King John and the Abbot of Canterbury

                                                                                        Anonymous, England (before 1695)
Summary in English

`'King John and the Abbot of Canterbury' is a poem. This poem is a ballad composed by an anonymous poet. In this poem, the King John of England has been shown very cruel and jealous. He becomes jealous of the name, fame, place, servants of the Abbot of Canterbury. After hearing time and again Abbot has a greater place and better housekeeping, he becomes too cruel and makes a plan to kill Abbot and seize his all property. On the other hand, King John rules over England but makes great wrong and maintains little right.
 Abbot of Canterbury used to keep fifty gold coins in his velvet coat all time. The King was angry in humiliation. Although the Abbot replies humbly that he has no any grudge, the King plays cruel trick to put him to the death. So, the King calls Abbot in the palace and asks him three non sense questions:
What is the price of the king?
How long would the king take to go around the world?
What is he thinking at the time?
After asking such questions, King threatens the Abbot that if he is unable to provide the right answer, his head would be cut off. The Abbot could not answer, but he asks one fortnight to find the answers. He visits Oxford and Cambridge but no any man helps him. No one knows the answer. The Abbot returns home being very sad and helpless.
Finally, his shepherd, an illiterate person helps him. The shepherd in disguise (dress) of his master, the Abbot and goes to the place of King John and replies the answer:

• The price of the King was 29 pence.
• If he rises and rides in the sun, he will go around the world in 24 hours.
• The King is thinking that the person who is giving answer is Abbot of Canterbury but is not truth.

Listening the answers of his questions, the king becomes surprise and satisfied. The king says that he would make the shepherd as Abbot of Canterbury. However, the shepherd rejects his proposal saying that he is illiterate but he requests the King to pardon his master, Abbot of Canterbury. Finally, the king accepts it and shepherd is rewarded and Abbot of Canterbury is pardoned by the king. Therefore, this poem suggests that an illiterate poor shepherd can be more resourceful and perhaps more intelligent than a rich and learned Bishop or man in certain field.