on his way, till he reached a
hermitage. And he lived there as a hermit for the rest of his life.

And the barge was rowed to a vale where the King was healed of his
wound.

And some say that now he is dead, but others say that King Arthur will
come again, and clear the country of its foes.

ROBIN HOOD

ADAPTED BY H.E. MARSHALL

I

HOW ROBIN HOOD CAME TO LIVE IN THE GREEN WOOD

Very many years ago there ruled over England a king, who was called
Richard Coeur de Lion. Coeur de Lion is French and means lion-hearted.
It seems strange that an English king should have a French name. But
more than a hundred years before this king reigned, a French duke
named William came to England, defeated the English in a great battle,
and declared himself king of all that southern part of Britain called
England.

He brought with him a great many Frenchmen, or Normans, as they were
called from the name of the part of France over which this duke ruled.
These Normans were all poor though they were very proud and haughty.
They came with Duke William to help him to fight because he promised
to give them money and lands as a reward. Now Duke William had not a
great deal of money nor many lands of his own. So when he had beaten
the English, or Saxons, as they were called in those days, he stole
lands and houses, money and cattle from the Saxon nobles and gave them
to the Normans. The Saxon nobles themselves had very often to become
the servants of these proud Normans. Thus it came about that two races
lived in England, each speaking their own language, and each hating
the other.

This state of things lasted for a very long time. Even when Richard
became king, more than a hundred years after the coming of Duke
William, there was still a great deal of hatred between the two races.

Richard Coeur de Lion, as his name tells you, was a brave and noble
man. He loved danger; he loved brave men and noble deeds. He hated all
mean and cruel acts, and the cowards who did them. He was ever ready
to help the weak against the strong, and had he stayed in England
after he became king he might have done much good. He might have
taught the proud Norman nobles that true nobility rests in being kind
and gentle to those less strong and less fortunate than ourselves, and
not in fierceness and cruelty.

Yet Richard himself was neither meek nor gentle. He was indeed very
fierce and terrible in battle. He loved to fight with people who wer