Yet, nevertheless, the truth to express,
Still Little John they did him call."
III
ROBIN HOOD AND THE BUTCHER
The Sheriff of Nottingham hated Robin and would have been very glad if any one had killed him.
The Sheriff was a very unkind man. He treated the poor Saxons very badly. He often took away all their money, and their houses and left them to starve. Sometimes, for a very little fault, he would cut off their ears or fingers. The poor people used to go into the wood, and Robin would give them food and money. Sometimes they went home again, but very often they stayed with him, and became his men.
The Sheriff knew this, so he hated Robin all the more, and he was never so happy as when he had caught one of Robin's men and locked him up in prison.
But try how he might, he could not catch Robin. All the same Robin used to go to Nottingham very often, but he was always so well disguised that the Sheriff never knew him. So he always escaped.
The Sheriff was too much afraid of him to go into the forest to try to take him. He knew his men were no match for Robin's. Robin's men served him and fought for him because they loved him. The Sheriff's men only served him because they feared him.