MAR. Come in, good woman. [Exeunt.
FRIAR. Master, look here,
And God give ear,
So mote I the[209],
To her and me,
If ever we,
Robin, to thee,
That art so free.
Mean treachery.
ROB. H. On, pedlar, to thy pack;
If thou love me, my love thou shalt not lack.
FRIAR. Master, in brief,
There is a thief,
That seeks your grief.
God send relief
To you in need.
For a foul deed,
If not with speed
You take good heed,
There is decreed.
In yonder brake
There lies a snake,
That means to take
Out of this wood
The yeoman good,
Call'd Robin Hood.
ROB. H. Pedlar, I prythee be more plain.
What brake? what snake? what trap? what train?
FRIAR. Robin, I am a holy friar,
Sent by the Prior,
Who did me hire,
For to conspire
Thy endless woe
And overthrow:
But thou shalt know,
I am the man
Whom Little John
From Nottingham
Desir'd to be
A clerk to thee;
For he to me
Said thou wert free,
And I did see
Thy honesty,
From gallow-tree
When thou didst free
Scathlock and Scarlet certainly[210].
ROB. H. Why, then, it seems that thou art Friar Tuck.
FRIAR. Master, I am.
ROB. H. I pray thee, Friar, say,
What treachery is meant to me this day?
FRIAR. First wind your horn; then draw your sword.
[ROBIN HOOD winds his horn.
For I have given a friar's word,
To take your body prisoner,
And yield you to Sir Doncaster,
The envious priest of Hothersfield,
Whose power your bushy wood doth shield;
But I will die ere you shall yield.