Page 92 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

Master Steward, a hungry man am I, for nought have I had
for all this blessed morn. Therefore, give me to eat.’
Then the Steward looked grimly at him and rattled the
keys in his girdle, for he hated Little John because he had
found favor with the Sheriff. ‘So, Master Reynold Greenleaf,
thou art anhungered, art thou?’ quoth he. ‘But, fair youth, if
thou livest long enough, thou wilt find that he who getteth
overmuch sleep for an idle head goeth with an empty stom-
ach. For what sayeth the old saw, Master Greenleaf? Is it not
‘The late fowl findeth but ill faring’?’
‘Now, thou great purse of fat!’ cried Little John, ‘I ask
thee not for fool’s wisdom, but for bread and meat. Who
art thou, that thou shouldst deny me to eat? By Saint Dun-
stan, thou hadst best tell me where my breakfast is, if thou
wouldst save broken bones!’
‘Thy breakfast, Master Fireblaze, is in the pantry,’ an-
swered the Steward.
‘Then fetch it hither!’ cried Little John, who waxed angry
by this time.
‘Go thou and fetch it thine own self,’ quoth the Steward.
‘Am I thy slave, to fetch and carry for thee?’
‘I say, go thou, bring it me!’
‘I say, go thou, fetch it for thyself!’
‘Ay, marry, that will I, right quickly!’ quoth Little John
in a rage. And, so saying, he strode to the pantry and tried
to open the door but found it locked, whereat the Steward
laughed and rattled his keys. Then the wrath of Little John
boiled over, and, lifting his clenched fist, he smote the pan-
try door, bursting out three panels and making so large an

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