英语小说网

Long before Robin came to live in Sherwood Forest he used often to go there to hunt. There were many wild animals in the woods which people were allowed to shoot. Only the deer belonged to the king, and no one was allowed to hunt or kill them.

One day while Robin was hunting in the forest he met a most beautiful lady. She was dressed in green velvet, the colour of the grass in spring. Robin thought she looked like a queen. He had never seen anyone so lovely.

Robin watched this beautiful lady shooting, and thought he had never seen anything so fine in all his life. He loved her from the very first moment he saw her.

"Oh, how sweet it would be if this dear lady would be my bride," he sighed to himself, though he did not even know her name.

He soon found that she was called Marian, and that her father was the noble Earl of Fitzwalter, who had come to live at a castle not far from his own home.

After this, Marian and Robin met each other very often. They used to hunt together in the forest, and came to love one another very much indeed. They loved each other so much, that Robin asked Marian to marry him, so that they might never be parted any more.

So he wrote a sad letter, telling her of all the terrible misfortune that had happened to him. "I shall love you always," he said, "but this life is too hard for a sweet and gentle lady, so I will never see you more. Good-bye."

Marian said "yes," and Robin thought he was the happiest man in all the world. She went back to her own home with her father, to prepare for the wedding, which was to be in a few days. But just then a terrible misfortune happened to Robin. He lost his home, and everything that he had.

When Robin lost all his money and lands, and had no house but only the Green Wood to live in, he said: "I cannot ask a gentle lady to come and live this rough life with me. I must say good-bye to my dear Marian for ever."

At last she became so sad that she could bear it no longer.

Marian was very, very sad when she had read Robin's letter. She cried all day long as if her heart would break.

She was very sad and lonely now, and all the world seemed dark and lifeless. It seemed as if the sun had forgotten to shine and the birds had forgotten to sing.

With arrows and bow, sword, and all, Marian wandered about to find Robin out.

It was a long way to Sherwood Forest. Marian knew that it was not safe for a beautiful lady to travel so far by herself. She feared the robbers and the wild, wicked men she might meet. So she dressed herself like a knight all in shining armour. She wore a steel helmet, with a white feather. Over her lovely face she drew a steel visor, which knights used to wear. It kept the face from being hurt by arrows and swords in battle, and also, if a knight wished not to be known, it prevented people from seeing his face altogether.

Robin was very fond of disguising himself. He was very clever at it too. Often his dearest friends could not recognize him when they met him dressed like someone else.

One day he dressed himself as a Norman knight, pulled his visor over his face, and went out into the forest in search of an adventure.

"I must go into the Green Wood and look for Robin," she said. "Perhaps if I see him again, the pain will go out of my heart."

He had not gone far before he met another knight in shining armour and a white feather.

He put on a deep and terrible voice and called out in French, "Stop, Sir knight of the white feather. No one passes through the forest without my permission. I allow only those whose business is good and whose name is fair. What is your name and where are you going?"

He too drew his sword, and the fight began. Robin was taller and stronger than Marian, but she used her sword so cleverly that he found it hard to get the better of her. He could only admire the skill and grace with which she defended herself. "It is wonderful that a knight so young and so slim should have such strength and quickness," he said to himself. "I would make him one of my men."

Marian (for of course it was she) was very frightened. Robin's voice sounded so angry and terrible that she did not know it, and she could not see his face.

She thought he was some wicked Norman knight. Without saying a word she drew her sword and prepared to fight.

"Ah," said Robin, "you refuse to answer. Your business must be evil if you cannot tell what it is. Fight then, false knight."

They fought for more than an hour. Marian was wounded in the arm. Robin had a cut in his cheek, where the point of her sword had stuck through his visor. Marian was growing tired. Robin began to feel sorry for the young knight who fought so skilfully and well.

"Marian," he replied full of wonder, "Marian, can it be you? Oh, why did you not speak before? I have hurt you," he added in great pain. Marian took off her helmet so that he might see it was indeed his own true love. Her face was pale, but there was a smile on her lips, and her eyes were full of happy tears.

How they laughed and cried, and kissed each other. It was a long, long time since they had met. They went to the stream, which ran and sang through the wood not far off. Very gently Robin washed and bound up Marian's wound, and she as gently cared for his. All the time they laughed and talked, and Marian found that the pain had gone from her heart and the tiredness from her feet.

Robin had forgotten that he was pretending to be a proud Norman knight, and spoke in his own voice. When Marian heard it she dropped her sword with a cry of delight. "Robin, Robin," was all she could say.

"Oh, hold your hand, hold your hand," said Robin Hood, "And you shall be one of my men, in the wood with bold Robin Hood and hear the sweet nightingale sing."

She told Robin how sad she had been, and how she had put on a knight's armour, and come to look for him.

"Sweetheart," he said when she had finished her story, "I do not know how I shall live in the Green Wood when you go away again."

"Oh Robin, do not be so unkind. The sun does not shine and the birds forget to sing when I am away from you. Let me stay."

"Dearest, you must not. It is a rough, uncomfortable life, not fit for a gentle lady like you."

"But I never mean to go away again. I am going to stay with you always," she said.

So Robin let her stay. He wanted to have her with him so much that he could not say "no" when she begged so hard.

As they walked along to the Trysting-Tree, as the place was called where Robin and his men used to gather, they met Little John. He was very much surprised to see his master and a strange young knight, walking arm-in-arm, chatting and laughing pleasantly.

And then as bold Robin Hood, and his sweet bride, went hand in hand, the birds sung with pleasure in merry Sherwood, and it was a joyful hour.

"Lady," he said, "if you have come to live with us in the Green Wood, and be our queen, as Robin is our king, I swear to serve you faithfully and well, as I do him."

"Hello, Little John," called out Robin, as soon as he saw him, "come, help me. This fair knight has wounded my heart, so that I fear I shall never recover."

Little John turned pale. "Master," he said, "are you indeed wounded? If it is so, this false knight has not long to live," and he looked angrily at Marian.

She drew closer to Robin, saying, "This big man frightens me."

But Robin laughed. He put one arm round her, and held Little John off with the other. "Friend," he said, "I was only joking. This is no knight, but my own fair love, Maid Marian. If my heart is wounded, it is only with the bright glances from her eyes. Marian," he went on, "this is my friend Little John, of whom I have told you. He is the tallest and the bravest of my men, the wisest head among us."

Little John knelt on one knee, and, taking Marian's hand, kissed it as if she had been a queen.

"Now, master," said Little John, "we must have a feast today, for this must be a great day in the Green Wood. So with your permission I will take my bow and arrows, and see what I can bring to our cooks."

So Little John took his bow in his hand, and wandered in the wood to kill the deer, and make a good cheer for Marian and Robin Hood.

Marian smiled down upon him. Her heart was so full that she could not speak.

"Sweetheart," replied Robin, "you are lovely as you are, but if you want a dress you can soon have one. Not long ago we stopped a rich Jew, who was travelling through the forest. He left a lot of goods with us. There are several fine dresses in it. You can take whatever you choose. Come, I will show you the cave where they are."

"Robin," said Marian, when Little John had gone, "I wish I had a dress to wear instead of this armour."

Robin sat down outside the cave to wait till Marian came back to him again. He leaned his head against the trunk of a tree, and shutting his eyes, dreamed happy day dreams.

Then, under the Trysting-Tree, Robin stopped, and blew his horn. In answer to it all, all his men came marching in a row. As they passed Robin, every man bowed. Then each one knelt on one knee, kissing Marian's hand, and vowing to serve and honour her as his queen. And so every man went to his place, and Marian stood with her face red and smiling at them as they passed.

Slowly they walked through the Green Wood together. They had so much to say to each other, the time went all too quickly.

Robin drew in his breath. He had not known that anyone could look so beautiful.

Then the merry feast began. The cooks had done their very best, and had made all the most delicious dishes they could think of. The table-cloths, which were spread upon the grass, were spotted with wildflowers. The sun shone, the birds sang, and happy talk and laughter rang merrily through the wood.

Then he heard his name whispered, and, opening his eyes, saw Marian, looking like a fairy princess. She wore an underdress of shining white, and over it a robe of lovely silk, green and shining like green leaves in early spring. Her dark hair was caught up in a net of pearls, and a soft white veil fell about her face.

It was a fine sight to see all his men as they jumped to their feet. They looked so handsome and tall in their coats of Lincoln green. They waved their hats and cheered for Maid Marian.

Then came fat and cheerful Friar Tuck carrying his big book and trying to look serious.

Everyone became quiet, while Robin and Marian knelt together, under the blue sky and green waving branches. It was very solemn and still in the great forest, as Robin and Marian were married. Then music began, and they all began to dance

When the feast was over, Robin filled his drinking-horn, and holding it high above his head said, "Here's a health to Maid Marian, Queen of the Green Wood."

But Maid Marian saw that he looked sad, and guessed why, so she talked kindly to him, and soon he was as merry as the rest. They sang, danced, and played, and no one seemed to be tired.

"Now Robin has such a lovely wife, he will not need his friends any more," he said sadly to himself.

"Here's to fair Maid Marian and bold Robin Hood," they cried. "Long may they live, and happy may they be."

Everyone was happy and merry. Only Little John felt a bit sad.

Robin and Marian lived together for a long, long time, and were very, very happy. They lived happily together, and loved each other very much.

So this happy day came to an end. The red sun sank behind the trees. The birds slept, and all the forest was silent, only the bright stars were awake, and watched over Robin and his band.