THE OUTLAWED ARCHERS.

Many years ago there dwelt in the forest of Inglewood, in the North country, three yeomen, who had been outlawed¹ for killing² the king's deer. They were all famous archers³, and defying every attempt to arrest them, they lived a free life in the green wood. But finally growing tired of this dangerous life, they went to the king to sue for pardon. It happened that the king's archers were exhibiting their skill by shooting at marks, which none of them missed. But one of the outlawed archers, named Cloudesly, made light of their skill, and told the king that he could do better than any of his archers had done. "To prove the truth of my claim," he said, "I will take my son, who is only seven years old and is dear to me, and I will tie him to a stake, and lay an apple on his head, and go six score paces from him, and with a broad arrow I will cleave⁴ the apple in two."

"Now listen," said the king, "and do as you say; but if you touch his head, or his dress, you shall be hanged all three."

"I will not go back on my word," said Cloudesly; and driving a stake into the ground, he bound thereto his little son, and placed an apple on his head. All being ready he bent⁵ his bow, the arrow flew from the string, the apple was cleft⁶ in twain, and the child was unhurt. The king thereupon pardoned the three outlaws⁷ and received them into his service.

1 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

4 cleave   

v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋

参考例句：

• It examines how the decision to quit gold or to cleave to it affected trade policies.论文分析了放弃或坚持金本位是如何影响贸易政策的。
• Those who cleave to the latter view include many conservative American politicians.坚持后一种观点的大多是美国的保守派政客。

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

7 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。