GRANDFATHER’S CHAIR(祖父的椅子)

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Robin Hood

GRANDFATHER'S

CHAIR

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Robin Hood

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

IN writing this ponderous tome, the author's desire has been to

describe the eminent characters and remarkable events of our annals in

such a form and style that the YOUNG may make acquaintance with them

of their own accord. For this purpose, while ostensibly relating the

adventures of a chair, he has endeavored to keep a distinct and unbroken

thread of authentic history. The chair is made to pass from one to another

of those personages of whom he thought it most desirable for the young

reader to have vivid and familiar ideas, and whose lives and actions would

best enable him to give picturesque sketches of the times. On its sturdy

oaken legs it trudges diligently from one scene to another, and seems

always to thrust itself in the way, with most benign complacency,

whenever an historical personage happens to be looking round for a seat.

There is certainly no method by which the shadowy outlines of

departed men and women can be made to assume the hues of life more

effectually than by connecting their images with the substantial and

homely reality of a fireside chair. It causes us to feel at once that these

characters of history had a private and familiar existence, and were not

wholly contained within that cold array of outward action which we are

compelled to receive as the adequate representation of their lives. If this

impression can be given, much is accomplished.

Setting aside Grandfather and his auditors, and excepting the

adventures of the chair, which form the machinery of the work, nothing in

the ensuing pages can be termed fictitious. The author, it is true, has

sometimes assumed the license of filling up the outline of history with

details for which he has none but imaginative authority, but which, he

hopes, do not violate nor give a false coloring to the truth. He believes that,

in this respect, his narrative will not be found to convey ideas and

impressions of which the reader may hereafter find it necessary to purge

his mind.

The author's great doubt is, whether he has succeeded in writing a

book which will be readable by the class for whom he intends it. To make

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a lively and entertaining narrative for children, with such unmalleable

material as is presented by the sombre, stern, and rigid characteristics of

the Puritans and their descendants, is quite as difficult an attempt as to

manufacture delicate playthings out of the granite, rocks on which New

England is founded.

Robin Hood

PART I.

1620-1692.

CHAPTER I.

GRANDFATHER AND THE CHILDREN AND THE CHAIR.

GRANDFATHER had been sitting in his old arm-chair all that pleasant

afternoon, while the children were pursuing their various sports far off or

near at hand, Sometimes you would have said, "Grandfather is asleep;" hut

still, even when his eyes were closed, his thoughts were with the young

people, playing among the flowers and shrubbery of the garden.

He heard the voice of Laurence, who had taken possession of a heap of

decayed branches which the gardener had lopped from the fruit-trees, and

was building a little hut for his cousin Clara and himself. He heard Clara's

gladsome voice, too, as she weeded and watered the flower-bed which had

been given her for her own. He could have counted every footstep that

Charley took, as he trundled his wheelbarrow along the gravel-walk. And

though' Grandfather was old and gray-haired, yet his heart leaped with joy

whenever little Alice came fluttering, like a butterfly, into the room. Sire

had made each of the children her playmate in turn, and now made

Grandfather her playmate too, and thought him the merriest of them all.

At last the children grew weary of their sports. because a summer

afternoon is like a long lifetime to the young. So they came into the room

together, anti clustered round Grandfather's great chair. Little Alice, who

was hardly five years old, took the privilege of the youngest, and climbed

his knee. It was a pleasant thing to behold that fair and golden-haired child

in the lap of the old man, and to think that, different as they were, the

hearts of both could be gladdened with the same joys.

"Grandfather," said little Alice, laying her head back upon his arm, "I

am very tired now. You must tell me a story to make me go to sleep."

"That is not what story-tellers like," answered Grandfather, smiling.

"They are better satisfied when they can keep their auditors awake."

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"But here are Laurence, and Charley, and I," cried cousin Clara, who

was twice as old as little Alice. "We will all three keep wide awake. And

pray, Grandfather, tell us a story about this strange-looking old chair."

Now, the chair in which Grandfather sat was made of oak, which had

grown dark with age, but had been rubbed and polished till it shone as

bright as mahogany. It was very large and heavy, and had. a back that rose

high above Grandfather's white head. This back was curiously carved in

open work, so as to represent flowers, and foliage, and other devices,

which the children had often gazed at, but could never understand what

they meant. On the very tip-top of the chair, over the head of Grandfather

himself, was a likeness of a lion's head, which had such a savage grin that

you would almost expect to hear it growl and snarl.

The children had seen Grandfather sitting in this chair ever since they

could remember anything. Perhaps the younger of them supposed that he

and the chair had come into the world together, and that both had always

been as old as they were now. At this time, however, it happened to be the

fashion for ladies to adorn their drawing-rooms with the oldest and oddest

chairs that could be found. It seemed to cousin Clara that, if these ladies

could have seen Grandfather's old chair, they would have thought it worth

all the rest together. She wondered if it were not even older than

Grandfather himself, and longed to know all about its history.

"Do, Grandfather, talk to us about this chair," she repeated.

"Well, child," said Grandfather, patting Clara's cheek, "I can tell you a

great many stories of my chair. Perhaps your cousin Laurence would like

to hear them too. They would teach him something about the history and

distinguished people of his country which he has never read in any of his

schoolbooks."

Cousin Laurence was a boy of twelve, a bright scholar, in whom an

early thoughtfulness and sensibility began to show themselves. His young

fancy kindled at the idea of knowing all the adventures of this venerable

chair. He looked eagerly in Grandfather's face; and even Charley, a bold,

brisk, restless little fellow of nine, sat himself down on the carpet, and

resolved to be quiet for at least ten minutes, should the story last so long.

Meantime, little Alice was already asleep; so Grandfather, being much

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pleased with such an attentive audience, began to talk about matters that

happened long ago.

Robin Hood

CHAPTER II.

THE PURITANS AND THE LADY ARBELLA,

BUT before relating the adventures of the chairs found it necessary to

speak of circumstances that caused the first settlement of New England.

For it will soon be perceived that the story of this remarkable chair cannot

be told without telling a great deal of the history of the country.

So Grandfather talked about the Puritans, {Foot Note: It is more

precise to give the name of Pilgrims to those Englishmen who went to

Holland and afterward to Plymouth. They were sometimes called

Separatists because they separated themselves from the church of England,

sometimes Brownists after the name of one of their eminent ministers. The

Puritans formed a great political as well as religious party in England, and

did not at first separate themselves from the church of England, though

those who came to this country did so at once.} as those persons were

called who thought it sinful to practise certain religious forms and

ceremonies of the Church of England. These Puritans suffered so much

persecuted in England that, in 1607, many of them went over to Holland,

and lived ten or twelve years at Amsterdam and Leyden. But they feared

that, if they continued there much longer, they should cease to be England,

and should adopt all the manners, and ideas, and feelings of the Dutch. For

this and other reasons, in the year 1620 they embarked on board the ship

Mayflower, and crossed the ocean, to the shores of Cape Cod. There they

made a settlement, and called it Plymouth, which, though now a part of

Massachusetts, was for a long time a colony by itself. And thus was

formed the earliest settlement of the Puritans in America.

Meantime, those of the Puritans who remained in England continued

to suffer grievous persecution on account of their religious opinions. They

began to look around them for some spot where they might worship God,

not as the king and bishops thought fit, but according to the dictates of

their own consciences. When their brethren had gone from Holland to

America, they bethought themselves that they likewise might find refuge

from persecution there. Several gentlemen among them purchased a tract

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of country on the coast of Massachusetts Bay, and obtained a charter from

King Charles, which authorized them to make laws for the settlers. In the

year 1628 they sent over a few people, with John Endicott at their bead, to

commence a plantation at Salem. {Foot Note: The Puritans had a liking for

Biblical names for their children, and they sometimes gave names out of

the Bible to places, Salem means Peace. The Indian name was Naumkeag.}

Peter Palfrey, Roger Conant, and one or two more had built houses there

in 1626, and may be considered as the first settlers of that ancient town.

Many other Puritans prepared to follow Endicott.

"And now we come to the chair, my dear children,'' said Grandfather.

"This chair is supposed to have been made of an oak-tree which grew in

the park of the English Earl of Lincoln between two and three centuries

ago. In its younger days it used, probably, to stand in the hall of the earl's

castle. I)o not you see the coat of arms of the family of Lincoln carved in

the open work of the back? But when his daughter, the Lady Arbella, was

married to a certain Mr. Johnson, the earl gave her this valuable chair."

"Who was Mr. Johnson?" inquired Clara.

"He was a gentleman of great wealth, who agreed with the Puritans in

their religious opinions," answered Grandfather. "And as his belief was the

same as theirs, he resolved that he would live and die with them.

Accordingly, in the month of April, 1630, he left his pleasant abode and all

his comforts in England, and embarked, with Lady Arbella, on board of a

ship bound for America."

As Grandfather was frequently impeded by the questions and

observations of his young auditors, we deem it advisable to omit all such

prattle as is no( essential to the story. We have taken some pains to find out

exactly what Grandfather said, and here offer to our readers, as nearly as

possible in his own words, the story of the Lady Arbella.

The ship in which Mr. Johnson and his lady embarked, taking

Grandfather's chair along with them, was called the Arbella, in honor of

the lady herself. A fleet of ten or twelve vessels, with many hundred

passengers, left England about the same time; for a multitude of people,

who were discontented with the king's government and oppressed by the

bishops, were flocking over to the New World. One of the vessels in the

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fleet was that same Mayflower which had carried the Puritan Pilgrims to

Plymouth. And now, my children, I would have you fancy yourselves in

the cabin of the good ship Arbella; because, if you could behold the

passengers aboard that vessel, you would feel what a blessing and honor it

was for New England to have such settlers. They were the best men and

women of their day.

Among the passengers was John Winthrop, who had sold the estate of

his forefathers, and was going to prepare a new home for his wife and

children in the wilderness. He had the king's charter in his keeping, and

was appointed the first governor of Massachusetts. Imagine him a person

of grave and benevolent aspect, dressed in a black velvet suit, with a broad

ruff around his neck, and a peaked beard upon his chin. {Foot Note: There

is a statue representing John Winthrop in Scollay Square in Boston. He

holds the charter in his hand, and a Bible is under his arm.} There was

likewise a minister of the gospel whom the English bishops had forbidden

to preach, but who knew that he should have liberty both to preach and

pray in the forests of America. He wore a black cloak, called a Geneva

cloak, and had a black velvet cap, fitting close to his head, as was the

fashion of almost all the Puritan clergymen. In their company came Sir

Richard Saltonstall, who had been one of the five first projectors of the

new colony. He soon returned to his native country. But his descendants

still remain in New England; and the good old family name is as much

respected in our days as it was in those of Sir Richard.

Not only these, but several other men of wealth and pious ministers

were in the cabin of the Arbella. One had banished himself forever from

the old hall where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years. Another

had left his quiet parsonage, in a country town of England. Others had

come from the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, where they had

gained great fame for their learning. And here they all were, tossing upon

the uncertain and dangerous sea, and bound for a home that was more

dangerous than even the sea itself. In the cabin, likewise, sat the Lady

Arbella in her chair, with a gentle and sweet expression on her face, but

looking too pale and feeble to endure the hardships of the wilderness.

Every morning and evening the Lady Arbella gave up her great chair

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to one of the ministers, who took his place in it and read passages from the

Bible to his companions. And thus, with prayers, and pious conversation,

and frequent singing of hymns, which the breezes caught from their lips

and scattered far over the desolate waves, they prosecuted their voyage,

and sailed into the harbor of Salem in the month of June.

At that period there were but six or eight dwellings in the town; and

these were miserable hovels, with roofs of straw and wooden chimneys.

The passengers in the fleet either built huts with bark and branches of trees,

or erected tents of cloth till they could provide themselves with better

shelter. Many of them went to form a settlement at Charlestown. It was

thought fit that the Lady Arbella should tarry in Salem for a time; she was

probably received as a guest into the family of John Endicott. He was the

chief person in the plantation, and had the only comfortable house which

the new-comers had beheld since they left England. So now, children, you

must imagine Grandfather's chair in the midst of a new scene.

Suppose it a hot summer's day, and the lattice-windows of a chamber

in Mr. Endicott's house thrown wide open. The Lady Arbella, looking

paler than she did on shipboard, is sitting in her chair, and thinking

mournfully of far-off England. She rises and goes to the window. There,

amid patches Of garden ground and cornfield, she sees the few wretched

hovels of the settlers, with the still ruder wigwams and cloth tents of the

passengers who had arrived in the same fleet with herself. Far and near

stretches the dismal forest of pine-trees, which throw their black shadows

over the whole land, and likewise over the heart of this poor lady.

All the inhabitants of the little village are busy. One is clearing a spot

on the verge of the forest for his homestead; another is hewing the trunk of

a fallen pine-tree, in order to build himself a dwelling; a third is hoeing in

his field of Indian corn. Here comes a huntsman out of the woods,

dragging a bear which he has shot, and shouting to the neighbors to lend

him a hand. There goes a man to the sea-shore, with a spade and a bucket,

to dig a mess of clams, which were a principal article of food with the first

settlers. Scattered here and there are two or three dusky figures, clad in

mantles of fur, with ornaments of bone hanging from their ears, and the

feathers of wild birds in their coal-black hair. They have belts of shellwork

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RobinHood1GRANDFATHER'SCHAIRbyNathanielHawthorneRobinHood2AUTHOR'SPREFACEINwritingthisponderoustome,theauthor'sdesirehasbeentodescribetheeminentcharactersandremarkableeventsofourannalsinsuchaformandstylethattheYOUNGmaymakeacquaintancewiththemoftheirownaccord.Forthispurpose,whileostensiblyrelatingthe...

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