Page 89 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

‘Now, Reynold Greenleaf,’ quoth the Sheriff, ‘thou art the
fairest hand at the longbow that mine eyes ever beheld, next
to that false knave, Robin Hood, from whose wiles Heaven
forfend me! Wilt thou join my service, good fellow? Thou
shalt be paid right well, for three suits of clothes shalt thou
have a year, with good food and as much ale as thou canst
drink; and, besides this, I will pay thee forty marks each
Michaelmastide.’
‘Then here stand I a free man, and right gladly will I en-
ter thy household,’ said Little John, for he thought he might
find some merry jest, should he enter the Sheriff’s service.
‘Fairly hast thou won the fat steers,’ said the Sheriff, ‘and
‘hereunto I will add a butt of good March beer, for joy of
having gotten such a man; for, I wot, thou shootest as fair a
shaft as Robin Hood himself.’
‘Then,’ said Little John, ‘for joy of having gotten myself
into thy service, I will give fat steers and brown ale to all
these good folk, to make them merry withal.’ At this arose
a great shout, many casting their caps aloft, for joy of the
gift.
Then some built great fires and roasted the steers, and
others broached the butt of ale, with which all made them-
selves merry. Then, when they had eaten and drunk as much
as they could, and when the day faded and the great moon
arose, all red and round, over the spires and towers of Not-
tingham Town, they joined hands and danced around the
fires, to the music of bagpipes and harps. But long before
this merrymaking had begun, the Sheriff and his new ser-
vant Reynold Greenleaf were in the Castle of Nottingham.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood