two hands, the Giant saw one of his fingers gone. He got black in the
face with rage when he saw this, and he said, "Jack, did I not warn
you on the peril of your life not to go into that stable?"
Poor Jack pleaded all he could, and said he did not mean to, but
curiosity got the best of him, and he thought he would open the door
and peep in.
Says the Giant, "No man before ever opened that stable door and lived
to tell it, and you, too, would be a dead man this minute only for one
thing. Your father's father did my father a great service once. I am
the man who never forgets a good thing, and for that service," says
he, "I give you your life and pardon this time; but if you ever do the
like again, you won't live."
Jack, he promised that surely and surely he would never do the like
again. His supper he got that night, and to bed. And at early morning
again the Giant had him up, and, "Jack," says he, "I must be off to
the other end of the world again and fight the Giant of the Four
Winds. You know your duty is to look after this house and place and
set everything in order about it, and go everywhere you like, only
don't open the stable door or go into the stable, on the peril of your
life."
"I will mind all that," says Jack.
Then that morning again the Giant visited the stable before he went
away. And after he had gone, to his work went Jack, wandering through
the house, cleaning and setting everything in order about it, and out
into the yard he went, and fixed and arranged everything out there,
except the stable. He stood before the stable door a good while this
day, and says he to himself, "I wonder how the bear and the mare are
doing, and what the Giant did when he went in to see them? I would
give a great deal to know," says he. "I will take a peep in."
Into the ring of the door he put his finger, and turned it, and looked
in, and there he saw the mare and the bear standing as on the day
before and neither of them eating. In Jack steps. "And no wonder, poor
creatures," says he, "you don't eat, when that is the way the Giant
blundered," he says, after he saw the meat before the mare and the hay
before the bear this time also.
Jack then changed the food, putting the hay before the mare and the
meat before the bear, as it should be, and very soon both the mare and
the bear were eating heartily; and then Jack went out. He closed the
door, and when he did so, his finger stuck in the ring; and pull and
struggle though Jack did, he could not get it out.
"Och, och, och," says Jack, says he, "I am a dead man to-day surely."
He whips out his knife, and cuts off his finger, and leaves it there,
and 't was there when the Giant came home that night.
"Well, Jack, my fine boy," says he, "how have you got on to-day?"
"Oh, finely, finely," says Jack, says he, holding his hands behind his
back all the same.
"Show me your hands, Jack," says the Giant, "till I see if you wash
them and keep them clean always." And when Jack showed his hands, the
Giant got black in the face with rage, and says he, "Didn't I forgive
you your life yesterday for going into that stable, and you promised
never to do it again, and here I find you out, once more?"
The Giant ranted and raged for a long time, and then says he, "Because
your father's father did my father such a good turn, I suppose I will
have to spare your life this second time; but, Jack," says he, "if you
should live for a hundred years, and spend them all in my service,
and if you should then again open that door and put your foot into my
stable that day," says he, "you will be a dead man as sure as there is
a head on you. Mind that!"
Jack, he thanked the Giant very much for sparing his life, and
promised that he never, never would again disobey him.
The next morning the Giant had Jack up early, and told him he was
going off this day to fight the Giant at the other end of the world,
and gave Jack his directions, and warned him just as on the other
days. Then he went into the stable before he went away. And when he
was gone, Jack went through all the house, and through the whole yard,
setting everything in order, and when everything was done, he stood
before the stable door.
"I wonder," says Jack, "how the poor mare and the poor bear are
getting along and what the Giant of the Hundred Hills was doing here
to-day? I should very much like," says he, "to take one wee, wee peep
in," and he opened the door.
Jack peeped in, and there the mare and the bear stood looking at each
other again, and neither of them taking a morsel. And there was the
meat before the mare and the hay before the bear, just as on the other
days.
"Poor creatures," says Jack, "it is no wonder you are not eating, and
hungry and hungry you must be." And forward he steps, and changes the
food, putting it as it should be, the hay before the mare and the meat
before the bear, and to it both of them fell.
And when he had done this, up speaks the mare, and "Poor Jack," says
she, "I am sorry for you. This night you will be killed surely; and
sorry for us, too, I am, for we will be killed as well as you."
"Oh, oh, oh!" says Jack, says he, "that is terrible. Is there nothing
we can do?"
"Only one thing," says the mare.
"What is that?" says Jack.
"It's this," says the mare; "put that saddle and bridle on me, and let
us start off and be away, far, far from this country, when the Giant
comes back." And soon Jack had the saddle and bridle on the mare, and
on her back he got to start off.
"Oh!" says the bear, speaking up, "both of you are going away to leave
me in for all the trouble."
"No," says the mare, "we will not do that. Jack," says she, "take the
chains and tie me to the bear."
Jack tied the mare to the bear with chains that were hanging by, and
then the three of them, the mare and the bear and Jack, started, and
on and on they went, as fast as they could gallop.
After a long time, says the mare: "Jack, look behind you, and see what
you can see."
Jack looked behind him, and "Oh!" says he, "I see the Giant of the
Hundred Hills coming like a raging storm. Very soon he will be on us,
and we will all three be murdered."
Says the mare, says she, "We have a chance yet. Look in my left ear,
and see what you can see;" and in her left ear Jack looked, and saw a
little chestnut.
"Throw it over your left shoulder," says the mare.
Jack threw it over his left shoulder, and that minute there arose
behind them a chestnut wood ten miles wide. On and on they went that
day and that night; and till the middle of the next day, "Jack," says
the mare, "look behind you, and see what you can see."
Jack looked behind him, and "Oh!" says he, "I see the Giant of the
Hundred Hills coming tearing after us like a harvest hurricane."
"Do you see anything strange about him, Jack?" says the mare.
"Yes," says Jack, says he, "there are as many bushes on the top of his
head, and as much fowl stuck about his feet and legs as will keep him
in firewood and flesh for years to come. We are done for this time,
entirely," says poor Jack.
"Not yet," says the mare; "there is another chance. Look into my right
ear, and see what you can see."
In the mare's right ear Jack looked, and found a drop of water.
"Throw it over your left shoulder, Jack," says the mare, "and see what
will happen."
Over his left shoulder Jack threw it, and all at once a lough sprung
up between them and the Giant that was one hundred miles wide every
way and one hundred miles deep.
"Now," says the mare, "he cannot reach us until he drinks his way
through the lough, and very likely he will drink until he bursts, and
then we shall be rid of him altogether."
Jack thanked God, and on he went. It was not long now until he reached
the borders of Scotland, and there he saw a great wood.
"Now," says the mare and the bear, "this wood must be our
hiding-place."
"And what about me?" says Jack.
"For you, Jack," says the mare, "you must push on and look for
employment. The castle of the King of Scotland is near by, and I think
you will be likely to get employment there; but first I must change
you into an ugly little hookedy-crookedy fellow, because the King of
Scotland has three beautiful daughters, and he won't take into his
service a handsome fellow like you, for fear his daughters would fall
in love with you."
Then the mare put her nostrils to Jack's breast and blew her breath
over him, and Jack was turned into an ugly little hookedy-crookedy
fellow.
"Jack," says the mare, "before you go, look into my left ear, and take
what you see there."
Out of the mare's left ear Jack took a little cap.
"Jack," says she, "that is a wishing-cap, and every time you put it on
and wish to have anything done, it will be done. Whenever you are in
any trouble," the mare says, "come back to me, and I will do what I
can for you, and now good-bye."
So Jack said good-bye to the mare and to the bear, and set off. When
he got out of the wood, he soon saw a castle, and walked up to it and
went in by the kitchen. A servant was busy scouring knives. He told
her he wanted employment. She said the King of Scotland would employ
no man in his house, so he might as well push on. But Jack insisted
that the King would give him work, and at length the girl consented to
go and let the King know.
When the girl had gone away, Jack put on his wishing-cap and wished
the knives and forks scoured, and all at once the knives and forks,
that were piled in a stack ten yards high, were scoured as brightly as
new pins; and though the King of Scotland did not want to employ him,
when he found how quickly Jack had scoured all the big stack of knives
and forks, he agreed to keep him. But first he brought down his three
daughters to see Jack, so that he could observe what impression Jack
made upon them. When they came into the kitchen and saw the ugly
little fellow, every one of the three fainted and had to be carried
out.
"It is all right," says the King; "we will surely keep you," and Jack
was employed, and sent out into the garden to work there.
Now at this time the King of the East declared war on the King of
Scotland. The King of the East had a mighty army entirely, and he
threatened to wipe the King of Scotland off the face of the earth.
The King of Scotland was very much troubled, and he consulted with his
Grand Adviser what was best to be done, and his Grand Adviser
counselled that he should at once give his three daughters in marriage
to sons of kings, and in that way get great help for the war. The King
said this was a grand idea.
So he sent out messengers to all parts of the world to say that his
three beautiful daughters were ready for marriage. In a very short
time the son of the King of Spain came and married the eldest
daughter, and the son of the King of France came and married the
second, and a whole lot of princes came looking for the youngest, who
was the most beautiful of the three and whose name was Yellow Rose;
but she would not take one of them, and for this the King ordered her
never to come into his sight, nor into company, again.
Yellow Rose got very downhearted, and spent almost all her time now
wandering in the garden, where the Hookedy-Crookedy lad was looking
after the flowers, and she used to come around again and again,
chatting to Hookedy-Crookedy. And so it was not long until he saw that
the Yellow Rose was in love with him, and he got just as deeply in
love with her, for she was a beautiful and charming girl.
The next thing the Grand Adviser counselled the King was that he
should send his two new sons-in-law, the Prince of Spain and the
Prince of France, to the Well of the World's End for bottles of
Ioca[2] to take to battle with them, that they might cure the wounded
and dead men. So the King ordered his sons-in-law to go to the Well of
the World's End and bring him back two bottles of Ioca.
[Footnote 2: Ioca was a liquid that cured all wounds and restored the
dead to life.]
The Yellow Rose told Hookedy-Crookedy this, and when he had turned it
over in his mind, he said to himself, "I will go and have a chat with
the mare and the bear about this."
So off to the woods he went, and right glad the mare and the bear were
to see him. He told them all that had happened, and then he told them
how the King's two sons-in-law were to start to the Well of the
World's End the next day, and asked the mare's advice about it.
"Well, Jack," says the mare, "I want you to go with them. Take an old
hunter in the King's stable, an old bony, skinny animal that is past
all work, and put an old straw saddle on him, and dress yourself in
the most ragged dress you can get, and join the two men on the road,
and say that you are going with them. They will be heartily ashamed of
you, Jack, and your old horse, and they will do everything to get rid
of you. When you come to the crossroads, one of them will propose to
go in and have a drink; and while you are chatting over your drink,
they will propose that the three of you separate and every one take a
road by himself to go to the Well of the World's End, and that all
three shall meet at the crossroads again, and whoever is back first
with the bottle of water is to be the greatest hero of them all. You
agree to this. When they start on their roads, they will not go many
miles till they fill their bottles from spring wells by the roadside
and hurry back to the meeting-place, and then continue on home to the
King of Scotland and give him these bottles as bottles of Ioca from
the Well of the World's End. But you will be before them. After you
have set out on the road, and when you have gone around the first
bend, put on your wishing-cap and wish for two bottles of Ioca from
the Well of the World's End, and at once you will have them." And then
the mare directed Jack fully all that he was to do after.
Jack thanked the mare, and bade good-bye to her, and went away.
The next day, when the King's two sons-in-law set out on their grand
steeds to go to the Well of the World's End, they had not gone far
when Jack, in a ragged old suit and sitting on a straw saddle on an
old white skinny horse, joined them and told them he too was going
with them for a bottle of Ioca. Right heartily ashamed were they of
Jack and ready to do anything to get rid of him.
By and by, when they came to where the road divided into three, they
proposed to have a drink, and as they set off to drink they proposed
that each take a road for himself, and whoever got back first with a
bottle of Ioca would be the greatest hero. All agreed, and each chose
his own road and set out.
When Jack had got around the first bend, he put on his wishing-cap and
wished for two bottles of Ioca from the Well of the World's End, and
no sooner had he wished than he had them; and back again he came, and
when the other two came riding up, surprised they were to find Jack
there before them. They said that Jack had not been to the Well of the
World's End and it was no Ioca he had with him, but some water from
the roadside.
Said Jack, "Take care that is not your own story. Just test them; when
the servant comes in, you cut off his head and then cure him with
water from your bottles."
But both refused to do this, for they knew the water in their bottles
could not cure anything, and they defied Jack to do it.
"Very soon I will do it," said Jack.
So when the servant came in with the bottles of Ioca, Jack drew his
sword and whipped his head off him, and in a minute's time, with two
drops from one of his bottles, he had the head on again.
Says they to Hookedy-Crookedy, "What will you take for your two
bottles?"
Says Jack, "I will take the golden balls of your marriage pledge, and
also you shall allow me to write something on your backs."
And they agreed to this. They handed over to Jack the two golden balls
that were their marriage tokens, and they let Jack write on their bare
backs; and what Jack wrote on each of them was, "This is an unlawfully
married man." Then he gave them the bottles of Ioca, and they brought
them to the King, and Jack returned to his garden again.
He did not tell the Yellow Rose where he had been and what doing, only
said he was away on a message for her father. As soon as the King got
the bottles of Ioca, he gave orders that his army should move to
battle the next day.
The next morning early Jack was over to the wood to consult the mare.
He told her what was going to happen that day. Says the mare, "Look in
my left ear, Jack, and see what you will see."
Jack looked in the mare's left ear, and took out of it a grand
soldier's dress. The mare told him to put it on and get on her back.
On he put the dress, and at once Hookedy-Crookedy was transformed into
a very handsome, dashing young fellow, and off went Jack and the mare
and the bear, the three of them, away to the war. Every one saw them,
and they admired Jack very much, he was such a handsome,
clever-looking fellow, and the word was passed on to the King about
the great Prince who was riding to the war--himself, the mare, and the
bear. The King came to see him, too, and asked him on which side he
was going to fight.
"I will strike no stroke this day," says Jack, "except on the side of
the King of Scotland."
The King thanked him very heartily, and said he was sure they would
win. So they went into the battle with Jack at their head, and Jack
struck east and west and in all directions and at every blow of his
sword the wind of his stroke tossed houses on the other side of the
world, and in a very short time the King of the East ran off, with
all his soldiers that were still left alive. Then the King of Scotland
invited Jack to come home with him, as he was going to give a great
feast in his honor, but Jack said no, he could not go.
"They don't know at home," said Jack, "where I am at all"--and neither
they did--"so I must be off to them as quickly as possible."
"Then," says the King, "the least I can do is to give you a present.
Here is a tablecloth," says he, "and every time you spread it out you
will have it covered with eating and drinking of all sorts."
Jack took it, and thanked him, and rode away. He left the mare and the
bear in their own wood, and became Hookedy-Crookedy again, and ran
back to his garden. The Yellow Rose told him of the brave soldier that
had won her father's battle that day.
"Well, well," says Jack, says he, "he must have been a grand fellow
entirely. It is a pity I was not there, but I had to go on a message
for the King."
"Poor Hookedy-Crookedy," says she, "what could you do if you were
there yourself?"
Jack went to the wood again next morning, and consulted with the mare.
"Jack," said the mare, "look in the inside of my left ear, and see
what you will see," and Jack took out of her left ear a soldier's
suit, done off with silver, the grandest ever seen, and at the mare's
advice he put the suit on, and mounted on her back, and the three of
them went off to the battle. Every one was admiring the beautiful,
dashing fellow that was riding to the battle this day, and word came
to the King, and the King came to speak to him and welcomed him
heartily.
He said, "Your brother came with us the last day we went into the
battle. Your brother is a very handsome, fine-looking fellow. What
side are you going to fight on?"
Says Jack, "I will strike no stroke on any side but yours this day."
The King thanked him very heartily, and into the battle they went
with Jack at their head, and Jack struck east and west and in all
directions, and the wind of the strokes blew down forests in the other
end of the world, and very soon the King of the East, with all his
soldiers that were still alive, drew off from the battle.
Then the King thanked Jack and invited him to his castle; where he
would give a feast in his honor. But Jack said he could not go, for
they did not know at home where he was, and they would be uneasy about
him until he reached home again.
"Then," says the King, "the least I can do for you is to give you a
present. Here is a purse, and no matter how often and how much you pay
out of it, it will never be empty."
Jack took it, and thanked him, and rode away. In the wood he left the
mare and the bear, and was again changed into Hookedy-Crookedy, and
went home to his garden. The Yellow Rose came out, and told him about
the great victory a brave and beautiful soldier, brother to the fine
fellow of the day before, had won for her father.
"Well, well," says Jack, says he, "that was very wonderful entirely. I
am sorry I was not there, but I had to be away on a message for your
father."
"But, my poor Hookedy-Crookedy," says she, "it was better so, for what
could you do?"
Three days after that the King of the East took courage to come to
battle again. The morning of the battle Jack went to the wood to
consult the mare.
"Look into my left ear, Jack, and see what you will see," and from the
mare's left ear Jack drew out a most gorgeous soldier's suit, done off
with gold braiding and ornaments of every sort. By the mare's advice
he put it on, and himself, the mare, and the bear went off to the war.
The King soon heard of the wonderfully grand fellow that was riding to
the war to-day with the mare and the bear, and he came to Jack and
welcomed him and told him how his two brothers had won the last two
victories for him. He asked Jack on what side he was going to fight.
"I will strike no stroke this day," says Jack, "only on the King of
Scotland's side."
The King thanked him heartily, and said, "We will surely win the
victory," and then into the battle they rode with Jack at their head,
and Jack struck east and west and in all directions, and the wind of
the strokes tumbled mountains at the other end of the world, and very
soon the King of the East with all his soldiers that were left alive
took to their heels and never stopped running until they went as far
as the world would let them.
Then the King came to Jack and thanked him over and over again, and
said he would never be able to repay him. He then invited him to come
to his castle, where he would give a little feast in his honour, but
Jack said they didn't know at home where he was and they would be
uneasy about him, and so he could not go with the King.
"But," says he, "I and my brothers will come to the feast with you at
any other time."
"What day will the three of you come?" said the King.
"Only one of us can leave home in one day," said Jack. "I will come to
feast with you to-morrow, and my second brother the day after, and my
third brother the day after that."
The King agreed to this and thanked him. "And now," said the King,
"let me give you a present," and he gave him a comb, such that every
time he combed his hair with it he would comb out of it bushels of
gold and silver, and it would transform the ugliest man that ever was
into the nicest and handsomest. Jack took it and thanked the King and
rode away.
On this day, as on the other two days after the battle, they cured the
dead and the wounded with the bottles of Ioca, and all were well
again. When Jack went to the wood, he left the mare and the bear in it
and became Hookedy-Crookedy again, and went home and to his garden.
The Yellow Rose came to him and had wonderful news for him this day
about the terrible grand fellow entirely, who had won the battle for
her father that day; brother to the two brave fellows who had won the
battles on the other two days.
"Well," says Jack, says he, "those must be wonderful chaps. I wish I
had been there; but I had to be away on a message for your father all
day."
"Oh, my poor Hookedy-Crookedy," says she, "it was better so, for what
could you do?"
The next day, when it was near dinner time, he went off to the wood to
the mare and the bear and got on the suit he had worn the day before
in the battle, and mounted the mare and rode for the castle, and when
he came there all the gates happened to be closed, but he put the mare
at the walls, which were nine miles high, and leaped them.
The King scolded the gate-keepers, but Jack said a trifle like that
didn't harm him or his mare. After dinner the King asked him what he
thought of his two daughters and their husbands. Jack said they were
very good and asked him if he had any more daughters in his family.
The King said he used to have another, the youngest, but she would not
consent to marry as he wished, and he had banished her out of his
sight.
Jack said he would like to see her.
The King said he never wished to let her enter company again, but he
could not refuse Jack; so the Yellow Rose was sent for.
Jack fell a-chatting with her and used all his arts to win her; and of
course, in this handsome Jack she did not recognize ugly little
Hookedy-Crookedy. He told her he had heard that she had the very bad
taste to fall in love with an ugly, crooked, wee fellow in her
father's garden.
"I am a handsome fellow, and a rich prince," says Jack, "and I will
give you myself and all I possess if you will only say you will accept
me."
She was highly insulted, and she showed him that very quickly. She
said, "I won't sit here and hear the man I love abused," and she got
up to leave.