So the knight who had been so sorrowful departed with all his troubles cleared away. Sorely disappointed was the prior of Emmet for he had made sure by cheating and craft that the poor knight who had fallen into his clutches could not get the money to redeem his lands anywhere, and he counted them already in his grasp. But he had to give them up; and that is a story too, but we have not room to tell it here.
[ROBIN HOOD AND THE KING]
"I wish I could see Robin Hood," said King Richard. "I wish I could see him and his men shoot and wrestle and go through all the feats in which they have such wondrous skill. But if they heard that the king was coming, they would think it was only to arrest them, and they would flee deep into the forest and I should never get a glimpse of them."
King Richard spoke kindly, for he was a king who loved all manly sports and those who excelled in them.
"I would give a hundred pounds to see Robin Hood and his men in the greenwood," he said.
"I'll tell you how you can see him without a doubt," spoke up one of the king's trusty companions with a laugh. "Put on the robes of a fat abbot and ride through Sherwood Forest with the hundred pounds in your pouch, and you will be sure to see him and be feasted by him."
"I'll do it," cried bluff King Richard, slapping his knee. "It will be a huge joke."
So he and seven of his followers dressed themselves as an abbot and seven black friars and rode out along the highway toward Sherwood Forest. And Robin Hood and his men took them and brought them to the Trystal Tree, and there they searched them and took the pouch of gold. But they gave half the gold back to the king, for it was not their custom to leave any man in need. They were pleased with these travelers because they did not resist nor rail at them.
"Now we shall give you a feast that will be worth fifty pounds," said Robin Hood.