You, Prince, our king to come-you that dishonour

The daughters and the wives of your own faction

Who hunger for the body, not the soulThis 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

His brother; but all those that held w him,

Except I plead for them, will hang as hi As Haman.

Sheriff. She is mine. I have th promise.

Prince John. O ay, she shall be thin -first mine, then thine,

For she shall spend her honeymoon w

me.

Sheriff. Woe to that land shall ca
thee for her king!

Prince John. Advance, advance!
[They advance shouting. The Kin

in armour reappears from i
wood.

King Richard. What shouts are thes
that ring along the wood?
Friar Tuck (coming forward). Hi
knight, and help us. Here is on
would clutch

Our pretty Marian for his paramour,
This other, willy-nilly, for his bride.
King Richard. Damsel, is this th
truth?
Marian.
Friar Tuck.

Ay, noble knigh: Ay, and she will n marry till Richard come. King Richard (raising his vizer). am here, and I am he. Prince John (lowering his, and who pering to his men). It is not he his face-tho' very likeNo, no! we have certain news he died i prison.

Make at him, all of you, a traitor comin
In Richard's name-it is not he—not be
[The men stand amaz
Friar Tuck (going back to the bust
Robin, shall we not move?
Robin.
It is the Ki
Who bears all down. Let him as

[Friar Tuck plucks the horn from him and blows. Richard dashes alone against the Sheriff and John's men, and is almost borne down, when Robin and his men rush in and rescue him.

King Richard (to Robin Hood). Thou hast saved my head at the peril of thine own.

Prince John. A horse! a horse! I must away at once;

I cannot meet his eyes. I go to Nottingham.

Sheriff, thou wilt find me at Nottingham.

[Exit. Sheriff. If anywhere, I shall find thee in hell.

What! go to slay his brother, and make

Robin. Look o'er these bonds, my liege.

[Shows the King the bonds. They talk together.

King Richard. You, my lord Abbot, you Justiciary,

[The Abbot and Justiciary kneel. I made you Abbot, you Justiciary: You both are utter traitors to your king. Justiciary. O my good liege, we did believe you dead.

Robin. Was justice dead because the
King was dead?

Sir Richard paid his monies to the Abbot.
You crost him with a quibble of your law.
King Richard. But on the faith and
honour of a king

The land is his again.

Sir Richard. The land! the land! I am crazed no longer, so I have the land. [Comes out of the litter and kneels.

God save the King!
King Richard (raising Sir Richard).
I thank thee, good Sir Richard.
Maid Marian.
Marian.

Yes, King Richard.
King Richard. Thou wouldst marry
This Sheriff when King Richard came
again

Except

Marian. The King forbad it. True, my liege.

King Richard. How if the King com

mand it

Marian.

Then, my liege, If you would marry me with a traitor

That thou wilt break our forest laws again

When we are here. Thou art overbold.
Robin.
My king,
I am but the echo of the lips of love.
King Richard. Thou hast risk'd thy
life for mine: bind these two men.

[They take the bags from the Abbot
and Justiciary, and proceed to
fetter them.

Justiciary. But will the King, then, judge us all unheard?

I can defend my cause against the traitors Who fain would make me traitor. If the King

Condemn us without trial, men will call him

An Eastern tyrant, not an English king. Abbot. Besides, my liege, these men are outlaws, thieves,

They break thy forest laws-nay, by the rood

They have done far worse-they plunder -yea, ev'n bishops,

Yea, ev'n archbishops-if thou side with these,

Beware, O King, the vengeance of the Church.

Friar Tuck (brandishing his staff). I pray you, my liege, let me execute the vengeance of the Church upon them. I have a stout crabstick here, which longs to break itself across their backs.

Robin. Keep silence, bully friar, before the King.

Friar Tuck. If a cat may look at a king, may not a friar speak to one?

King Richard. I have had a year of

prison-silence, Robin,

And heed him not-the vengeance of the Church!

Thou shalt pronounce the blessing of the Church

On those two here, Robin and Marian. Marian. He is but hedge-priest, Sir King.

King Richard. And thou their Queen. Our rebel Abbot then shall join your

hands,

Or lose all hopes of pardon from us-yet Not now, not now-with after-dinne

grace.

Nay, by the dragon of St. George, shall

Do some injustice, if you hold us here Longer from our own venison. Whe is it?

I scent it in the green leaves of the woo
Marian. First, king, a boon!
King Richard. Why surely ye 27.

pardon'd,

Even this brawler of harsh truths

trust

Half truths, good friar: ye shall with =

to court.

Then, if ye cannot breathe but woodlan air,

Thou Robin shalt be ranger of this fores And have thy fees, and break the law n

more.

Marian. It is not that, my lord. King Richard. Then what, my lady Robin. This is the gala-day of t

return.

I pray thee for the moment, strike the bonds

From these three men, and let them dire with us,

And lie with us among the flowers, an drink

Ay, whether it be gall or honey to 'emThe king's good health in ale and Ma

voisie.

King Richard. By Mahound I could strive with Beelzebub! So now which way to the dinner? Marian.

Past the bank Of foxglove, then to left by that one yea You see the darkness thro' the lighter leaf.

But look! who comes?

Enter SAILOR.

Sailor. We heard Sir Richard Lea was here with Robin.

O good Sir Richard, I am like the man In Holy Writ, who brought his taler! back;

For tho' we touch'd at many pirate ports. We ever fail'd to light upon thy son. Here is thy gold again. I am sorry for it

Sir Richard. The gold-my son-my gold, my son, the land

Here Abbot, Sheriff-no-no, Robin Hood.

Sir Richard. I had despair'd of thee -that sent me crazed.

hou art worth thy weight in all those marks of gold,

ea, and the weight of the very land itself,

Down to the inmost centre.
Robin.

Walter Lea, ive me that hand which fought for Richard there.

Embrace me, Marian, and thou, good Kate, [To Kate entering. iss and congratulate me, my good Kate. [She kisses him. Little John. Lo now! lo now! have seen thee clasp and kiss a man indeed,

For our brave Robin is a man indeed. hen by thine own account thou shouldst be mine.

Kate. Well then, who kisses first?
Little John.
Kiss both together.
[They kiss each other.

Robin. Then all is well. In this full
tide of love,

Wave heralds wave: thy match shall follow mine (to Little John). Would there were more-a hundred lovers more

To celebrate this advent of our King! Our forest games are ended, our free life, And we must hence to the King's court. I trust

We shall return to the wood. Meanwhile, farewell

Old friends, old patriarch oaks. A thousand winters

Will strip you bare as death, a thousand

Will heat our pulses quicker! How few frosts

Will chill the hearts that beat for Robin Hood!

Marian. And yet I think these oaks at dawn and even,

Or in the balmy breathings of the night, Will whisper evermore of Robin Hood. We leave but happy memories to the forest.

We dealt in the wild justice of the woods. All those poor serfs whom we have served will bless us,

All those pale mouths which we have fed will praise us

All widows we have holpen pray for us, Our Lady's blessed shrines throughout the land

Be all the richer for us. You, good

friar,

You Much, you Scarlet, you dear Little John,

Your names will cling like ivy to the wood.

And here perhaps a hundred years

away

Some hunter in day-dreams or half asleep Will hear our arrows whizzing overhead, And catch the winding of a phantom horn.