Week 12 Story: Robin Hood and the Two Priests
Robin Hood was a clever young man who lived among the Forresters. Together, they stripped the rich of their food, drink, and gold when they passed through their woods, often while disguised. Rather than keep all these riches for themselves, however, Robin Hood and the Forresters would give much of it back to the kingdom's poor people.
One day, Robin Hood heard two priests riding by, drunk on their ale, and singing loudly. Robin Hood despised such men, for he knew many of them to be selfish and immoral beings. He quickly devised a plan to rob the priests and told his most trusted companion, Little John, to hide behind the trees with thirty men until he called for their help.
Then, disguised as a shepherd, Robin Hood walked out in front of the priests, carrying a freshly-killed doe on his back.
Immediately, the priests exclaimed, "How dare you shoot one of the king's deer! Who are you, you wretched man, and to what ends do you intend to justify your crime by?"
Robin Hood laughed raucously and replied, "My dear men of the cloth, I am but a lowly shepherd. Should I not be pardoned once for collecting food I so desperately need? Have you any spare food or gold for me?"
"Absolutely not," shrieked the larger of the men, "We will take you before the king himself to be tried."
Robin Hood feigned horror begged for his life, to which the priests replied, "No pardon, no pardon, no pardon I thee owe."
Suddenly, Little John and his men lept out from behind their trees, drawing swords, knives, and bows on the priests who yelled in horror.
"Give us your treasures immediately, or I shall take YOU before the king for greedily stealing your patrons' fortunes," said Robin Hood calmly.
The priests pleaded for their lives while relieving themselves of piles of gold, as well as food and ale.
"No pardon, no pardon, no pardon I thee owe," replied Robin Hood. "I will, however, let you go if you promise to do three things henceforth: 1) never lie again, 2) never take advantage of maidens or sleep with men's wives again, and 3) swear to be generous to people, for that is the duty of men of your station."
The men hastily accepted, happy to get away with their lives intact, and Robin Hood smiled to himself, knowing he may have just made these priests better men.
Author's Note: I adapted this story from Bishop of Hereford from the Robin Hood collection. The plot is very similar to the original, with the exception of more background on Robin Hood being provided in mine to aid the reader. The biggest change I made was to use more modern vernacular and syntax because I found the original story super difficult to read and understand.
Bibliography: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job writing and original tale and making git your own. Most people already know the tale of Robin Hood but you did an excellent job of making it your own. I like how you took a single event and made it into a story. The dialogue you included really made me feel as if I were there witnessing these events. The way your words flowed made it enjoyable and easy to read. Overall I think you did an awesome job!
Katie, I liked reading your story. I've been a big fan of Robin Hood ever since I was a kid and watched the animated Disney movie! Your retelling is simple but effective. I think it was great that you updated the language. I think the fact that Robin Hood has stuck around in popular imagination so long is because there's something universally appealing about him, but stuffy, outdated language can distract from that. You did a great job making the story easy to read and understand - I hope you had fun writing it!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! I think you did a wonderful job taking an old story and modernizing it with the current use of certain words instead of older words! I always like reading a good Robin Hood story, so I think you did a wonderful job rewriting this. Robin Hood is known for being a ruthless thief toward those who deserve to be robbed, and in this case, the priests totally deserved what Robin Hood did to them. Hopefully through this experience, the priests can now be better people!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie. Your story was amazing! I loved reading it. It was so intriguing. You did an amazing job at modernizing this story. It was told in such a creative way and I truly loved it. I think it was organized and well written. It was also grammatically correct which is extremely important. I loved that you updated the language as well so it was easier to understand for your readers. Great job and I hope you have a great rest of your semester.
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