"I am that merry wanderer of the
night", cried the
elf Robin Goodfellow, sometimes called
Puck by commonfolk. Indeed, he was the jester of the
faerie, a cutup who lured travelers into swamps, pinched lazy housemaids and pulled stools from beneath inveterate
gossips. It was said that humans danced to his
seductive piping as
trained bears to a circus
drum, and that he took his
pleasure in causing confusion among mortals, whose follies he never tired of watching.
"That shrewd and knavish sprite call'd Robin Goodfellow."
- William Shakespeare