"
"Now, out upon thee," cried the tall lean Brother in a harsh voice,
"now, out upon thee, that thou shouldst so disgrace thy cloth by this
talk and bearing."
"Marry, come up!" quoth Little John. "Disgrace, sayest thou? Methinks
it is more disgrace for one of our garb to wring hard-earned farthings
out of the gripe of poor lean peasants. It is not so, brother?"
At this the Tinker and the Peddler and the Beggar nudged one another,
and all grinned, and the friars scowled blackly at Little John; but they
could think of nothing further to say, so they turned to their horses.
Then Little John arose of a sudden from the bench where he sat, and ran
to where the brothers of Fountain Abbey were mounting. Quoth he, "Let me
hold your horses' bridles for you. Truly, your words have smitten my
sinful heart, so that I will abide no longer in this den of evil, but
will go forward with you. No vile temptation, I wot, will fall upon me
in such holy company."
"Nay, fellow," said the lean Brother harshly, for he saw that Little
John made sport of them, "we want none of thy company, so get thee
gone.
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