Fifty Famous Stories Retold
"Welcome home, good master!" cried the shepherd. "What news do you
bring us from great King John?"
"Sad news, sad news," said the abbot; and then he told him all that
had happened.
"Cheer up, cheer up, good master," said the shepherd. "Have you never
yet heard that a fool may teach a wise man wit? I think I can help you
out of your trouble."
"You help me!" cried the abbot "How? how?"
"Well," answered the shepherd, "you know that everybody says that I
look just like you, and that I have some-times been mis-tak-en for
you. So, lend me your servants and your horse and your gown, and I
will go up to London and see the king. If nothing else can be done, I
can at least die in your place."
"My good shepherd," said the abbot, "you are very, very kind; and I
have a mind to let you try your plan. But if the worst comes to the
worst, you shall not die for me. I will die for myself."
So the shepherd got ready to go at once. He dressed himself with
great care. Over his shepherd's coat he threw the abbot's long gown,
and he bor-rowed the abbot's cap and golden staff. When all was ready,
no one in the world would have thought that he was not the great man
himself. Then he mounted his horse, and with a great train of servants
set out for London.
Of course the king did not know him.
"Welcome, Sir Abbot!" he said. "It is a good thing that you have come
back. But, prompt as you are, if you fail to answer my three
questions, you shall lose your head."
"I am ready to answer them, O king!" said the shepherd.
"Indeed, indeed!" said the king, and he laughed to himself. "Well,
then, answer my first question: How long shall I live? Come, you must
tell me to the very day."
"You shall live," said the shepherd, "until the day that you die, and
not one day longer. And you shall die when you take your last breath,
and not one moment before."
The king laughed.
"You are witty, I see," he said. "But we will let that pass, and say
that your answer is right. And now tell me how soon I may ride round
the world."
"You must rise with the sun," said the shepherd, "and you must ride
with the sun until it rises again the next morning. As soon as you do
that, you will find that you have ridden round the world in
twenty-four hours."
The king laughed again. "Indeed," he said, "I did not think that it
could be done so soon. You are not only witty, but you are wise, and
we will let this answer pass. And now comes my third and last
question: What do I think?"
"That is an easy question," said the shepherd. "You think that I am
the Abbot of Can-ter-bur-y. But, to tell you the truth, I am only his
poor shepherd, and I have come to beg your pardon for him and for me."
And with that, he threw off his long gown.
The king laughed loud and long.
"A merry fellow you are," said he, "and you shall be the Abbot of
Canterbury in your master's place."
"O king! that cannot be," said the shepherd; "for I can neither read
nor write."
"Very well, then," said the king, "I will give you something else to
pay you for this merry joke. I will give you four pieces of silver
every week as long as you live. And when you get home, you may tell
the old abbot that you have brought him a free pardon from King
John."
A STORY OF ROBIN HOOD.
In the rude days of King Rich-ard and King John there were many great
woods in England. The most famous of these was Sher-wood forest, where
the king often went to hunt deer. In this forest there lived a band of
daring men called out-laws.
They had done something that was against the laws of the land, and had
been forced to hide themselves in the woods to save their lives. There
they spent their time in roaming about among the trees, in hunting the
king's deer, and in robbing rich trav-el-ers that came that way.
There were nearly a hundred of these outlaws, and their leader was a
bold fellow called Robin Hood. They were dressed in suits of green,
and armed with bows and arrows; and sometimes they carried long wooden
lances and broad-swords, which they knew how to handle well. When-ever
they had taken anything, it was brought and laid at the feet of Robin
Hood, whom they called their king. He then di-vid-ed it fairly among
them, giving to each man his just share.
Robin never allowed his men to harm any-body but the rich men who
lived in great houses and did no work. He was always kind to the poor,
and he often sent help to them; and for that reason the common people
looked upon him as their friend.
Long after he was dead, men liked to talk about his deeds. Some
praised him, and some blamed him. He was, indeed, a rude, lawless
fellow; but at that time, people did not think of right and wrong as
they do now.
A great many songs were made up about Robin Hood, and these songs were
sung in the cot-ta-ges and huts all over the land for hundreds of
years after-ward.
Here is a little story that is told in one of those songs:--
Robin Hood was standing one day under a green tree by the road-side.
While he was lis-ten-ing to the birds among the leaves, he saw a young
man passing by. This young man was dressed in a fine suit of bright
red cloth; and, as he tripped gayly along the road, he seemed to be as
happy as the day.
"I will not trou-ble him," said Robin Hood, "for I think he is on his
way to his wedding."
The next day Robin stood in the same place. He had not been there long
when he saw the same young man coming down the road. But he did not
seem to be so happy this time. He had left his scarlet coat at home,
and at every step he sighed and groaned.
"Ah the sad day! the sad day!" he kept saying to himself.
Then Robin Hood stepped out from under the tree, and said,--
"I say, young man! Have you any money to spare for my merry men and
me?"
"I have nothing at all," said the young man, "but five shil-lings and
a ring."
"A gold ring?" asked Robin.
"Yes?" said the young man, "it is a gold ring. Here it is."
"Ah, I see!" said Robin: "it is a wedding ring."
"I have kept it these seven years," said the young man; "I have kept
it to give to my bride on our wedding day. We were going to be married
yes-ter-day. But her father has prom-ised her to a rich old man whom
she never saw. And now my heart is broken."
"What is your name?" asked Robin.
"My name is Allin-a-Dale," said the young man.
"What will you give me, in gold or fee," said Robin, "if I will help
you win your bride again in spite of the rich old man to whom she has
been promised?"
"I have no money," said Allin, "but I will promise to be your
servant."
"How many miles is it to the place where the maiden lives?" asked
Robin.
"It is not far," said Allin. "But she is to be married this very day,
and the church is five miles away."
Then Robin made haste to dress himself as a harper; and in the
after-noon he stood in the door of the church.
"Who are you?" said the bishop, "and what are you doing here?"
"I am a bold harper," said Robin, "the best in the north country."
"I am glad you have come," said the bishop kindly. "There is no music
that I like so well as that of the harp. Come in, and play for us."
"I will go in," said Robin Hood; "but I will not give you any music
until I see the bride and bridegroom."
Just then an old man came in. He was dressed in rich clothing, but was
bent with age, and was feeble and gray. By his side walked a fair
young girl. Her cheeks were very pale, and her eyes were full of
tears.
"This is no match," said Robin. "Let the bride choose for herself."
Then he put his horn to his lips, and blew three times. The very next
minute, four and twenty men, all dressed in green, and car-ry-ing long
bows in their hands, came running across the fields. And as they
marched into the church, all in a row, the fore-most among them was
Allin-a-Dale.
"Now whom do you choose?" said Robin to the maiden.
"I choose Allin-a-Dale," she said, blushing.
"And Allin-a-Dale you shall have," said Robin; "and he that takes you
from Allin-a-Dale shall find that he has Robin Hood to deal with."
And so the fair maiden and Allin-a-Dale were married then and there,
and the rich old man went home in a great rage.
"And thus having ended this merry wedding,
The bride looked like a queen:
And so they re-turned to the merry green wood,
Amongst the leaves so green."
BRUCE AND THE SPIDER.
There was once a king of Scot-land whose name was Robert Bruce. He had
need to be both brave and wise, for the times in which he lived were
wild and rude. The King of England was at war with him, and had led a
great army into Scotland to drive him out of the land.
Battle after battle had been fought. Six times had Bruce led his brave
little army against his foes; and six times had his men been beaten,
and driven into flight. At last his army was scat-tered, and he was
forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places among the
moun-tains.
One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed, lis-ten-ing
to the patter of the drops on the roof above him. He was tired and
sick at heart, and ready to give up all hope. It seemed to him that
there was no use for him to try to do anything more.
As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over his head, making ready to
weave her web. He watched her as she toiled slowly and with great
care. Six times she tried to throw her frail thread from one beam to
another, and six times it fell short.
"Poor thing!" said Bruce: "you, too, know what it is to fail."
But the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure. With still
more care, she made ready to try for the seventh time. Bruce almost
forgot his own troubles as he watched her swing herself out upon the
slender line. Would she fail again? No! The thread was carried safely
to the beam, and fas-tened there.
"I, too, will try a seventh time!" cried Bruce.
He arose and called his men together. He told them of his plans, and
sent them out with mes-sa-ges of cheer to his dis-heart-ened people.
Soon there was an army of brave Scotch-men around him. Another battle
was fought, and the King of England was glad to go back into his own
country.
I have heard it said, that, after that day, no one by the name of
Bruce would ever hurt a spider. The lesson which the little crea-ture
had taught the king was never for-got-ten.
THE BLACK DOUGLAS.
In Scotland, in the time of King Robert Bruce, there lived a brave man
whose name was Doug-las. His hair and beard were black and long, and
his face was tanned and dark; and for this reason people nicknamed him
the Black Douglas. He was a good friend of the king, and one of his
strongest helpers.
In the war with the English, who were trying to drive Bruce from
Scotland, the Black Douglas did many brave deeds; and the English
people became very much afraid of him. By and by the fear of him
spread all through the land. Nothing could frighten an English lad
more than to tell him that the Black Douglas was not far away. Women
would tell their chil-dren, when they were naughty, that the Black
Douglas would get them; and this would make them very quiet and good.
There was a large cas-tle in Scotland which the English had taken
early in the war. The Scot-tish soldiers wanted very much to take it
again, and the Black Douglas and his men went one day to see what they
could do. It happened to be a hol-i-day, and most of the English
soldiers in the cas-tle were eating and drinking and having a merry
time. But they had left watch-men on the wall to see that the Scottish
soldiers did not come upon them un-a-wares; and so they felt quite
safe.
In the e-ven-ing, when it was growing dark, the wife of one of the