Читать книгу Robin Hood / Рассказы о Робин Гуде - Группа авторов - Страница 5

The Normans were up in arms. They called for their horses and gave chase.

“Which way did the traitor go?” they asked the guard, their horses rearing to go.

The frightened guard pointed towards the forest. The knights galloped away in the direction of the forest, determined to kill Robin.

Robin heard the galloping horses and the angry shouts of the riders. He fixed a black arrow on his bow and released it. It whizzed through the trees and hit a Norman knight. He fell, but the others galloped on. Robin shot another arrow and another Norman knight fell.

Frightened by this, the rest of the Normans fled the forest. Robin rode back to Sherwood Forest.

“Now we cannot return to your castle,” grumbled Will.

“We’ll sleep on this soft green grass under the clear blue sky,” was Robin’s happy reply. “Feel the grass. It’s so fresh and cool.”

Then he called Much and said to him, “Go to the village and get Crippen, who is famous for the arrows he makes. Also, tell all Saxons who have been oppressed by Normans to come to the Gallows Oak in Sherwood Forest tomorrow night.”

Robin had chosen to live in Sherwood Forest for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was a very big forest with many clear streams. Secondly, it was so thickly wooded that a whole army could hide in its leafy shelter and never be discovered. It was an ideal place for Robin and his men.

Thirdly, Robin chose Sherwood because it stood between Prince John’s Nottingham Castle on one side, and Kenilworth Castle of Sir Guy and the Black Cannons Abbey of the Bishop on the other. Men and soldiers had to ride through Sherwood, whether on work or pleasure, every time they visited one another.

The day after Robin’s escape from Nottingham Castle, he and Will woke up while it was still dark. They walked quietly through the forest that was to become their home. It was beautiful, thought Robin. He loved the greenery, the fresh air and the freedom which he knew he would enjoy here. They watched as night gave way to dawn, and the sky turned orange. They sat down to admire the beauty of the sky and then moved on.

Suddenly, Robin stopped and pointed to a big, fat man sitting on the trunk of a tree that was lying across the stream. He held a long wooden pole.

“What a fat pole!” whispered Will.

“What a fat man!” exclaimed Robin.

Robin walked along the trunk of the tree towards the man.

“Let me pass, man.”

“I will not, not without a fight,” said the fat man.

Will, still on the bank of the stream, made a long pole from a branch and threw it to Robin. The two men fought with their poles for a long time. Suddenly the man’s pole hit Robin’s head and he fell into the water.

The man smiled and helped Robin out. Sitting on the trunk of the tree, Robin shook off the water from his ears and asked, “Who are you?”

“I am John Little. And you?”

“Once Robin of Locksley, now I’m Robin Hood.”

“Robin of Locksley? I came here to meet you.”

“Why?”

“I want to join your company, that’s why. Will you take me?”

“Yes, I will. We need persons like you, who can wield a wooden pole as well as you do. Meet Will Scarlet.”

So John Little joined Robin Hood’s band and came to be known as Little John.