I haven't read in a long while, but I felt that I should read another book. This time, it was a wonderful adventure that spans many years. It is called The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle, a Delawarean.
Here is a summary of the story:
In a peaceful English community lived a famous outlaw named Robin Hood, whose reputation was to rob the rich and donate to the poor. Over the years, he has collected more members in his band of over 140 men!
He became an outlaw at 18 years, when he argued with a group of foresters and shot the leader of a herd of deer with a bow and arrow. Afterward, he also shot one of the foresters! Unfortunately, that forester was a relative of King Henry II, who was ruling England at that time. The Sheriff of Nottingham put up a big reward for his capture.
Later, when his band was a little over 100 men, he got in an argument with a wealthy stranger. They challenged each other to a fight, and after a whole load of fighting, Robin won. He then won in an archery contest, so the stranger, named John Little (renamed Little John), joined Robin and his band of 100 men.
A messenger spread the word about Robin Hood across Nottingham, going as far as the Blue Boar Inn, where he joined a group consisting of friars, foresters, and a tinker. The tinker met Robin Hood twice, and on the second time, they fought against each other. Robin won against him and the tinker joined him, just like Little John did.
The Sheriff of Nottingham wanted Robin Hood to be caught, but he could not place a warrant on him. He met with King Henry II, and they devised a plan to hold an archery contest to entice and capture Robin Hood. One of Robin's men, however, told him that the contest was a trap. He still entered the contest, but in disguise. The rest of the men were also in disguise.
During the elimination round of the archery contest, the sheriff was disappointed because he could not find Robin among the archers competing. As expected, he got the best shot and won first prize (a golden arrow) under the clever pseudonym Jock o' Teviotdale. Later that day, the sheriff received a note that the winner of the contest was actually Robin Hood himself!
The sheriff sent 300 constables against Robin's band, but they all hid. The constables searched for a week and found nothing. However, a member of the band, Will Stutely, was captured when he tried to get some news. Robin's gang all went to Nottingham to rescue Will. The sheriff's men and Robin's men fought against each other until Little John threw a sword at Will so that he could free himself.
Robin asked a butcher if he could replace him for a day. The butcher agreed. Robin charged only a penny for meat with a three-penny value. Some of Robin's men and the sheriff ate together without the sheriff knowing that Robin was near him. After dinner, they stripped the sheriff of his money.
Later, Arthur-a-Bland lost to Little John and then he agreed to join Robin. They met a gentleman who they fought against, but because Robin recognized him, the gentleman, renamed Will Scarlet, joined Robin's band. They found a minstrel who was deeply troubled. After comforting him, he joined the band by the name of Allan-a-Dale.
They sent off to find the Friar of Fountain Abbey, so Allan-a-Dale could get married. But without knowing, Robin found himself fighting the Friar of Fountain Abbey. The friar sent out his dogs against him. Will Scarlet later explained to Robin that he was actually fighting the friar himself.
They were now heading to Sherwood to explain to the friar about Allan-a-Dale's dilemma. Next, they headed to the church for Allan-a-Dale's wedding, but it appeared that Ellen o' the Dale was going to marry Sir Stephen of Trent, so the bishop said that Sir Stephen was not Ellen's true love. Ellen's father wanted Sir Stephen to marry Ellen, but Sir Stephen objected. Robin gave Allan-a-Dale gifts while he forced the bishop to hand over his gold chain and give it to Allan-a-Dale.
The next day, a page was sent by Queen Eleanor to inform Robin that there will be another shooting contest. There were 800 people competing for first prize (50 pounds of gold coins, a silver bugle, and ten gold-tipped arrows). The bishop then exposed the identity of four men in Robin's band.
Then, the ten best archers competed, and then Robin Hood and another man named Gilbert faced off against each other, because all three of their shots hit dead center. Robin won the grand prize, but the page, whose name was Richard Partington warned Robin about King Henry and how he would track him down.
That night, Robin's band was warned by Richard that the king has sent men to arrest him. Sir Richard passed by and agreed to take Robin to London for his safety.
A stranger named Guy of Gisbourne came after Robin and held an archery contest. As usual, Robin won, but Guy of Gisbourne was going to fight Robin, and he did. But Robin had killed him, and he was unhappy that he killed two people so far. He did not want to kill at all.
The following day, King Richard, the new king after King Henry had died, was visiting Nottingham. King Richard wanted to meet Robin Hood in person mostly because of the zany adventures he has gotten into. He later met with Robin during a banquet and paid 50 pounds of gold money. Robin later got into a fight with King Richard and whoever wins gets the money (50 pounds). King Richard defeated Robin, unlike all the other men.
The next day Robin, Will Scarlet, Little John, and Allan-a-Dale rode with King Richard.
For many years, Robin did not return to Sherwood Forest, but eventually Little John and Will Scarlet left. But years later, King Richard was killed in a battle, only to be replaced by John.
Robin Hood came back to Sherwood Forest and declared that he would become a yeoman once more. Everyone in his former outlaw band came to the scene.
But later, King John sent Sir William Dale to go look for Robin. When he eventually did, his men and Robin's men fought against each other. Robin later got injured. Then, in front of Little John, he would shoot his last arrow. That would be where Robin's grave would be.
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment