Now We Are Six/King Hilary and the Beggerman

by Alan Alexander Milne

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Of Hilary the Great and Good  They tell a tale at Christmas timeI’ve often thought the story wouldBe prettier but just as goodIf almost anybody should  Translate it into rime.So I have done the best I canFor lack of some more learned man.

  Good King Hilary  Said to his Chancellor  (Proud Lord Willoughby,  Lord High Chancellor):“Run to the wicket-gate  Quickly, quickly,  Run to the wicket-gate  And see who is knocking.  It may be a rich man,  Sea-borne from Araby,  Bringing me peacocks,  Emeralds and ivory;  It may be a poor man,  Travel-worn and weary,  Bringing me oranges  To put in my stocking.”

  Proud Lord Willoughby,  Lord High Chancellor,  Laughed both loud and free:^[1]“I’ve served Your Majesty, man to man,  Since first Your Majesty’s reign began,  And I’ve often walked, but I never, never ran,  Never, never, never,” quoth he.

  Good King Hilary  Said to his Chancellor  (Proud Lord Willoughby,  Lord High Chancellor):“Walk to the wicket-gate  Quickly, quickly,  Walk to the wicket-gate  And see who is knocking.   It may be a captain,  Hawk-nosed, bearded,  Bringing me gold-dust,  Spices, and sandalwood:

  It may be a scullion,  Care-free, whistling,  Bringing me sugar-plums  To put in my stocking.”

  Proud Lord Willoughby,  Lord High Chancellor,  Laughed both loud and free:“I’ve served in the Palace since I was four,  And I’ll serve in the Palace a-many years more,  And I’ve opened a window, but never a door,  Never, never, never,” quoth he.

  Good King Hilary  Said to his Chancellor  (Proud Lord Willoughby,  Lord High Chancellor):“Open the window  Quickly, quickly,  Open the window  And see who is knocking.

  It may be a waiting-maid,  Apple-cheeked, dimpled,  Sent by her mistress  To bring me greeting;  It may be children,  Anxious, whispering,  Bringing me cobnuts,  To put in my stocking.”

  Proud Lord Willoughby,  Lord High Chancellor,  Laughed both loud and free;“I’ll serve Your Majesty till I die—  As Lord Chancellor, not as spy  To peep from lattices; no, not I,  Never, never, never,” quoth he.

  Good King Hilary  Looked at his Chancellor  (Proud Lord Willoughby,  Lord High Chancellor):  He said no word  To his stiff-set Chancellor,  But ran to the wicket-gate  To see who was knocking.  He found no rich man  Trading from Araby;  He found no captain,  Blue-eyed, weather-tanned;  He found no waiting-maid  Sent by her mistress;  But only a beggarman  With one red stocking.

  Good King Hilary  Looked at the beggarman,  And laughed him three times three;   And he turned that beggarman round about:“Your thews are strong, and your arm is stout;  Come, throw me a Lord High Chancellor out,  And take his place,” quoth he.

  Of Hilary the Good and Great  Old wives at Christmas time relate  This tale, which points, at any rate,  Two morals on the way.  The first: “Whatever Fortune brings,  Don’t be afraid of doing things.”  (Especially, of course, for Kings.)  It also seems to say  (But not so wisely): “He who begs  With one red stocking on his legs  Will be, as sure as eggs are eggs,  A Chancellor some day.”

1. Haw! Haw! Haw!