"Woe's me, my masters!" quoth he 'twixt chattering teeth. "'Tis pity poor
Ranulph must die before his time, for ne'er shall be found hangman,
headsman or torturer the like o' Ranulph--so dainty i' the nice adjustment
o' noose! So clean and delicate wi' the axe! So tender and thoughtful wi'
pincers, thumbscrew, rack or red-hot iron! A hangman so kindly o' soul, so
merry o' heart, alack, so free, so gay, so merry--forsooth a very wanton,
waggish, jovial bawcock-lad--"
"Why, then, good, merry wag," laughed Robin, "now shalt thou cut us an
antic aloft in air, shalt caper and dance in noose to our joyance! Up with
him, bully lads, and gently, that he may dance the longer!"
But as Ranulph was dragged, shivering, to his feet, Jocelyn stepped
forward.
"Stay!" he cried. "Look, now, here's hangman did but hang since hang he
must; must he hang therefore?"
ROBIN: Aye, marry, since hanging shall his hanging end!
JOCELYN: But if to hang his duty is, must he for duty hang? Moreover, if ye
hang this hangman, unhanged hangmen shall hang still, and since ye may not
all hangmen hang, wherefore should this hangman hang?
ROBIN: Brother, an this hangman hang, fewer hangmen shall there be to hang,
forsooth.
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