The Well at the World’s End · Chapter
XX: They Come to the Gate of Higham by the Way explained
Ralph and his company, including men of the Dry Tree, approach the gate of Higham at sunset but are refused entry by a knight who distrusts them.
What happens
Ralph and his company, including men of the Dry Tree, approach the gate of Higham at sunset but are refused entry by a knight who distrusts them. Ralph's brother Hugh, a sworn man of Higham, defects to join Ralph. After a tense standoff and the arrival of additional Dry Tree men, the knight retreats behind the barriers. Ralph decides to camp in the open rather than fight, and the company rides on by moonlight, with Hugh now among them.
Themes in this chapter
Home and Wandering
Ralph and his men are denied entry to the town and must lodge under the open sky, emphasizing their wandering life.
Social Hierarchy and Freedom
The knight's distrust of the Dry Tree and Ralph's assertion of his own authority highlight tensions between social order and personal freedom.
Characters to notice
- Ralph of Upmeads
Leads his company to the gate of Higham, negotiates with the knight, and reclaims his brother Hugh.
- Richard the Red
Rides with Ralph to the barriers, bareheaded and with sheathed sword.
- Stephen a-Hurst
Rides with Ralph, bearing a white cloth on a truncheon as a sign of truce.
- Hugh
Ralph's brother, a sworn man of Higham, defects to join Ralph's company.
Key passages
“Fair sir, art thou a knight?”
The knight asks Ralph if he is a knight.
Formal address in medieval encounter.
“I hight Ralph of Upmeads”
Ralph gives his name as Ralph of Upmeads.
Ralph identifies himself.
“Get thee behind us, Hugh, if thou wilt come with us, lad.”
Ralph whispers to Hugh to join their group if he wants to come with them.
Ralph secretly invites Hugh to defect.
“Come away, friends, tarry not to bicker with these fools, who are afraid of they know not what: it is but lying under the naked heaven tonight instead of under the rafters, but we have all lodged thus a many times: and we shall be nigher to our journey's end tomorrow when we wake up.”
Ralph tells his men to leave the argument and accept sleeping outdoors, as they have done many times before, and they will be closer to their destination in the morning.
Ralph chooses prudence over conflict.