One day Robin was walking through the forest when he met a butcher.
This butcher was riding gaily along to the market at Nottingham. He was dressed in a blue linen coat, with leather belt. On either side of his strong gray pony hung a basket full of meat.
In these days as there were no trains, everything had to be sent by road. The roads were so bad that even carts could not go along them very much, for the wheels stuck in the mud. Everything was carried on horseback, in sacks or baskets called panniers.
The butcher rode gaily along, whistling as he went. Suddenly Robin stepped from under the trees and stopped him.
"What have you there, my man?" he asked.
"Butcher's meat," replied the man. "Fine prime beef and mutton for Nottingham market. Do you want to buy some?"
"Yes, I do," said Robin. "I'll buy it all and your pony too. How much do you want for it? I should like to go to Nottingham and see what kind of a butcher I will make:"
So the butcher sold his pony and all his meat to Robin. Then Robin changed clothes with him. He put on the butcher's blue clothes and leather belt, and the butcher went off in Robin's suit of Lincoln green, feeling very grand indeed.
Then Robin mounted his pony and off he went to Nottingham to sell his meat at the market.
When he arrived he found the whole town in a bustle. In those days there were very few shops, so every one used to go to market to buy and sell. The country people brought butter and eggs and honey to sell. With the money they got they bought platters and mugs, pots and pans, or whatever they wanted, and took it back to the country with them.