Gamelyn Goes to the Woods
Thereupon Otho bade him go. “God shield thee from shame! Come when thou seest it is the right time, and save us both from blame and reproach.” So Gamelyn went gaily to the merry greenwood, and found his company of outlaws; and so much had they to tell of their work in his absence, and so much had he to relate of his adventures, that time slipped by, and he soon fell again into his former mode of life, and his custom of robbing none but Churchmen, fat abbots and priors, monks and canons, so that all others spoke good of him, and called him the “courteous outlaw.”
The Term Expires
Gamelyn stood one day looking out over the woods and fields, and it suddenly came to his mind with a pang of self-reproach that he had forgotten his promise to Otho, and the day of the assize was very near. He called his young men (for he had learned not to trust himself to the honour or loyalty of his brother the sheriff), and bade them prepare to accompany him to the place of assize, sending Adam on as a scout to learn tidings. Adam returned in great haste, bringing sad news. The judge was in his place, a jury empanelled to condemn Gamelyn to death, bribed thereto by the wicked sheriff, and Otho was fettered in the gaol in place of his brother. The news enraged Gamelyn, but Adam Spencer was even more infuriated; he would gladly have held the doors of the moot-hall and slain every person inside except Otho; but his master’s sense of justice was too strong for that. “Adam,” he said, “we will not do so, but will slay the guilty and let the innocent escape. I myself will have some conversation with the justice in the hall; and meanwhile do ye, my men, hold the doors fast. I will make myself justice to-day, and thou, Adam, shalt be my clerk. We will give sentence this day, and God speed our new work!” All his men applauded this speech and promised him obedience, and the troop of outlaws hastened to surround the hall.
Gamelyn in the Court
Once again Gamelyn strode into the moot-hall in the midst of his enemies, and was recognised by all. He released Otho, who said gently: “Brother, thou hast nearly overstayed the time; the sentence has been given against me that I shall be hanged.”
“Brother,” said Gamelyn, “this day shall thy foes and mine be hanged: the sheriff, the justice, and the wicked jurors.” Then Gamelyn turned to the judge, who sat as if paralysed in his seat of judgment, and said:
“‘Come from the seat of justice: all too oft
Hast thou polluted law’s clear stream with wrong;
Too oft hast taken reward against the poor;
Too oft hast lent thine aid to villainy,
And given judgment ’gainst the innocent.
Come down and meet thine own meed at the bar,
While I, in thy place, give more rightful doom
And see that justice dwells in law for once.’”
