Introduction

NCE in the month of May when the cuckoo sang and the hawthorn bloomed, certain Joyous Travelers met at an inn by the King's highway.

And because their ways lay in the same direction and because they liked good company and merry they agreed to travel together.

And so it befell that when they stopped to rest at inn, or brook, or 'neath some greenwood tree, first one and then another told a tale to please the Squire's Little Son; nor, if the truth were known, were they less eager listeners than the child.

"A good tale is good fare for young and old," the Squire said.

And of the Joyous Travelers not one was missing when the tales went round. Thus did they travel pleasantly from meeting place to journey's end.