'Stand you still, master,' quoth Little John,
'Under this trusty tree,
And I will go to yond wight yeoman,
To know his meaning truly.'

9.
'Ah, John, by me thou sets no store,
And that's a ferly thing;
How oft send I my men before,
And tarry myself behind?

10.
'It is no cunning a knave to ken,
And a man but hear him speak;
And it were not for bursting of my bow,
John, I would thy head break.'

11.
But often words they breeden bale;
That parted Robin and John;
John is gone to Barnesdale,
The gates he knows each one.

12.
And when he came to Barnesdale,
Great heaviness there he had;
He found two of his fellows
Were slain both in a slade,

13.
And Scarlet afoot flying was,
Over stocks and stone,
For the sheriff with seven score men
Fast after him is gone.

14.
'Yet one shot I'll shoot,' says Little John,
'With Christ his might and main;
I'll make yond fellow that flies so fast
To be both glad and fain.'

15.
John bent up a good yew bow,
And fettled him to shoot;
The bow was made of a tender bough,
And fell down to his foot.

16.
'Woe worth thee, wicked wood,' said Little John,
'That e'er thou grew on a tree!
For this day thou art my bale,
My boot when thou should be.'

17.
This shot it was but loosely shot,
The arrow flew in vain,
And it met one of the sheriff's men;
Good William a Trent was slain.

18.
It had been better for William a Trent
To hang upon a gallow
Than for to lie in the greenwood,
There slain with an arrow.

19.
And it is said, when men be met,
Six can do more than three:
And they have ta'en Little John,
And bound him fast to a tree.

20.
'Thou shalt be drawn by dale and down,
And hanged high on a hill.'
'But thou may fail,' quoth Little John,
'If it be Christ's own will.'

21.
Let us leave talking of Little John,
For he is bound fast to a tree,
And talk of Guy and Robin Hood
In the greenwood where they be;

22.
How these two yeomen together they met,
Under the leaves of lyne,
To see what merchandise they made
Even at that same time.

23.
'Good morrow, good fellow,' quoth Sir Guy;
'Good morrow, good fellow,' quoth he;
'Methinks by this bow thou bears in thy hand,
A good archer thou seems to be.

24.
'I am wilful of my way,' q