CHAPTER IV

 It was a very strange life for a boy who had been accustomed to every comfort, but young Robin¹ enjoyed it, for everything seemed to be so new and fresh, and the men treated him as if he had come to them for the purpose of being made into a pet.

 

They were, of course, fierce outlaws³ and robbers, ready to turn their bows and swords against anyone; but the poor people who lived in and about the forest liked and helped them, for Robin Hood⁴'s men never did them harm, while as to young Robin, they were all eager to take him out with them and show him the wonders of the forest.

 

On the second day after his arrival in the camp, the boy asked when he was to be shown the way home, and he asked again on the third day, but only to be told each time that he should go soon.

 

On the fourth day he forgot to ask, for he was busy with big Little John, who smiled with satisfaction when young Robin chose to stay with him instead of going with some of the men into the forest after a deer.

 

Young Robin forgot to ask when he was to be shown the way home, because Little John had promised to make him a bow and arrows and to teach him how to use them. The great tall outlaw² kept his word too, and long before evening he hung a cap upon a broken bough⁵ of an oak tree and set young Robin to work about twenty yards away shooting arrows at the mark.

 

"You've got to hit that every time you shoot," said Little John; "and when you can do that at twenty yards you have got to do it at forty. Now begin."

 

For the bow was ready and made of a piece of yew⁶, and half a dozen arrows had been finished.

 

"Think you can hit it?" said Little John, after showing the boy how to string his bow and fit the notch⁷ of the arrow to the string.

 

"Oh! yes," said Robin confidently.

 

"That's right! then you will soon be able to kill a deer."

 

"But I don't want to kill a deer," said the boy. "I want to see some, but I shouldn't like to kill one."

 

"Wait till you're hungry, my fine fellow," said Little John, laughing. "But my word! you look fine this morning; just like one of us. Did Maid Marian make you that green jerkin?"

 

"Yes," said the boy.

 

"That's right; so's your cap and feather. But now then, try if you can hit the cap. Draw the arrow right to the head before you let it go. My word, what funny little fumbling⁸ fingers yours are!"

 

"Are they?" cried Robin, who thought that his teacher's hands were the biggest he had ever seen.

 

"Like babies' fingers," said Little John, smiling down at the boy as if very much amused. "Now then, draw right to the head."

 

"I can't," said the boy; "it's so hard."

 

"That's because you are not used to it, little one. Try again. Hold tight, and pull hard. Steadily⁹. That's the way. Now loose it and let it go."

 

Young Robin did as he was told, and away went the arrow down between the trees, to fall with its feathered wings just showing above the fallen leaves.

 

"That didn't hit the cap," said Little John. "Never went near."

 

Young Robin shook his head.

 

"Did you look at the cap when you loosed the arrow?"

 

"No," said Robin; "I shut my eyes."

 

"Try again then, and keep them open."

 

Robin tried and tried again till he had sent off all six of his shafts¹⁰, and then he stood and looked up at Little John, and Little John looked down at him.

 

"You couldn't kill a deer for dinner to-day," said the big fellow.

 

"No," said young Robin; "it's so hard. Could you have hit it?"

 

"I think I could if I stood ten times as far away," said the great fellow quietly.

 

"Oh, do try, please," cried Robin.

 

"Very well; only let's pick up your arrows first, or we may lose some of them. Always pick up your arrows while they are fresh—I mean, while you can remember where they are."

 

The shafts were picked up, mostly by Little John, whose eyes were very sharp at seeing where the little arrows lay; and then they walked back, and Robin had to run by his big companion's side, for he began to stride away, counting as he went, till he had taken two hundred steps from the tree all along one of the alleys¹² of the forest, when he stopped short.

 

"Now then, my little bowman," he said; "think I can hit the mark now?"

 

"No," said Robin decisively; "we're too far away. I can hardly see the cap."

 

"Well, let's try," said Little John, stringing his bow, and then carefully selecting an arrow from the quiver at his back. This arrow he drew two or three times through his hand so as to smooth the feathering and make the web lie straight, before fitting the notch to the string.

 

"So you think it's too far?" said Little John.

 

"Yes, ever so much."

 

"Ah, well, we'll try," said the big fellow coolly. "Where-about shall I hit the cap—in the middle?"

 

[Illustration: "Ah, well, we'll try," said Little John.

"Whereabouts shall I hit the cap?"]

 

"No," said Robin; "just at the top of the brim."

 

"Very well," said the big fellow, standing¹³ up very straight and rather sidewise, as he held his bow at his left arm's length, slowly drew the arrow to the head, and then as Robin gazed in the direction of the indistinctly seen hat hanging on the tree-trunk—

 

Twang!

 

The arrow had been loosed, and the bow had given forth¹⁴ a strange deep musical sound.

 

Robin looked sharply at Little John, and the big outlaw looked down at him.

 

"Where did that arrow go?" said the boy.

 

"Let's see," said Little John.

 

"I don't think we shall ever find it again," continued Robin.

 

They walked back, the outlaw very slowly, and Robin quite fast so as to keep up with him.

 

"Perhaps not," said Little John, "but I don't often lose my arrows."

 

"This one has gone right through the ferns," thought Robin, and he felt glad with the thought of the big fellow having missed the mark, but as they walked nearer, he kept his eyes fixed¹⁵ upon the great trunk dimly seen in the shade, being tripped up twice by the bracken fronds¹⁶; but he saved himself from a fall and watched the tree trunk still, while the hat hanging on the old bough grew plainer, just as it had been before.

 

They had walked back nearly three parts of the way when Robin suddenly saw something which made him start, for there was a tiny bit of something white above something dark, and those marks were not on the brim of the hat before.

 

The next minute Robin's eyes began to open wider, for he knew that he was looking at the feathered end of the arrow, pointing straight at him; and directly after, as he stepped a little on one side to avoid an ant-hill, he could see the whole of the arrow except the point, which had passed through the brim of the hat.

 

"Why, you hit it!" he cried excitedly.

 

"Well, that's what I tried to do," said Little John.

 

"But you hit it just in the place I said."

 

"Yes, you told me to," said Little John, smiling. "That's how you must learn to shoot when you grow up to be a man."

 

Young Robin said nothing, but stood rubbing one ear very gently, and staring at the hat.

 

"Well," said Little John, smiling down at his companion, "what are you thinking about?"

 

"I was thinking that it is very wonderful for you to stand so far off and shoot like that."

 

"Were you, now?" said Little John. "Well, it is not wonderful at all. If you keep on trying for years you will be able to do it quite as well. I'll teach you. Shall I?"

 

"I should like you to," said Robin, shaking his head; "but I can't stop here. I must go home to my father."

 

"Oh! must you?" said Little John. "Go home to your father and mother, eh?"

 

Robin shook his head.

 

"No," he said; "my mother's dead, and I live sometimes with father and sometimes with aunt. I am going home to father now, as soon as you show me the way. When are you going to show me?"

 

Little John screwed up his face till it was full of wrinkles.

"Ah," he said, "I don't know. You must ask the captain."

 

"Who is the captain?" said the boy.

 

"Eh? Why, Robin Hood, of course. But I wouldn't ask him just yet."

 

"Why not?"

 

"Eh? Why not? Because it might be awkward. You see, it's a long way, and you couldn't go by yourself."

 

"Well, you could show me," said young Robin. "You would, wouldn't you?"

 

"I would if I could," said Little John; "but I'm afraid I couldn't."

 

"Oh! you could, I'm sure," said young Robin. "You're so big."

 

"Oh! yes, I'm big enough," said Little John, laughing; "but if I were to take you home your father would not let me come back again; and besides, the captain would not let me go for fear that I should be killed."

 

"Killed?" said the boy, staring at his big companion.

 

"Why, who would kill you?"

 

"Your father, perhaps."

 

"What, for being kind to me?"

 

"I can't explain all these things to you, mite¹⁷. Here's someone coming. Let's ask him. Hi! Captain! Young squire¹⁸ wants me to take him home."

 

Robin Hood, who had just caught sight of the pair and come up, smiled and shook his head.

 

"Not yet, little one," he said. "I can't spare big Little John.

Why, aren't you happy here in the merry greenwood under the trees?

I thought you liked us."

 

"So I do," said young Robin, "and I should like to stay ever so long and watch the deer and the birds, and learn to shoot with my bow and arrows."

 

"That's right. Well said, little one," cried Robin Hood, patting the boy on the head.

 

"But I'm afraid that my father will be very cross if I don't try to go home."

 

"Then try and make yourself happy, my boy," said Robin Hood, "for you have tried hard to go home, and you cannot go."

 

"Why?" said young Robin.

 

"For a dozen reasons," said the outlaw, smiling. "Here are some: you could not find your way; you would starve to death in the forest; you might meet people who would behave worse to you than the young swineherd, or encounter wild beasts; then, biggest reason of all: I will not let you go."

 

Young Robin was silent for a moment or two, and then he said quickly:

 

"You might tell Little John to take me home. My father would be so glad to see him."

 

Robin Hood and the big fellow just named looked at one another and laughed.

 

"Yes," said Robin Hood, patting the boy on the shoulder, "now that's just it. Your father, the Sheriff, would be so glad to see Little John that he would keep him altogether; and I can't spare him."

 

"I don't think my father would be so unkind," said Robin.

 

"But I am sure he would, little man," said the outlaw. "He'd be so glad to get him that he would spoil him. Eh, John? What do you think?"

 

"Ay, that he would," said Little John, shaking his head. "He'd be sure to spoil me. He'd cut me shorter, perhaps, or else hang me up for an ornament¹⁹. No, my little man, I couldn't take you home."

 

"There," said the outlaw, smiling; "you must wait, my boy. Try and be contented²⁰ as you are. Maid Marian's very kind to you, is she not?"

 

"Oh! yes," cried the boy, with his face lighting²¹ up, "and that's why I don't want to go."

 

"Hullo!" growled²² Little John. "Why, you said just now that you did want to go!" "Did I?" said the boy thoughtfully.

 

"To be sure you did. What do you mean."

 

"I mean," said the boy, looking wistfully from one to the other, "that I feel as if I ought to go home, but I think I should like to stay."

 

"Hurrah²³!" cried Little John, taking off and waving his hat. "Hear that, captain? You've got another to add to your merry men. Young Robin and I make a capital pair. Come along, youngster, and let's practise shooting at the mark, and then we'll make enough arrows to fill your quiver."

 

Five minutes later young Robin was standing as he had been placed by his big companion, who sat down and watched him while he sturdily drew the notch of his arrow right to his ear, and then loosed the whizzing shaft¹¹ to go flying away through the woodland shade, while Little John shouted as gleefully as some big boy.

 

"Hurrah! Well done, little one! There it is, sticking in yonder tree."

1 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

2 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

3 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

4 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

5 bough   

n.大树枝，主枝

参考例句：

• I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough.我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
• Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。

6 yew   

n.紫杉属树木

参考例句：

• The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。
• All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。

7 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

8 fumbling   

n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理

参考例句：

• If he actually managed to the ball instead of fumbling it with an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。
• If he actually managed to secure the ball instead of fumbling it awkwardly an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-50提议有时。他从off-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。

9 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

10 shafts   

n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等）

参考例句：

• He deliberately jerked the shafts to rock him a bit. 他故意的上下颠动车把，摇这个老猴子几下。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。 来自辞典例句

11 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

12 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

16 fronds   

n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You can pleat palm fronds to make huts, umbrellas and baskets. 人们可以把棕榈叶折叠起来盖棚屋，制伞，编篮子。 来自百科语句
• When these breezes reached the platform the palm-fronds would whisper. 微风吹到平台时，棕榈叶片发出簌簌的低吟。 来自辞典例句

17 mite   

n.极小的东西；小铜币

参考例句：

• The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
• He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。

18 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

19 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

20 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

21 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

22 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。