My stepmother, too, who loved me little, would inflame his anger against me.

Many daughters he had, and of gear and goods no more than enough.

Robin, my elder brother, he had let pass to France, where he served among the men of John Kirkmichael, Bishop of Orleans--he that smote the Duke of Clarence in fair fight at Bauge.
Thinking of my father, and of my stepmother's ill welcome, and of Robin, abroad in the wars against our old enemy of England, it may be that I fell into a kind of half dream, the boat lulling me by its movement on the waters.

Suddenly I felt a crashing blow on my head.

It was as if the powder used for artillery had exploded in my mouth, with flash of light and fiery taste, and I knew nothing.