[5] "These byshoppes and these archbyshoppes Ye shall them bete and bynde,"
says Robin Hood, in an old ballad. Perhaps, however, thus is to be
taken not in a literal, but in a figurative sense from the binding
and beating of wheat: for as all rich men were Robin's harvest,
the bishops and archbishops must have been the finest and fattest
ears among them, from which Robin merely proposes to thresh
the grain when he directs them to be bound and beaten:
and as Pharaoh's fat kine were typical of fat ears of wheat,
so may fat ears of wheat, mutatis mutandis, be typical of fat kine.
"The articles of Hospitality are two:
"I. Postmen, carriers and market-folk, peasants and mechanics,
farmers and millers, shall pass through our forest dominions
without let or molestation.
"II. All other travellers through the forest shall be graciously invited
to partake of Robin's hospitality; and if they come not willingly they
shall be compelled; and the rich man shall pay well for his fare;
and the poor man shall feast scot free, and peradventure receive bounty
in proportion to his desert and necessity.
"The article of Chivalry is one:
"I. Every forester shall, to the extent of his power, aid and protect maids,
widows, and orphans, and all weak and distressed persons whomsoever:
and no woman shall be impeded or molested in any way; nor shall any company
receive harm which any woman is in.
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