Alfred, Lord Tennyson - Delphi Poets Series
Page 183
KING RICHARD.
Try, thyself, valorous Robin!
ROBIN.
I am mortally afeard o’ thee, thou big man,
But seeing valour is one against all odds,
There!
KING RICHARD.
There!
[ROBIN falls back, and is caught in the arms of LITTLE JOHN.
ROBIN.
Good, now I love thee mightily, thou tall fellow.
Break thine alliance with this faithless John,
And live with us and the birds in the green wood.
KING RICHARD.
I cannot break it, Robin, if I wish’d.
Still I am more for Richard than for John.
LITTLE JOHN.
Look, Robin, at the far end of the glade
I see two figures crawling up the hill.
[Distant sound of trumpets.
ROBIN.
The Abbot of York and his justiciary.
KING RICHARD (aside).
They know me. I must not as yet be known.
Friends, your free sports have swallow’d my free hour.
Farewell at once, for I must hence upon
The King’s affair.
ROBIN.
Not taste his venison first?
FRIAR TUCK.
Hast thou not fought for it, and earn’d it? Stay,
Dine with my brethren here, and on thine own.
KING RICHARD.
And which be they?
FRIAR TUCK.
Wild geese, for how canst thou be thus allied
With John, and serve King Richard save thou be
A traitor or a goose? but stay with Robin;
For Robin is no scatterbrains like Richard,
Robin’s a wise man, Richard a wiseacre,
Robin’s an outlaw, but he helps the poor;
While Richard hath outlaw’d himself, and helps
Nor rich nor poor. Richard’s the king of courtesy;
For if he did me the good grace to kick me
I could but sneak and smile and call it courtesy,
For he’s a king.
And that is only courtesy by courtesy —
But Robin is a thief of courtesy
Whom they that suffer by him call the blossom
Of bandits. There — to be a thief of courtesy —
There is a trade of genius, there’s glory!
Again, this Richard sacks and wastes a town
With random pillage, but our Robin takes
From whom he knows are hypocrites and liars.
Again, this Richard risks his life for a straw,
So lies in prison — while our Robin’s life
Hangs by a thread, but he is a free man.
Richard, again, is King over a realm
He hardly knows, and Robin King of Sherwood,
And loves and dotes on every dingle of it.
Again, this Richard is the lion of Cyprus,
Robin the lion of Sherwood — may this mouth
Never suck grape again, if our true Robin
Be not the nobler lion of the twain!
KING RICHARD.
Gramercy for thy preachment! if the land
Were rulable by tongue, thou shouldst be King.
And yet thou know’st how little of thy King!
What was this realm of England, all the crowns
Of all this world, to Richard when he flung
His life, heart, soul into those holy wars
That sought to free the tomb-place of the king
Of all the world? thou, that art churchman too
In a fashion, and shouldst feel with him. Farewell!
I left mine horse and armour with a squire,
And I must see to ‘em.
ROBIN.
When wilt thou return?
KING RICHARD.
Return, I? when? when Richard will return.
ROBIN.
No sooner? when will that be? canst thou tell?
But I have ta’en a sudden fancy to thee.
Accept this horn! if e’er though be assail’d
In any of our forests, blow upon it
Three mots, this fashion — listen! (blows) Canst thou do it?
[KING RICHARD blows.
Blown like a true son of the woods. Farewell!
[Exit King Richard.
Enter ABBOTT and JUSTICIARY.
FRIAR TUCK.
Church and Law, halt and pay toll!
JUSTICIARY.
Rogue, we have thy captain’s safe-conduct; though he be the chief of rogues, he hath never broken his word.
ABBOT.
There is our bond.
[Gives it to ROBIN
ROBIN.
I thank thee.
JUSTICIARY
Ay, but where,
Where is this old Sir Richard of the Lea?
Thou told’st us we should meet him in the forest,
Where he would pay us down his thousand marks.
ROBIN.
Give him another month, and he will pay it.
JUSTICIARY.
We cannot give him a month.
ROBIN.
Why, then a week.
JUSTICIARY.
No, not an hour: the debt is due to-day.
ABBOT.
Where is this laggard Richard of the Lea?
ROBIN.
He hath been hurt, was growing whole again,
Only this morning, in his agony
Lest he should fail to pay these thousand marks,
He is stricken with a slight paralysis.
Have you no pity? must you see this man?
JUSTICIARY.
Ay, ay, what else? how else can this be settled?
ROBIN.
Go, men, and fetch him hither on the litter.
[SIR RICHARD LEA is brought in. MARIAN comes with him.
MARIAN.
Here is my father’s bond.
[Gives it to ROBIN HOOD.
ROBIN.
I thank thee, dear.
JUSTICIARY.
Sir Richard, it was agreed when you borrowed these moneys from the abbot that, if they were not repaid within a limited time, your land should be forfeit.
SIR RICHARD.
The land! the land!
MARIAN.
You see he is past himself.
What would you more?
ABBOT.
What more? one thousand marks,
Or else the land.
You hide this damsel in your forest here,
[Pointing to MARIAN.
You hope to hold and keep her for yourself,
You heed not how you soil her maiden fame,
You scheme against her father’s weal and hers;
For, so this maid would wed our brother, he
Would pay us all the debt at once, and thus
This old Sir Richard might redeem his land.
He is all for love, he cares not for the land.
SIR RICHARD.
The land! the land!
ROBIN (giving two bags to the Abbot).
Here be one thousand marks
Out of our treasury to redeem the land.
[Pointing to each of the bags.
Half here, half there.
[Plaudits from his band.
JUSTICIARY.
Ay, ay, but there is use, four hundred marks.
ROBIN (giving a bag to JUSTICIARY).
There then, four hundred marks.
[Plaudits.
JUSTICIARY.
What did I say?
Nay, my tongues tript — five hundred marks for use.
ROBIN (giving another bag to him).
A hundred more? There then, a hundred more.
[Plaudits.
JUSTICIARY.
Ay, ay, but you see the bond and the letter of the law. It is stated there that these moneys should be paid in to the abbot at York, at the end of the month at noon, and they are delivered here in the wild wood an hour after no
on.
MARIAN.
The letter — O, how often justice drowns
Between the law and letter of the law!
O God, I would the letter of the law
Were some strong fellow here in the wild wood,
That thou mightst beat him down at quarterstaff!
Have you no pity?
JUSTICIARY.
You run down your game,
We ours. What pity have you for your game?
ROBIN.
We needs must live. Our bowmen are so true
They strike the deer at once to death — he falls
And knows no more.
MARIAN.
Pity, pity — There was a man of ours
Up in the north, a goodly fellow too,
He met a stag there on so narrow a ledge —
A precipice above, and one below —
There was no room to advance or to retire.
The men lay down — the delicate-footed creature
Came stepping o’er him, so as not to harm him —
The hunter’s passion flash’d into the man,
He drove his knife into the heart of the deer,
The deer fell dead to the bottom, and the man
Fell with him, and was crippled ever after.
I fear I had small pity for that man. —
You have the moneys and the use of them.
What would you more?
JUSTICIARY.
What? must we dance attendance all the day?
ROBIN.
Dance! ay, by all the saints and all the devils, ye shall dance! When the Church and the Law have forgotten God’s music, they shall dance to the music of the wild wood. Let the birds sing, and do you dance to their song! What, you will not? Strike up our music, Little John. (He plays.) They will not! Prick ‘em in the calves with the arrow-points prick ‘em in the calves!
ABBOT.
Rogue, I am full of gout. I cannot dance.
ROBIN.
And Sir Richard cannot redeem his land. Sweat out your gout, friend, for, by my life, you shall dance till he can. Prick him in the calves!
JUSTICIARY.
Rogue, I have a swollen vein in my right leg, and if thou prick me there I shall die.
ROBIN.
Prick him where thou wilt, so that he dance.
ABBOT.
Rogue, we come not alone.
JUSTICIARY.
Not the right.
ABBOT.
We told the prince and the sheriff of our coming.
JUSTICIARY.
Take the left leg, for the love of God.
ABBOT.
They follow us.
JUSTICIARY.
You will all of you hang.
ROBIN.
Let us hang, so thou dance meanwhile; or, by that same love of God, we will hang thee, prince or no prince, sheriff or no sheriff.
JUSTICIARY.
Take care, take care! I dance — I will dance — I dance
[ABBOT and JUSTICIARY dance to music, each holding a bag in each hand.
Enter SCARLET.
SCARLET.
The sheriff! the sheriff, follow’d by Prince John
And all his mercenaries! We sighted ‘em
Only this moment. By Saint Nicholas
They must have sprung like ghosts from underground,
Or like the devils they are, straight up from hell.
ROBIN.
Crouch all into the bush!
[The FORESTERS and PEASANTS hide behind the bushes.
MARIAN.
Take up the litter!
SIR RICHARD.
Move me no more! I am sick and faint with pain!
MARIAN.
But, sir, the sheriff —
SIR RICHARD.
Let me be, I say!
The sheriff will be welcome! let me be!
MARIAN.
Give me my bow and arrows. I remain.
Beside my father’s litter.
ROBIN.
And fear not thou!
Each of us has an arrow on the cord;
We all keep watch.
Enter SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM.
SHERIFF.
Marian!
MARIAN.
Speak not. I wait upon a dying father.
SHERIFF.
The debt hath not been paid. She will be mine.
What are you capering for? By old Saint Vitus,
Have you gone mad? Has it been paid?
ABBOT (dancing).
O, yes.
SHERIFF.
Have I lost her then?
JUSTICIARY (dancing).
Lost her? O, no, we took
Advantage of the letter — O Lord, the vein!
Not paid at York — the wood — prick me no more!
SHERIFF.
What pricks thee, save it be thy conscience, man?
JUSTICIARY.
By my halidome, I felt him at my leg still.
Where be they gone to?
SHERIFF.
Thou art alone in the silence of the forest,
Save for this maiden and thy brother abbot,
And this old crazeling in the litter there.
Enter on one side FRIAR TUCK from the bush, and on the other PRINCE JOHN and his SPEARMEN, with banners and trumpets, etc.
JUSTICIARY (examining his leg)
They have miss’d the vein.
ABBOT.
And we shall keep the land.
SHERIFF.
Sweet Marian, by the letter of the law
It seems thy father’s land is forfeited.
SIR RICHARD.
No! let me out of the litter. He shall wed thee:
The land shall still be mine. Child, thou shalt wed him,
Or thine old father will go mad — he will,
He will — he feels it in his head.
MARIAN.
O, peace!
Father, I cannot marry till Richard comes.
SIR RICHARD.
And then the sheriff!
MARIAN. Ay, the sheriff, father,
Would buy me for a thousand marks in gold —
Sell me again perchance for twice as much.
A woman’s heart is but a little thing,
Much lighter than a thousand marks in gold;
But pity for a father, it may be,
Is weightier than a thousand marks in gold.
I cannot love the sheriff.
SIR RICHARD.
But thou wilt wed him?
MARIAN.
Ay, save King Richard, when he comes, forbid me.
Sweet heavens, I could wish that all the land
Were plunged beneath the waters of the sea,
Tho’ all the world should go about in boats.
FRIAR TUCK.
Why, so should all the love-sick be sea-sick.
MARIAN.
Better than heart-sick, friar.
PRINCE JOHN to SHERIFF).
See you not
They are jesting at us yonder, mocking us?
Carry her off, and let the old man die.
[Advancing to MARIAN.
Come, girl, thou shalt along with us on the instant.
FRIAR TUCK (brandishing his staff).
Then on the instant I will break thy head.
SHERIFF.
Back, thou fool-friar! Knowest thou not the prince?
FRIAR TUCK (muttering).
He may be prince; he is not gentleman.
PRINCE JOHN.
Look! I will take the rope from off thy waist,
And twist it round thy neck and hang thee by it.
Seize him and truss him up, and carry her off.
[FRIAR TUCK slips into the bush.
MARIAN (drawing the bow).
No nearer to me! back! My hand is firm,
Mine eye most true to one hair’s-breadth of aim.
You, prince, our King to come — you that dishonour
The daughters and the wives of your ow
n faction —
Who hunger for the body, not the soul —
This gallant prince would have me of his — what?
Household? or shall I call it by that new term
Brought from the sacred East, his harem? Never,
Tho’ you should queen me over all the realms
Held by King Richard, could I stoop so low
As mate with one that holds no love is pure,
No friendship sacred, values neither man
Nor woman save as tools — God help the mark! —
To his own unprincely ends. And you, you, sheriff,
[Turning to the sheriff.
Who thought to buy your marrying me with gold,
Marriage is of the soul, not of the body.
Win me you cannot, murder me you may,
And all I love, Robin, and all his men,
For I am one with him and his; but while
I breathe Heaven’s air, and Heaven looks down on me,
And smiles at my best meanings, I remain
Mistress of mine own self and mine own soul.
[Retreating, with bow drawn, to the bush.
Robin!
ROBIN.
I am here, my arrow on the cord.
He dies who dares to touch thee.
PRINCE JOHN.
Advance, advance!
What, daunted by a garrulous, arrogant girl!
Seize her, and carry her off into my castle.
SHERIFF.
Thy castle!
PRINCE JOHN.
Said I not, I love thee, man?
Risk not the love I bear thee for a girl.
SHERIFF.
Thy castle!
PRINCE JOHN.
See thou thwart me not, thou fool!
When Richard comes he is soft enough to pardon
His brother; but all those that held with him,
Except I plead for them, will hang as high
As Haman.
SHERIFF.
She is mine. I have thy promise.
PRINCE JOHN.
O, ay, she shall be thine — first mine, then thine,
For she shall spend her honeymoon with me.
SHERIFF.
Woe to that land shall own thee for her King!
PRINCE JOHN.
Advance, advance!
[They advance shouting. The KING in armour reappears from the wood.
KING RICHARD.
What shouts are these that ring along the wood?
FRIAR TUCK (coming forward).
Hail, knight, and help us. Here is one would clutch
Our pretty Marian for his paramour,
This other, willy-nilly, for his bride.
KING RICHARD.
Damsel, is this the truth?
MARIAN.
Ay, noble knight.
FRIAR TUCK.
Ay, and she will not marry till Richard come.
KING RICHARD (raising his visor).
I am here, and I am he.
PRINCE JOHN (lowering his, and whispering to his men).
It is not he — his face — tho’ very like —
No, no! we have certain news he died in prison.
Make at him, all of you, a traitor coming