92 pages 3 hours read

Howard Pyle

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1883

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Part 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 6, Chapter 1 Summary: “Little John Turns Barefoot Friar”

One spring day, Robin, Little John, and Friar Tuck decide to don disguises and roam about looking for adventure. Little John disguises himself as a friar (although the robe is too short for him), and Robin hopes to exchange clothes with a beggar along the way.

Little John meets a group of pretty young women carrying baskets of eggs to market; he helps them carry the eggs and shares a drink with them before departing. At an inn, he meets a pair of self-important friars, one fat and the other thin. He decides to have some fun with them and runs with them while they ride on their donkeys, embarrassing them in front of the people they pass. When Little John asks the friars for money to buy a loaf of bread, they say that have none. Tongue-in-cheek, Little John offers a prayer to St. Dunstan to provide money for the friars. When he reaches into their pouches, he finds 10 shillings apiece. He takes nine shillings from each friar and leaves them one shilling apiece, claiming that this was his due from St. Dunstan.