slain, began to murmur among themselves and said: 'Ah, our captain is
slain, let us go and slay them all': and therewith they arranged
themselves on the place in manner of battle, and their bows before
them. Thus the king began a great outrage;[4] howbeit, all turned to
the best: for as soon as Tyler was on the earth, the king departed
from all his company and all alone he rode to these people, and said
to his own men: 'Sirs, none of you follow me; let me alone.' And so
when he came before these ungracious people, who put themselves in
ordinance to revenge their captain, then the king said to them: 'Sirs,
what aileth you? Ye shall have no captain but me: I am your king: be
all in rest and peace.' And so the most part of the people that heard
the king speak and saw him among them, were shamefast and began to wax
peaceable and to depart; but some, such as were malicious and evil,
would not depart, but made semblant as though they would do somewhat.

[4] 'Outrage' here means 'act of boldness,' as elsewhere, e.g.
'si fist une grant apertise d'armes et un grant outrage.'

Then the king returned to his own company and demanded of them what
was best to be done. Then he was counselled to draw into the field,
for to fly away was no boot. Then said the mayor: 'It is good that we
do so, for I think surely we shall have shortly some comfort of them
of London and of such good men as be of our part, who are purveyed and
have their friends and men ready armed in their houses.' And in the
mean time voice and bruit ran through London how these unhappy people
were likely to slay the king and the mayor in Smithfield; through the
which noise all manner of good men of the king's party issued out of
their houses and lodgings well armed, and so came all to Smithfield
and to the field where the king was, and they were anon to the number
of seven or eight thousand men well armed. And first thither came sir