King John and the Abbot

by James Baldwin

　　

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I. THE THREE QUESTIONS.There was once a king of England whose name was John. He was a badking; for he was harsh and cruel to his people, and so long as hecould have his own way, he did not care what became of other folks. Hewas the worst king that England ever had.Now, there was in the town of Can´ter-bur-y a rich old abbot who livedin grand style in a great house called the Abbey. Every day a hundrednoble men sat down with him to dine; and fifty brave knights, in finevelvet coats and gold chains, waited upon him at his table.When King John heard of the way in which the abbot lived, he made uphis mind to put a stop to it. So he sent for the old man to come andsee him."How now, my good abbot?" he said. "I hear that you keep a far betterhouse than I. How dare you do such a thing? Don't you know that no manin the land ought to live better than the king? And I tell you that noman shall.""O king!" said the abbot, "I beg to say that I am spending nothing butwhat is my own. I hope that you will not think ill of me for makingthings pleasant for my friends and the brave knights who are with me.""Think ill of you?" said the king. "How can I help but think ill ofyou? All that there is in this broad land is mine by right; and how doyou dare to put me to shame by living in grander style than I? Onewould think that you were trying to be king in my place.""Oh, do not say so!" said the abbot "For I"--"Not another word!" cried the king. "Your fault is plain, and unlessyou can answer me three questions, your head shall be cut off, and allyour riches shall be mine.""I will try to answer them, O king!" said the abbot."Well, then," said King John, "as I sit here with my crown of gold onmy head, you must tell me to within a day just how long I shall live.Sec-ond-ly, you must tell me how soon I shall ride round the wholeworld; and lastly, you shall tell me what I think.""O king!" said the abbot, "these are deep, hard questions, and Icannot answer them just now. But if you will give me two weeks tothink about them, I will do the best that I can.""Two weeks you shall have," said the king; "but if then you fail toanswer me, you shall lose your head, and all your lands shall bemine."The abbot went away very sad and in great fear. He first rode toOxford. Here was a great school, called a u-ni-ver´si-ty, and hewanted to see if any of the wise pro-fess-ors could help him. But theyshook their heads, and said that there was nothing about King John inany of their books.Then the abbot rode down to Cam-bridge, where there was anotheru-ni-ver-si-ty. But not one of the teachers in that great school couldhelp him.At last, sad and sor-row-ful, he rode toward home to bid his friendsand his brave knights good-by. For now he had not a week to live.II. THE THREE ANSWERS.As the abbot was riding up the lane which led to his grand house, hemet his shep-herd going to the fields."Welcome home, good master!" cried the shepherd. "What news do youbring us from great King John?""Sad news, sad news," said the abbot; and then he told him all thathad happened."Cheer up, cheer up, good master," said the shepherd. "Have you neveryet heard that a fool may teach a wise man wit? I think I can help youout of your trouble.""You help me!" cried the abbot "How? how?""Well," answered the shepherd, "you know that everybody says that Ilook just like you, and that I have some-times been mis-tak-en foryou. So, lend me your servants and your horse and your gown, and Iwill go up to London and see the king. If nothing else can be done, Ican at least die in your place.""My good shepherd," said the abbot, "you are very, very kind; and Ihave a mind to let you try your plan. But if the worst comes to theworst, you shall not die for me. I will die for myself."So the shepherd got ready to go at once. He dressed himself withgreat care. Over his shepherd's coat he threw the abbot's long gown,and he bor-rowed the abbot's cap and golden staff. When all was ready,no one in the world would have thought that he was not the great manhimself. Then he mounted his horse, and with a great train of servantsset out for London.Of course the king did not know him."Welcome, Sir Abbot!" he said. "It is a good thing that you have comeback. But, prompt as you are, if you fail to answer my threequestions, you shall lose your head.""I am ready to answer them, O king!" said the shepherd."Indeed, indeed!" said the king, and he laughed to himself. "Well,then, answer my first question: How long shall I live? Come, you musttell me to the very day.""You shall live," said the shepherd, "until the day that you die, andnot one day longer. And you shall die when you take your last breath,and not one moment before."The king laughed."You are witty, I see," he said. "But we will let that pass, and saythat your answer is right. And now tell me how soon I may ride roundthe world.""You must rise with the sun," said the shepherd, "and you must ridewith the sun until it rises again the next morning. As soon as you dothat, you will find that you have ridden round the world intwenty-four hours."The king laughed again. "Indeed," he said, "I did not think that itcould be done so soon. You are not only witty, but you are wise, andwe will let this answer pass. And now comes my third and lastquestion: What do I think?""That is an easy question," said the shepherd. "You think that I amthe Abbot of Can-ter-bur-y. But, to tell you the truth, I am only hispoor shepherd, and I have come to beg your pardon for him and for me."And with that, he threw off his long gown.The king laughed loud and long."A merry fellow you are," said he, "and you shall be the Abbot ofCanterbury in your master's place.""O king! that cannot be," said the shepherd; "for I can neither readnor write.""Very well, then," said the king, "I will give you something else topay you for this merry joke. I will give you four pieces of silverevery week as long as you live. And when you get home, you may tellthe old abbot that you have brought him a free pardon from KingJohn."

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