Robin and Ben by Robert Louis Stevenson

Two childhood friends grow up together in a Welsh valley within sight of the sea. Despite sharing their upbringing, they are fundamentally different in character. One is bold, rough, and spirited; the other is meek, calculating, and quietly devious. Their paths diverge sharply in early adulthood. The bold one robs his widowed mother and runs away to sea, eventually joining a pirate crew operating near Barbados. He rises through the ranks through sheer courage and force of will, becoming a feared and respected figure among buccaneers. He is first up the mast, first onto the deck of any vessel they attack, and last to abandon a sinking ship. His crewmates hold him in genuine awe. The meek one, meanwhile, ingratiates himself with the local rector through flattery and servility, and is rewarded with an apprenticeship to an apothecary. He tends his shop with an air of learned respectability, quietly adulterating his medicines and pocketing the difference. He oils his hair, waters his drugs, and gives advice to the unsuspecting. He steals steadily and discreetly, always within the comfortable disguise of honest trade. After years at sea, the pirate returns to his native village with gold in his pocket and high spirits. However, the locals want nothing to do with him. His weathered appearance, rough manners, sailor's oaths, and general demeanor unsettle the community, and he finds himself socially shunned. He retreats to the local inn, drinks rum alone, and nurses a growing bitterness toward respectable society. Fortunately, he encounters his old childhood companion, now a prosperous apothecary. The two men fall into happy conversation, trading accounts of their respective lives and comparing their fortunes. The pirate boasts of his gold, his daring exploits, and the life of violent freedom he has led. The apothecary listens with polite scepticism and then delivers a calm, measured rebuttal. The apothecary argues that the pirate's way of life, however dramatic, is ultimately inefficient. Violent theft is dangerous, conspicuous, and yields diminishing returns. The truly successful thief, he explains, steals a little at a time, every single day, and does so under the cover of respectability. He calls this the secret of what the world terms an honest man. By maintaining appearances, cultivating trust, and defrauding customers slowly and steadily, he has accumulated wealth stored safely with several bankers. He is about to marry a woman of property and is universally regarded as a pillar of the community. To illustrate his method, the apothecary recounts a recent transaction with complete composure. A young woman came to him seeking medicine to save her ailing mother. He patted the child on the head, spoke warmly and reassuringly, charged full price, and filled the bottle with plain water. When the pirate asks what became of the mother, the apothecary replies with casual indifference that he believes she died. This revelation strikes the pirate with sudden and decisive force. He has lived a life of open violence and has witnessed tremendous suffering at sea, including death, disease, sharks, blood, and storms. He has made his peace with all of it. But the cold, smiling cruelty of his companion, who would let an innocent woman die for a few coins while wearing the face of a respectable tradesman, is something he cannot stomach. He draws his cutlass on the spot and kills the apothecary.

By Robert Louis Stevenson · First published 1882 · Genre: Adventure Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, British Literature · 1,708 words

First lines

Or, The Pirate and the Apothecary / Come lend me an attentive ear / A startling moral tale to hear, / Of Pirate Rob and Chemist Ben, / And different destinies of men.

Deep in the greenest of the vales / That nestle near the coast of Wales, / The heaving main but just in view, / Robin and Ben together grew, / Together worked and played the fool, / Together shunned the Sunday school, / And pulled each other's youthful noses / Around the cots, among the roses.

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What this Textopian page supports

Robin and Ben is listed on Textopian as a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, dated 1882 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Short story
• Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
• Date: 1882 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Adventure Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, British Literature, Fiction, Classic Literature
• Length: 1,708 words
• Structure: 1 section, 65 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for Robin and Ben by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
• Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Genres

• Adventure Fiction — The narrative follows characters on journeys and quests with action-driven plots characteristic of Stevenson's adventure writing style.
• Young Adult Fiction — The protagonists appear to be younger characters whose coming-of-age experiences and moral development form central themes.
• British Literature — Written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson during the Victorian era with characteristic British literary conventions and setting.
• Fiction — A narrative prose work of imaginative storytelling created by Stevenson.

Tags

poetry · children's literature · nature · birds · friendship · childhood · outdoors · garden · observation · imagination · playfulness · gentle humor

More by Robert Louis Stevenson

• Treasure Island (1883)
• The Pavilion on the Links (1909)
• Olalla (1885)
• A Child's Garden of Verses (1885)
• Father Damien, An Open Letter To The Reverend Doctor Hyde Of Honolulu (1914)
• A Lowden Sabbath Morn (1916)
• Songs of Travel and Other Verses (1908)
• Prayers Written At Vailima (1916)
• All works by Robert Louis Stevenson