Latest / Merry Adventures of Robin Hood / 22 - Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Epilogue. Thus end the merry adventures of Robin Hood, For
- 0:07Speaker 1: in spite of his promise, it was many a year
- 0:09Speaker 1: ere he saw Sherwood again. After a year or two
- 0:13Speaker 1: at court, little John came back to Nottinghamshire, where he
- 0:15Speaker 1: lived in an orderly way, though within sight of Sherwood,
- 0:19Speaker 1: and where he achieved great fame as the champion of
- 0:21Speaker 1: all England with the quarter staff Will Scarlett, after a
- 0:25Speaker 1: time came back to his own home, whence he had
- 0:27Speaker 1: been driven by his unlucky killing of his father's steward.
- 0:30Speaker 1: The rest of the band did their duty as royal
- 0:32Speaker 1: rangers right well, but Robin Hood and Allan a Dale
- 0:35Speaker 1: did not come again to Sherwood so quickly. For thus
- 0:38Speaker 1: it was Robin, through his great fame as an archer,
- 0:42Speaker 1: became a favourite with the King, so that he speedily
- 0:45Speaker 1: rose in rank to be chief of all yeomen. At last,
- 0:48Speaker 1: the King, seeing how faithful and how loyal, he was,
- 0:51Speaker 1: created him Earl of Huntingdon. So Robin followed the King
- 0:54Speaker 1: to the wars, and found his time so full that
- 0:56Speaker 1: he had no chance to come back to Sherwood for
- 0:58Speaker 1: even so much as a day. As for Allan Adale
- 1:02Speaker 1: and his wife, the fair Ellen. They followed Robin Hood
- 1:04Speaker 1: and shared in all his ups and downs of life.
- 1:08Speaker 1: And now, dear friend, you who have journeyed with me
- 1:10Speaker 1: in all these merry doings, I will not bid you
- 1:13Speaker 1: follow me further, but will drop your hand here with
- 1:15Speaker 1: a good den if you wish it, for that which
- 1:18Speaker 1: cometh hereafter speaks of the breaking up of things, and
- 1:21Speaker 1: shows how joys and pleasures that are dead and gone
- 1:24Speaker 1: can never be set upon their feet to walk again.
- 1:27Speaker 1: I will not dwell upon the matter over long, but
- 1:30Speaker 1: will tell as speedily as I may, of how that
- 1:33Speaker 1: stout fellow, Robin Hood died as he had lived, not
- 1:36Speaker 1: at the court as Earl of Huntingdon, but with bow
- 1:39Speaker 1: in hand, his heart in the green wood, and he
- 1:42Speaker 1: himself a right yeoman King Richard died upon the battlefield
- 1:48Speaker 1: in such a way as properly became a lion hearted king,
- 1:50Speaker 1: as you yourself no doubt know. So. After a time
- 1:54Speaker 1: the Earl of Huntingdon, or Robin Hood, as we still
- 1:57Speaker 1: call him as of old, finding nothing for his doing abroad,
- 2:01Speaker 1: came back to merry England. Again. With him came Allan
- 2:05Speaker 1: Adale and his wife, the fair elland for these two
- 2:07Speaker 1: had been chief of Robin's household ever since he had
- 2:09Speaker 1: left for Sherwood Forest. It was in the springtime when
- 2:15Speaker 1: they landed once more on the shores of England. The
- 2:18Speaker 1: leaves were green, and the small birds sang blithely, just
- 2:21Speaker 1: as they used to do in fair Sherwood. When Robin
- 2:23Speaker 1: Hood roamed the woodland shades with a free heart and
- 2:25Speaker 1: a light heel, all the sweetness of the time and
- 2:28Speaker 1: the joyousness of everything brought back to Robin's mind his
- 2:31Speaker 1: forest life, so that a great longing came upon him
- 2:33Speaker 1: to behold the woodlands once more. He went straightway to
- 2:37Speaker 1: King John and besought leave of him to visit Nottingham
- 2:40Speaker 1: for a short season. The King gave him leave to
- 2:43Speaker 1: come and go, but bade him not stay longer than
- 2:45Speaker 1: three days at Sherwood. So Robin Hood and Allan a
- 2:49Speaker 1: Dale set forth without delay to Nottinghamshire and Sherwood Forest.
- 2:54Speaker 1: The first night they took up thereinn at Nottingham Town.
- 2:57Speaker 1: Yet they did not go to pay their duty to
- 2:59Speaker 1: the Sheriff, for his his worship bore many a bitter
- 3:01Speaker 1: grudge against Robin Hood, which grudges had not been lessened
- 3:04Speaker 1: by Robin's rise in the world. The next day, at
- 3:08Speaker 1: an early hour, they mounted their horses and set forth
- 3:10Speaker 1: for the woodlands. As they passed along the road, it
- 3:13Speaker 1: seemed to Robin that he knew every stick and stone
- 3:16Speaker 1: that his eyes looked upon. Yonder was a path that
- 3:19Speaker 1: he had ofttimes trod of a mellow evening with little
- 3:21Speaker 1: John beside him. Here was one, now nigh choked with brambles,
- 3:25Speaker 1: along which he and a little band had walked when
- 3:27Speaker 1: they went forth to see a certain curtle friar. Thus
- 3:32Speaker 1: they rode slowly onward, talking about these old familiar things,
- 3:36Speaker 1: old and yet new, for they found more in them
- 3:38Speaker 1: than they had ever thought of before. Thus, at last
- 3:42Speaker 1: they came to the open glade and the broad, wide,
- 3:44Speaker 1: spreading greenwood tree, which was their home for so many years.
- 3:48Speaker 1: Neither of the two spoke when they stood beneath that tree.
- 3:52Speaker 1: Robin looked all about him at the well known things,
- 3:54Speaker 1: so like what they used to be, and yet so different.
- 3:58Speaker 1: For where once was the bustle of many busy fellows
- 4:01Speaker 1: was now the quietness of solitude. And as he looked
- 4:04Speaker 1: the woodlands, the greenswood, and the sky all blurred together
- 4:07Speaker 1: in his sight through salt tears. For such a yearning
- 4:10Speaker 1: came upon him as he looked on these things, as
- 4:13Speaker 1: well known to him as the fingers of his right hand.
- 4:15Speaker 1: But he could not keep back the water from his eyes.
- 4:19Speaker 1: That morning he had slung his good old bugle horn
- 4:21Speaker 1: over his shoulder, and now with the yearning came a
- 4:24Speaker 1: great longing to sound his bugle once more. He raised
- 4:28Speaker 1: it to his lips, he blew a blast Tyrilla, lerilla.
- 4:32Speaker 1: The sweet clear notes went winding down the forest paths,
- 4:35Speaker 1: coming back again from the more distant busky shades in
- 4:38Speaker 1: faint echoes of sound, Trilla, Lerilla, Tirilla, Lerilla, lerilla, until
- 4:43Speaker 1: it faded away and was lost. Now it chanced that
- 4:47Speaker 1: on that very morn, Little John was walking through a
- 4:50Speaker 1: spur of the forest upon certain matters of business. And
- 4:53Speaker 1: as he paced along, sunk in meditation, the faint clear
- 4:56Speaker 1: notes of a distant bugle horn came to his ear.
- 5:00Speaker 1: As leaps the stag when it feels the arrow at
- 5:02Speaker 1: its heart, so leapt little John. When that distant sound
- 5:05Speaker 1: met his ear, all the blood in his body seemed
- 5:08Speaker 1: to rush like a flame into his cheeks. As he
- 5:10Speaker 1: bent his head and listened again came the bugle note,
- 5:13Speaker 1: thin and clear, and yet again it sounded. Then Little
- 5:17Speaker 1: John gave a great wild cry of yearning, of joy,
- 5:20Speaker 1: and yet of grief, and putting down his head, he
- 5:23Speaker 1: dashed into the thicket. Onward he plunged, crackling and rending,
- 5:27Speaker 1: as the wild boar rushes through the underbrush. Little recked,
- 5:30Speaker 1: he of thorns and briars that scratched his flesh and
- 5:33Speaker 1: tore his clothing. For all he thought of was to
- 5:36Speaker 1: get by the shortest way to the green wood glade,
- 5:38Speaker 1: where he knew the sound of the bugle horn came out.
- 5:42Speaker 1: He burst from the covert at last, a shower of
- 5:44Speaker 1: little broken twigs falling about him, and without pausing a moment,
- 5:48Speaker 1: rushed forward and flung himself at Robin's feet. Then he
- 5:52Speaker 1: clasped his arms round his master's knees, and all his
- 5:55Speaker 1: body was shaken with great sobs. Neither could Robin nor
- 5:58Speaker 1: allan Adale speak, but stood looking down at Little John,
- 6:02Speaker 1: the tears rolling down their cheeks. While they thus stood,
- 6:06Speaker 1: seven royal rangers rushed into the open glade and raised
- 6:09Speaker 1: a great shout of joy at the sight of Robin
- 6:12Speaker 1: and at their head was Will Stuteley. Then after a
- 6:15Speaker 1: while came four more, panting with their running, And two
- 6:18Speaker 1: of these four were Will Scathlock and Midge the Miller.
- 6:21Speaker 1: For all of these had heard the sound of Robin
- 6:23Speaker 1: Hood's horn. All these ran to Robin and kissed his
- 6:26Speaker 1: hands and his clothing, with great sound of weeping. After
- 6:30Speaker 1: a while, Robin looked around him with tear dimmed eyes,
- 6:33Speaker 1: and said, in a husky voice. Now I swear that
- 6:36Speaker 1: never again will I leave these dear woodlands. I have
- 6:39Speaker 1: been away from them and from you too long. Now
- 6:42Speaker 1: do I lay by the name of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon,
- 6:44Speaker 1: and take upon me once again that nobler title Robin
- 6:47Speaker 1: Hood the Yeoman. At this a great shout went up,
- 6:51Speaker 1: and all the yeomans shook one another's hands for joy.
- 6:55Speaker 1: The news that Robin Hood had come back again to
- 6:57Speaker 1: dwell in sherwood as of old spread like wildfire all
- 7:00Speaker 1: over the countryside, so that ere a sun knight had passed.
- 7:03Speaker 1: Nearly all of his old yeomen had gathered about him again.
- 7:06Speaker 1: But when the news of all this had reached the
- 7:08Speaker 1: ears of King John, he swore both loud and deep,
- 7:11Speaker 1: and took a solemn vow that he would not rest
- 7:13Speaker 1: until he had robin Hood in his power, dead or alive.
- 7:17Speaker 1: Now there was present at court a certain knight, Sir
- 7:20Speaker 1: William Dale, as gallant, a soldier as ever donned harness.
- 7:25Speaker 1: Sir William Dale was well acquainted with Sherwood Forest, for
- 7:28Speaker 1: he was head keeper over that part of it that
- 7:30Speaker 1: lay nigh to good Mansfield Town. So to him the
- 7:33Speaker 1: King turned and bade him take an army of men
- 7:35Speaker 1: and go straightway to seek robin Hood. Likewise, the King
- 7:39Speaker 1: gave Sir William his signet ring to show to the
- 7:41Speaker 1: sheriff that he might raise all his armed men to
- 7:43Speaker 1: aid others in their chase of robin So Sir William
- 7:47Speaker 1: and the Sheriff set forth to do the King's bidding
- 7:49Speaker 1: and to search for robin Hood. And for seven days
- 7:52Speaker 1: they hunted up and down, yet found him. Not. Now,
- 7:57Speaker 1: had robin Hood been as peaceful as of old, everything
- 7:59Speaker 1: might have ended in smoke, as other such ventures had
- 8:02Speaker 1: always done before. But he had fought for years under
- 8:05Speaker 1: King Richard, and was changed from what he used to be.
- 8:08Speaker 1: It galled his pride to thus flee away before those
- 8:12Speaker 1: sent against him as a chased fox flees from the hounds.
- 8:15Speaker 1: So thus it came about at last that robin Hood
- 8:17Speaker 1: and his yeomen met Sir William and the Sheriff and
- 8:20Speaker 1: their men in the forest, and a bloody fight followed.
- 8:24Speaker 1: The first man slain in that fight was the Sheriff
- 8:26Speaker 1: of Nottingham, for he fell from his horse with an
- 8:28Speaker 1: arrow in his brain. Ere half a score of shafts
- 8:31Speaker 1: had been sped. Many a better man than the Sheriff
- 8:34Speaker 1: kissed the sod that day. But at last Sir William Dale,
- 8:37Speaker 1: being wounded and most of his men slain, he withdrew
- 8:40Speaker 1: beaten and left the forest. But scores of good fellows
- 8:44Speaker 1: were left behind him, stretched out all stiff beneath the
- 8:47Speaker 1: sweet green boughs. But though robin Hood had beaten off
- 8:51Speaker 1: his enemies in a fair fight, all this lay heavily
- 8:54Speaker 1: upon his mind, so that he brooded over it until
- 8:56Speaker 1: a fever seized upon him. For three days it held,
- 9:00Speaker 1: and though he strove to fight it off, he was
- 9:02Speaker 1: forced to yield at last. Thus it came that on
- 9:06Speaker 1: the morning of the fourth day, he called Little John
- 9:08Speaker 1: to him and told him that he could not shake
- 9:10Speaker 1: the fever from him, and that he would go to
- 9:12Speaker 1: his cousin, the Prioress of the nunnery near Kirklees in Yorkshire,
- 9:16Speaker 1: who was a skillful leech, and he would have her
- 9:19Speaker 1: open a vein in his arm and take a little
- 9:21Speaker 1: blood from him for the bettering of his health. Then
- 9:25Speaker 1: he bade Little John make ready to go also, for
- 9:27Speaker 1: he might perchance need aid in his journeying. So Little
- 9:31Speaker 1: John and he took their leave of the others, and
- 9:34Speaker 1: Robin Hood bade will Stuteley to be the captain of
- 9:36Speaker 1: the band until they should come back. Thus they came
- 9:40Speaker 1: by easy stages and slow journeying, until they reached the
- 9:43Speaker 1: Nunnery of Kirklees. Now Robin had done much to aid
- 9:47Speaker 1: this cousin of his, for it was through King Richard's
- 9:50Speaker 1: love of him that she had been made prioress of
- 9:52Speaker 1: the place. But there is naught in the world so
- 9:55Speaker 1: easily forgot as gratitude. So when the Prioress of Kirkleise
- 9:59Speaker 1: had heard how her cous the Earl of Huntingdon, had
- 10:01Speaker 1: thrown away his earldom and gone back to Sherwood, she
- 10:04Speaker 1: was vexed to the soul and feared lest her cousinship
- 10:08Speaker 1: with him should bring the king's wrath upon her also.
- 10:11Speaker 1: Thus it happened that, when Robin came to her and
- 10:13Speaker 1: told her how he wished her services as a leech,
- 10:16Speaker 1: she began plotting ill against him in her mind, thinking
- 10:19Speaker 1: that by doing evil to him she might find favor
- 10:22Speaker 1: with his enemies. Nevertheless, she kept this well to herself,
- 10:26Speaker 1: and received Robin with seeming kindness. She led him up
- 10:30Speaker 1: a winding stone stair to a room which was just
- 10:32Speaker 1: beneath the eaves of a high round tower. But she
- 10:35Speaker 1: would not let little John come with him. So the
- 10:39Speaker 1: poor yeoman turned his feet away from the door of
- 10:41Speaker 1: the nunnery and left his master in the hands of
- 10:44Speaker 1: the women. But though he did not come in, neither
- 10:47Speaker 1: did he go far away, for he laid him down
- 10:50Speaker 1: in a little glade near by, where he could watch
- 10:52Speaker 1: the place that Robin abided, like some great faithful dog,
- 10:55Speaker 1: turned away from the door where his master has entered.
- 11:00Speaker 1: After the women had gotten Robin hood to the room
- 11:02Speaker 1: beneath the eaves, the priorress sent all of the others away. Then,
- 11:06Speaker 1: taking a little cord, she tied it tightly about Robin's arm,
- 11:09Speaker 1: as though she were about to bleed him. And so
- 11:12Speaker 1: she did bleed him. But the vein she opened was
- 11:14Speaker 1: not one of those that lie close and blue beneath
- 11:16Speaker 1: the skin. Deeper she cut than that, for she opened
- 11:19Speaker 1: one of those veins through which the bright red blood runs,
- 11:22Speaker 1: leaping from the heart. Of this Robin knew not, for
- 11:27Speaker 1: though he saw the blood flow, it did not come
- 11:29Speaker 1: fast enough to make him think there was anything ill
- 11:31Speaker 1: in it. Having done this vile deed, the prioress turned
- 11:36Speaker 1: and left her cousin, locking the door behind her. All
- 11:41Speaker 1: that lifelong day the blood ran from Robin Hood's arm,
- 11:44Speaker 1: nor could he check it, though he strove in every
- 11:46Speaker 1: way to do so. Again and again he called for help,
- 11:50Speaker 1: but no help came, for his cousin had betrayed him,
- 11:54Speaker 1: and Little John was too far away to hear his voice.
- 11:57Speaker 1: So he bled and bled till he felt his strength
- 12:01Speaker 1: slipping away from him. Then he arose, tottering and bearing
- 12:05Speaker 1: himself up by the palms of his hands against the wall,
- 12:08Speaker 1: he reached his bugle horn. At last thrice he sounded it,
- 12:12Speaker 1: but weakly and faintly, for his breath was fluttering through
- 12:16Speaker 1: sickness and loss of strength. Nevertheless, Little John heard it
- 12:19Speaker 1: where he lay in the glade, and with a heart
- 12:22Speaker 1: all sick with dread, he came, running and leaping toward
- 12:24Speaker 1: the nunnery. Loudly he knocked at the door, and a
- 12:28Speaker 1: loud voice shouted for them to let him in. But
- 12:30Speaker 1: the door was of massive oak, strongly barred and studded
- 12:33Speaker 1: with spikes, so they felt safe and bade little John begone.
- 12:39Speaker 1: Then little John's heart was mad with grief and fear
- 12:42Speaker 1: for his master's life. Wildly he looked about him, and
- 12:45Speaker 1: his sight fell upon a heavy stone mortar, such as
- 12:47Speaker 1: three men could not lift nowadays. Little John took three
- 12:51Speaker 1: steps forward, and bending his back, heaved the stone mortar
- 12:54Speaker 1: up from where it stood deeply rooted, staggering under its weight.
- 12:58Speaker 1: He came forward and hurled it, crashing against the door.
- 13:01Speaker 1: In burst the door, and away fled the frightened nuns
- 13:04Speaker 1: shrieking at his coming. Then Little John strode in, and
- 13:07Speaker 1: never a word said he but up the winding stone
- 13:10Speaker 1: steps he ran till he reached the room wherein his
- 13:12Speaker 1: master was. Here he found the door locked also, but
- 13:16Speaker 1: putting his shoulder against it, he burst the locks as
- 13:19Speaker 1: though they were made of brittle ice. There he saw
- 13:23Speaker 1: his own dear master, leaning against the gray stone wall,
- 13:26Speaker 1: his face all white and drawn, and his head swaying
- 13:30Speaker 1: to and fro with weakness. Then, with a great wild
- 13:33Speaker 1: cry of love and grief and pity, little John leaped
- 13:36Speaker 1: forward and caught Robin Hood in his arms. Up he
- 13:40Speaker 1: lifted him as a mother lifts her child, and, carrying
- 13:42Speaker 1: him to the bed, laid him tenderly thereon. And now
- 13:48Speaker 1: the prioress came in hastily, for she was frightened at
- 13:51Speaker 1: what she had done, and dreaded the vengeance of Little
- 13:53Speaker 1: John and the others of the band. Then she staunched
- 13:56Speaker 1: the blood by cunning bandages, so that it flowed no more.
- 14:00Speaker 1: All the while little John stood grimly by, And after
- 14:03Speaker 1: she had done, he sternly bade her to be gone,
- 14:06Speaker 1: and she obeyed, pale and trembling. Then after she had departed,
- 14:12Speaker 1: little John spake cheering words, laughing loudly, and saying that
- 14:16Speaker 1: all this was a child's fright, and that no stout
- 14:18Speaker 1: yeoman would die at the loss of a few drops
- 14:20Speaker 1: of blood. Why quoth he give thee ascenne knight, and
- 14:24Speaker 1: thou wilt be roaming the woodlands as boldly as ever.
- 14:28Speaker 1: But Robin shook his head and smiled faintly where he
- 14:31Speaker 1: lay mine own. Dear little John whispered, he Heaven bless
- 14:36Speaker 1: thy kind rough heart. But dear friend, we will never
- 14:39Speaker 1: roam the woodlands together again. Aye, but we will, quoth
- 14:44Speaker 1: little John loudly. I say again, aye, out upon it
- 14:47Speaker 1: who dares say that any more harm shall come upon
- 14:50Speaker 1: thee am I not? By Let me see who dares
- 14:53Speaker 1: touch here. He stopped off of a sudden, for his
- 14:56Speaker 1: words choked him. At last, he said, in his deep,
- 15:00Speaker 1: husky voice. Now, if aught of harm befalls thee because
- 15:04Speaker 1: of this day's doings, I swear by Saint George, that
- 15:07Speaker 1: the red cock shall crow over the roof tree of
- 15:09Speaker 1: this house, for the hot flames shall lick every crack
- 15:12Speaker 1: and cranny thereof. As for these women here, he grunted
- 15:15Speaker 1: his teeth, it will be an ill day for them.
- 15:21Speaker 1: But Robin Hood took Little John's rough brown fist in
- 15:24Speaker 1: his white hands and chit him softly in his low,
- 15:27Speaker 1: weak voice, asking him, since what time little John had
- 15:30Speaker 1: thought of doing harm to women, even in vengeance. Thus
- 15:34Speaker 1: he talked till at last the other promised in a
- 15:37Speaker 1: choking voice that no ill should fall upon the place,
- 15:39Speaker 1: no matter what happened. Then a silence fell, and Little
- 15:44Speaker 1: John sat with robin Hood's hand in his gazing out
- 15:47Speaker 1: of the open window ever and Anon swallowing a great
- 15:50Speaker 1: lump that came in his throat. Meantime, the sun dropped
- 15:54Speaker 1: slowly in the west, till all the sky was ablaze
- 15:57Speaker 1: with a red glory. Then robin Hood, in a weak,
- 16:01Speaker 1: faltering voice, bade Little John raise him, that he might
- 16:05Speaker 1: look out once more upon the woodlands. So the yeoman
- 16:08Speaker 1: lifted him in his arms as he bade, and robin
- 16:11Speaker 1: Hood's head lay on his friend's shoulder. Long he gazed
- 16:15Speaker 1: with a wide, lingering look, while the other sat with
- 16:18Speaker 1: a bowed head, the hot tears rolling one after another
- 16:22Speaker 1: from his eyes and dripping upon his bosom, For he
- 16:25Speaker 1: felt that the time of parting was near at hand.
- 16:28Speaker 1: Then presently robin Hood bade him string his stout bow
- 16:32Speaker 1: for him, and chose a smooth, fair arrow from his quiver.
- 16:36Speaker 1: This Little John did, though, without disturbing his master or
- 16:39Speaker 1: rising from where he sat. Robin Hood's fingers rapped lovingly
- 16:43Speaker 1: around his good bow, and he smiled faintly when he
- 16:46Speaker 1: felt it in his grasp. Then he knocked the arrow
- 16:49Speaker 1: on that part of the string that tips of his
- 16:51Speaker 1: fingers knew so well, Little John said he, Little John,
- 16:55Speaker 1: mine own dear friend, and him I love better than
- 16:58Speaker 1: all the others in the world. I prithee where this
- 17:01Speaker 1: arrow lodges, and there let my grave be digged. Lay
- 17:06Speaker 1: me with my face toward the east, little John, and
- 17:09Speaker 1: see that my resting place be kept green, and that
- 17:12Speaker 1: my weary bones be not disturbed. As he finished speaking,
- 17:17Speaker 1: he raised himself of a sudden and sat upright. His
- 17:20Speaker 1: old strength seemed to come back to him, and drawing
- 17:23Speaker 1: the bow string to his ear, he sped the arrow
- 17:25Speaker 1: out of the open casement. As the shaft flew, his
- 17:28Speaker 1: hand sank slowly with the bow till it lay across
- 17:31Speaker 1: his knees, and his body likewise sank back again into
- 17:34Speaker 1: Little John's loving arms. But something had sped from that body,
- 17:38Speaker 1: even as the winged arrow spanged from the bow. For
- 17:44Speaker 1: some minutes, little John sat motionless, where presently he laid
- 17:48Speaker 1: that which he held gently down. Then, folding the hands
- 17:52Speaker 1: upon the breast and covering up the face, he turned
- 17:55Speaker 1: upon his heel and left the room without a word
- 17:57Speaker 1: or a sound. Upon the steep stairway, he met the
- 18:01Speaker 1: prior rest and some of the chief among the sisters.
- 18:05Speaker 1: To them, he spoke in a deep, quivering voice and said,
- 18:08Speaker 1: he and you go within a score of feet of
- 18:10Speaker 1: yonder room, I will tear down your rookery over your heads,
- 18:14Speaker 1: so that not one stone shall be left upon another.
- 18:18Speaker 1: Bear my words well in mind, for I mean them
- 18:21Speaker 1: so saying, he turned and left them, and they presently
- 18:24Speaker 1: saw him running rapidly across the open and through the
- 18:27Speaker 1: falling of the dusk, until he was swallowed up by
- 18:30Speaker 1: the forest. The early gray of the coming morn was
- 18:36Speaker 1: just beginning to lighten the black sky towards the eastward.
- 18:39Speaker 1: When Little John and six more of the band came
- 18:41Speaker 1: rapidly across the open toward the nunnery. They saw no one,
- 18:46Speaker 1: for the sisters were all hidden away from sight, having
- 18:48Speaker 1: been frightened by Little John's words. Up the stone stair
- 18:52Speaker 1: they ran, and a great sound of weeping was presently heard.
- 18:56Speaker 1: After a while this ceased, and then came the scuffling
- 18:59Speaker 1: and shuffle of men's feet as they carried a heavy
- 19:01Speaker 1: weight down the steep and winding stairs. So they went
- 19:05Speaker 1: forth from the nunnery, and as they passed through the doors.
- 19:08Speaker 1: Thereof a great loud sound of wailing arose from the
- 19:11Speaker 1: glade that lay all dark in the dawning, as though
- 19:14Speaker 1: many men hidden in the shadows had lifted up their
- 19:17Speaker 1: voices in sorrow. Thus died Robin Hood at Kirkles Nunnery
- 19:24Speaker 1: in fair Yorkshire, with mercy in his heart toward those
- 19:28Speaker 1: that had been his undoing. For thus he showed mercy
- 19:31Speaker 1: for the air ring and pity for the weak through
- 19:34Speaker 1: all the time of his living. His yeomen were scattered henceforth,
- 19:39Speaker 1: but no great ill befell them thereafter, for a more
- 19:43Speaker 1: merciful sheriff, and one who knew them not so well,
- 19:45Speaker 1: succeeded the one that had gone, And they, being separated
- 19:49Speaker 1: here and there throughout the countryside, they abided in peace
- 19:52Speaker 1: and quietness, so that many lived to hand down these
- 19:55Speaker 1: tales to their children and their children's children. A certain
- 19:59Speaker 1: one saith that upon a stone at Kerclis is an
- 20:03Speaker 1: old inscription. This I gave in the ancient English in
- 20:07Speaker 1: which it was written, and thus it runs here. Underneath
- 20:11Speaker 1: this little stain lies Robert Earl of Huntington, nee a
- 20:16Speaker 1: Archer vere as he say good and people called him,
- 20:19Speaker 1: robin Hood sake out laws as he and his men
- 20:22Speaker 1: vale England. They there see again Bobbitt twenty four cal
- 20:27Speaker 1: de Kendris twelve forty seven. And now, dear friend, we
- 20:33Speaker 1: also must part, for our merry journeyings have ended. And
- 20:37Speaker 1: here at the grave of robin Hood we turn, each
- 20:41Speaker 1: going his own way. End of the epilog. End of
- 20:49Speaker 1: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, read
- 20:55Speaker 1: by Alex Foster Www. Dot Alex Foster dot UK on
- 21:01Speaker 1: the sixteenth of March twenty o sixth in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire,