Then home rode the Abbot of comfort so cold,
And he met his shepherd a going to fold:
"How now, my lord Abbot, you are welcome home;
What news do you bring us from good King John?"
"Sad news, sad news, shepherd, I must give;
That I have but three days more to live:
For if I do not answer him questions three,
My head will be smitten from my body.
"The first is to tell him there in that stead
With his crown of gold so fair on his head,