lincoln green each year,
and forty marks in pay."
"Now, thou art a man after mine own heart!" cried the Cook right heartily,
"and, as thou speakest of it, that is the very service for me.
I will go with thee, and that right
gladly. Give me thy palm,
sweet fellow, and I will be thine own
companion from henceforth.
What may be thy name, lad?"
"Men do call me Little John, good fellow."
"How? And art thou indeed Little John, and Robin Hood's own
right-hand man?
Many a time and oft I heard of thee, but never did I hope to set eyes
upon thee. And thou art indeed the famous Little John!" And the Cook
seemed lost in
amazement, and looked upon his
companion with open eyes.
"I am Little John, indeed, and I will bring to Robin Hood
this day a right stout fellow to join his merry band.
But ere we go, good friend, it seemeth to me to be a vast
pity that, as we have had so much of the Sheriff's food,
we should not also carry off some of his silver plate to Robin Hood,
as a present from his worship."
"Ay, marry is it," said the Cook. And so they began
hunting about,
and took as much silver as they could lay hands upon, clapping it into a bag,
and when they had filled the sack they set forth to Sherwood Forest.
Plunging into the woods, they came at last to the
greenwood tree,
where they found Robin Hood and
threescore of his merry men lying upon
the fresh green grass. When Robin and his men saw who it was that came,
they leaped to their feet. "Now
welcome!" cried Robin Hood. "Now
welcome,
Little John! For long hath it been since we have heard from thee,
though we all knew that thou hadst joined the Sheriff's service.
And how hast thou fared all these long days?"
"Right
merrily have I lived at the Lord Sheriff's," answered Little John,
"and I have come straight
thence. See, good master!
I have brought thee his cook, and even his silver plate."
Thereupon he told Robin Hood and his merry men that were there,
all that had
befallen him since he had left them to go to the Fair
at Nottingham Town. Then all shouted with
laughter, except Robin Hood;
but he looked grave.
"Nay, Little John," said he, "thou art a brave blade and a
trusty fellow.
I am glad thou hast brought thyself back to us, and with such a good
companion as the Cook, whom we all
welcome to Sherwood. But I like not
so well that thou hast
stolen the Sheriff's plate like some paltry thief.
The Sheriff hath been punished by us, and hath lost three hundred pounds,
even as he sought to despoil another; but he hath done
nought that we
should steal his household plate from him.
Though Little John was vexed with this, he
strove to pass
it off with a jest. "Nay, good master," quoth he, "if thou
thinkest the Sheriff gave us not the plate, I will fetch him,
that he may tell us with his own lips he giveth it all to us."
So
saying he leaped to his feet, and was gone before Robin
could call him back.
Little John ran for full five miles till he came to where the Sheriff
of Nottingham and a gay company were
hunting near the forest.
When Little John came to the Sheriff he doffed his cap and bent his knee.
"God save thee, good master," quoth he.
"Why, Reynold Greenleaf!" cried the Sheriff, "whence comest thou
and where hast thou been?"
"I have been in the forest," answered Little John,
speaking amazedly,
"and there I saw a sight such as ne'er before man's eyes
beheld!
Yonder I saw a young hart all in green from top to toe, and about him was a
herd of
threescore deer, and they, too, were all of green from head to foot.
Yet I dared not shoot, good master, for fear lest they should slay me."
"Why, how now, Reynold Greenleaf," cried the Sheriff, "art thou dreaming
or art thou mad, that thou dost bring me such, a tale?"
"Nay, I am not dreaming nor am I mad," said Little John,
"and if thou wilt come with me, I will show thee this fair sight,
for I have seen it with mine own eyes. But thou must come alone,
good master, lest the others
frighten them and they get away."
So the party all rode forward, and Little John led them downward
into the forest.
"Now, good master," quoth he at last, "we are nigh where I saw this herd."
Then the Sheriff descended from his horse and bade them wait for him until
he should return; and Little John led him forward through a close copse until
suddenly they came to a great open glade, at the end of which Robin Hood sat
beneath the shade of the great oak tree, with his merry men all about him.
"See, good Master Sheriff," quoth Little John, "yonder is the hart of which I
spake to thee."
At this the Sheriff turned to Little John and said bitterly,
"Long ago I thought I remembered thy face, but now I know thee.
Woe betide thee, Little John, for thou hast betrayed me this day."
In the
meantime Robin Hood had come to them. "Now
welcome, Master Sheriff,"
said he. "Hast thou come today to take another feast with me?"
"Nay, Heaven forbid!" said the Sheriff in tones of deep earnest.
"I care for no feast and have no
hunger today."
"Nevertheless," quoth Robin, "if thou hast no
hunger, maybe thou
hast
thirst, and well I know thou wilt take a cup of sack with me.
But I am grieved that thou wilt not feast with me, for thou couldst
have victuals to thy
liking, for there stands thy Cook."
Then he led the Sheriff, willy-nilly, to the seat he knew so well beneath
the
greenwood tree.
"Ho, lads!" cried Robin, "fill our good friend the Sheriff a right brimming
cup of sack and fetch it
hither, for he is faint and weary."
Then one of the band brought the Sheriff a cup of sack, bowing low
as he handed it to him; but the Sheriff could not touch the wine,
for he saw it served in one of his own silver flagons, on one of his
own silver plates.
"How now," quoth Robin, "dost thou not like our new silver service?
We have
gotten a bag of it this day." So
saying, he held up the sack
of silver that Little John and the Cook had brought with them.
Then the Sheriff's heart was bitter within him; but, not
daring to say anything, he only gazed upon the ground.
Robin looked
keenly at him for a time before he spoke again.
Then said he, "Now, Master Sheriff, the last time thou camest to
Sherwood Forest thou didst come seeking to despoil a poor spendthrift,
and thou wert despoiled thine own self; but now thou comest seeking
to do no harm, nor do I know that thou hast despoiled any man.
I take my tithes from fat priests and
lordly squires, to help
those that they despoil and to raise up those that they bow down;
but I know not that thou hast tenants of thine own whom thou
hast wronged in any way. Therefore, take thou thine own again,
nor will I dispossess thee today of so much as one farthing.
Come with me, and I will lead thee from the forest back to thine
own party again."
Then, slinging the bag upon his shoulder, he turned away,
the Sheriff following him, all too perplexed in mind to speak.
So they went forward until they came to within a furlong of
the spot where the Sheriff's
companions were
waiting for him.
Then Robin Hood gave the sack of silver back to the Sheriff.
"Take thou thine own again," he said, "and
hearken to me,
good Sheriff, take thou a piece of advice with it.
Try thy servants well ere thou dost engage them again so readily."
Then, turning, he left the other
standing bewildered,
with the sack in his hands.
The company that waited for the Sheriff were all amazed to see him
come out of the forest
bearing a heavy sack upon his shoulders;
but though they questioned him, he answered never a word,
acting like one who walks in a dream. Without a word, he placed
the bag across his nag's back and then, mounting, rode away,
all following him; but all the time there was a great turmoil
of thoughts within his head, tumbling one over the other.
And thus ends the merry tale of Little John and how he entered
the Sheriff's service.
Little John and the Tanner of Blyth
ONE FINE DAY, not long after Little John had left abiding with the Sheriff
and had come back, with his worship's cook, to the merry
greenwood,
as has just been told, Robin Hood and a few chosen fellows of his band
lay upon the soft sward beneath the
greenwood tree where they dwelled.
The day was warm and
sultry, so that while most of the band were
scattered through the forest upon this
mission and upon that,
these few stout fellows lay
lazily beneath the shade of the tree,
in the soft afternoon, passing jests among themselves and telling
merry stories, with
laughter and mirth.
All the air was laden with the bitter
fragrance of the May,
and all the bosky shades of the woodlands beyond rang with the sweet
song of birds--the throstle cock, the
cuckoo, and the wood pigeon--
and with the song of birds mingled the cool sound of the gurgling brook
that leaped out of the forest shades, and ran fretting amid its rough,
gray stones across the sunlit open glade before the trysting tree.
And a fair sight was that halfscore of tall, stout yeomen, all clad
in Lincoln green, lying beneath the broad-spreading branches of
the great oak tree, amid the quivering leaves of which the sunlight
shivered and fell in dancing patches upon the grass.
Suddenly Robin Hood smote his knee.
"By Saint Dunstan," quoth he, "I had nigh forgot that quarter-day
cometh on apace, and yet no cloth of Lincoln green in all our store.
It must be looked to, and that in quick season. Come, busk thee,
Little John! Stir those lazy bones of thine, for thou must get
thee
straightway to our good
gossip, the draper Hugh Longshanks
of Ancaster. Bid him send us
straightway twentyscore yards of fair
cloth of Lincoln green; and mayhap the journey may take some of
the fat from off thy bones, that thou hast
gotten from lazy living
at our dear Sheriff's."
"Nay," muttered Little John (for he had heard so much upon this
score that he was sore upon the point), "nay, truly, mayhap I have
more flesh upon my joints than I once had, yet, flesh or no flesh,
I doubt not that I could still hold my place and
footing upon a narrow
bridge against e'er a
yeoman in Sherwood, or Nottinghamshire,
for the matter of that, even though he had no more fat about his
bones than thou hast, good master."
At this reply a great shout of
laughter went up, and all looked at Robin Hood,
for each man knew that Little John spake of a certain fight that happened