A Dream of John Ball; and, A King's Lesson
Page 7
CHAPTER VII
MORE WORDS AT THE CROSS
I got into my old place again on the steps of the cross, Will Greenbeside me, and above me John Ball and Jack Straw again. The moon washalf-way up the heavens now, and the short summer night had begun, calmand fragrant, with just so much noise outside our quiet circle as madeone feel the world alive and happy.
We waited silently until we had heard John Ball and the story of whatwas to do; and presently he began to speak.
"Good people, it is begun, but not ended. Which of you is hardy enoughto wend the road to London to-morrow?"
"All! All!" they shouted.
"Yea," said he, "even so I deemed of you. Yet forsooth hearken!London is a great and grievous city; and mayhappen when ye come thitherit shall seem to you overgreat to deal with, when ye remember thelittle townships and the cots ye came from.
"Moreover, when ye dwell here in Kent ye think forsooth of yourbrethren in Essex or Suffolk, and there belike an end. But from Londonye may have an inkling of all the world, and over-burdensome maybeshall that seem to you, a few and a feeble people.
"Nevertheless I say to you, remember the Fellowship, in the hope ofwhich ye have this day conquered; and when ye come to London be wiseand wary; and that is as much as to say, be bold and hardy; for inthese days are ye building a house which shall not be overthrown, andthe world shall not be too great or too little to hold it: for indeedit shall be the world itself, set free from evil-doers for friends todwell in."
He ceased awhile, but they hearkened still, as if something more wascoming. Then he said:
"To-morrow we shall take the road for Rochester; and most like it werewell to see what Sir John Newton in the castle may say to us: for theman is no ill man, and hath a tongue well-shapen for words; and it werewell that we had him out of the castle and away with us, and that weput a word in his mouth to say to the King. And wot ye well, goodfellows, that by then we come to Rochester we shall be a goodlycompany, and ere we come to Blackheath a very great company; and atLondon Bridge who shall stay our host?
"Therefore there is nought that can undo us except our own selves andour hearkening to soft words from those who would slay us. They shallbid us go home and abide peacefully with our wives and children whilethey, the lords and councillors and lawyers, imagine counsel and remedyfor us; and even so shall our own folly bid us; and if we hearkenthereto we are undone indeed; for they shall fall upon our peace withwar, and our wives and children they shall take from us, and some of usthey shall hang, and some they shall scourge, and the others shall betheir yoke-beasts--yea, and worse, for they shall lack meat more.
"To fools hearken not, whether they be yourselves or your foemen, foreither shall lead you astray.
"With the lords parley not, for ye know already what they would say toyou, and that is, 'Churl, let me bridle thee and saddle thee, and eatthy livelihood that thou winnest, and call thee hard names because Ieat thee up; and for thee, speak not and do not, save as I bid thee.'
"All that is the end of their parleying.
"Therefore be ye bold, and again bold, and thrice bold! Grip the bow,handle the staff, draw the sword, and set on in the name of theFellowship!"
He ended amid loud shouts; but straight-way answering shouts wereheard, and a great noise of the winding of horns, and I misdoubted anew onslaught; and some of those in the throng began to string theirbows and handle their bills; but Will Green pulled me by the sleeve andsaid:
"Friends are these by the winding of their horns; thou art quit forthis night, old lad." And then Jack Straw cried out from the cross:"Fair and softly, my masters! These be men of our Fellowship, and arefor your guests this night; they are from the bents this side ofMedway, and are with us here because of the pilgrimage road, and thatis the best in these parts, and so the shortest to Rochester. Anddoubt ye nothing of our being taken unawares this night; for I havebidden and sent out watchers of the ways, and neither a man's son nor amare's son may come in on us without espial. Now make we our friendswelcome. Forsooth, I looked for them an hour later; and had they comean hour earlier yet, some heads would now lie on the cold grass whichshall lie on a feather bed to-night. But let be, since all is well!
"Now get we home to our houses, and eat and drink and slumber thisnight, if never once again, amid the multitude of friends and fellows;and yet soberly and without riot, since so much work is to hand.Moreover the priest saith, bear ye the dead men, both friends and foes,into the chancel of the church, and there this night he will wake them:but after to-morrow let the dead abide to bury their dead!"
Therewith he leapt down from the cross, and Will and I bestirredourselves and mingled with the new-comers. They were some threehundred strong, clad and armed in all ways like the people of ourtownship, except some half-dozen whose armour shone cold like ice underthe moonbeams. Will Green soon had a dozen of them by the sleeve tocome home with him to board and bed, and then I lost him for someminutes, and turning about saw John Ball standing behind me, lookingpensively on all the stir and merry humours of the joyous uplanders.
"Brother from Essex," said he, "shall I see thee again to-night? I werefain of speech with thee; for thou seemest like one that has seen morethan most."
"Yea," said I, "if ye come to Will Green's house, for thither am Ibidden."
"Thither shall I come," said he, smiling kindly, "or no man I know infield. Lo you, Will Green looking for something, and that is me. Butin his house will be song and the talk of many friends; and forsooth Ihave words in me that crave to come out in a quiet place where they mayhave each one his own answer. If thou art not afraid of dead men whowere alive and wicked this morning, come thou to the church when supperis done, and there we may talk all we will."
Will Green was standing beside us before he had done, with his handlaid on the priest's shoulder, waiting till he had spoken out; and as Inodded Yea to John Ball he said:
"Now, master priest, thou hast spoken enough this two or three hours,and this my new brother must tell and talk in my house; and there mymaid will hear his wisdom which lay still under the hedge e'en now whenthe bolts were abroad. So come ye, and ye good fellows, come!"
So we turned away together into the little street. But while John Ballhad been speaking to me I felt strangely, as though I had more thingsto say than the words I knew could make clear: as if I wanted to getfrom other people a new set of words. Moreover, as we passed up thestreet again I was once again smitten with the great beauty of thescene; the houses, the church with its new chancel and tower,snow-white in the moonbeams now; the dresses and arms of the people,men and women (for the latter were now mixed up with the men); theirgrave sonorous language, and the quaint and measured forms of speech,were again become a wonder to me and affected me almost to tears.