In all the land, no one was better with a bow and arrow than Robin Hood. He lived with his Merry Men in Sherwood Forest. That was the forest where the King kept his royal deer.
A few years before, King Richard ruled the land. King Richard was kind and let people who were poor come into Sherwood Forest. They could hunt the deer to get food for their families.
But then King Richard and his army left England. His younger brother John became a new King. Bad King John did not want anyone to come into Sherwood Forest to hunt the royal deer. From then on, anyone who hunted in Sherwood Forest could be put in prison!
Robin Hood did not like that. He moved into Sherwood Forest. He wore green clothes from his cap to his boots, the colour of the trees of Sherwood Forest.
Nobody could see him as he hunted the King’s deer. Sometimes other brave men came into Sherwood Forest. One by one they joined Robin Hood, and became his Merry Men.
Robin Hood and his Merry Men took money from the rich and gave it to the poor. The rich men were not happy. They said: “We must do something about this!”
The King told the Sheriff of Nottingham to catch Robin Hood - once and for all!
But the man in green was too quick. The Merry Men told Robin Hood about danger each time when they saw the Sheriff of Nottingham or one of his people in the forest.
So the Sheriff made a new plan: “I will call for a great competition”, he said, “to find out who is the best in the land with a bow and arrow. The winner will go home with a Golden Arrow”. Then he said: “I know that Robin Hood will take part in the competition. And when he comes, we will catch him!”

“Robin Hood, don’t go to the competition! They want to catch you”, said Little John and other Merry Men. Little John was the Robin Hood’s best friend. “When they see you, they will catch you.” Robin Hood said nothing. He wanted to go.
On the day of the competition, ten fine bowmen lined up. The round target was so far away it was hard to see its black and red circles. One by one, each young man shot his best arrow. Some of the arrows landed on the target. No one came close to the center. The Sheriff turned to one of his guards: “Do you see him? Is he here?”
“No, Sire. Robin Hood has red hair. People who are shooting have no red hair.”
“Robin Hood is afraid of me!”, said the Sheriff, “That’s why he stayed away.”
Two bowmen were left. The first was William, the Sheriff’s man. With care, William took a shot. His arrow landed at the very center of the target - a bull’s eye!
It was time for the last bowman. His arrow landed right through William’s bull’s eye arrow, cutting it in half! Then, the bowman let go of two more arrows. Each one flew to where the Sheriff was sitting, one arrow on each side.
The Sheriff did not know what was happening! Then the man in green pulled off his hat and threw it on the ground. His hair was red! “Get him!”, shouted the Sheriff, “It’s Robin Hood!”
But our hero jumped over the wall to a horse waiting for him. He went away!