Once on a time there was a man who had three sons, Peter, Paul, and
John. John was Boots, of course, because he was the youngest. I can't
say the man had anything more than these three sons, for he had n't
one penny to rub against another; and so he told his sons over and
over again they must go out into the world and try to earn their
bread, for there at home there was nothing to be looked for but
starving to death.
Now, near the man's cottage was the King's palace, and, you must know,
just against the King's windows a great oak had sprung up, which
was so stout and big that it took away all the light from the King's
palace. The King had said he would give many, many dollars to the man
who could fell the oak, but no one was man enough for that, for as
soon as ever one chip of the oak's trunk flew off, two grew in its
stead. A well, too, the King would have dug, which was to hold water
for the whole year; for all his neighbors had wells, but he hadn't
any, and that he thought a shame. So the King said he would give to
any one who could dig him such a well as would hold water for a whole
year round, both money and goods; but no one could do it, for the
King's palace lay high, high up on a hill, and they had dug only a few
inches before they came upon the living rock.
But as the King had set his heart on having these two things done,
he had it given out far and wide, in all the churches of his kingdom,
that he who could fell the big oak in the King's courtyard, and get
him a well that would hold water the whole year round, should have
the Princess and half the kingdom. Well, you may easily know there
was many a man who came to try his luck; but for all their hacking and
hewing, and all their digging and delving, it was no good. The oak got
bigger and stouter at every stroke, and the rock didn't get softer,
either. So one day those three brothers thought they'd set off and
try too, and their father hadn't a word against it; for even if they
didn't get the Princess and half the kingdom, it might happen they
might get a place somewhere with a good master; and that was all he
wanted. So when the brothers said they thought of going to the palace,
their father said "yes" at once. So Peter, Paul, and Jack went off
from their home.
Well, they hadn't gone far before they came to a fir-wood, and up
along one side of it rose a steep hillside, and as they went, they
heard something hewing and hacking away up on the hill among the
trees.
"I wonder, now, what it is that is hewing away up yonder," said Jack.
"You're always so clever with your wonderings," said Peter and Paul
both at once. "What wonder is it, pray, that a woodcutter should stand
and hack up on a hillside?"
"Still, I'd like to see what it is, after all," said Jack; and up he
went.
"Oh, if you're such a child, 'twill do you good to go and take a
lesson," bawled out his brothers after him.
But Jack didn't care for what they said; he climbed the steep hillside
towards where the noise came, and when he reached the place, what do
you think he saw? Why, an axe that stood there hacking and hewing, all
of itself, at the trunk of a fir.
"Good-day!" said Jack. "So you stand here all alone and hew, do you?"
"Yes; here I've stood and hewed and hacked a long, long time, waiting
for you," said the Axe.
"Well, here I am at last," said Jack, as he took the axe, pulled it
off its handle, and stuffed both head and handle into his wallet.
So when he got down again to his brothers, they began to jeer and
laugh at him.
"And now, what funny thing was it you saw up yonder on the hillside?"
they said.
"Oh, it was only an axe we heard," said Jack.
So when they had gone a bit farther, they came under a steep spur of
rock, and up there they heard something digging and shoveling.
"I wonder now," said Jack, "what it is digging and shoveling up yonder
at the top of the rock."
"Ah, you're always so clever with your wonderings," said Peter and
Paul again; "as if you'd never heard a woodpecker hacking and pecking
at a hollow tree."
"Well, well," said Jack, "I think it would be a piece of fun just to
see what it really is."
And so off he set to climb the rock, while the others laughed and made
game of him. But he didn't care a bit for that; up he climbed, and
when he got near the top, what do you think he saw? Why, a spade that
stood there digging and delving.
"Good-day!" said Jack. "So you stand here all alone, and dig and
delve!"
"Yes, that's what I do," said the Spade, "and that's what I've done
this many a long day, waiting for you."
"Well, here I am," said Jack again, as he took the spade and knocked
it off its handle, and put it into his wallet, and then down again to
his brothers.
"Well, what was it, so rare and strange," said Peter and Paul, "that
you saw up there at the top of the rock?"
"Oh," said Jack, "nothing more than a spade; that was what we heard."
So they went on again a good bit, till they came to a brook. They were
thirsty, all three, after their long walk, and so they lay down beside
the brook to have a drink.
"I wonder now," said Jack, "where all this water comes from."
"I wonder if you're right in your head," said Peter and Paul in one
breath. "If you're not mad already, you'll go mad very soon, with your
wonderings. Where the brook comes from, indeed! Have you never heard
how water rises from a spring in the earth?"
"Yes; but still I've a great fancy to see where this brook comes
from," said Jack.
So up alongside the brook he went, in spite of all that his brothers
bawled after him. Nothing could stop him. On he went. So, as he went
up and up, the brook got smaller and smaller, and at last, a little
way farther on, what do you think he saw? Why, a great walnut, and out
of that the water trickled.
"Good-day!" said Jack again; "So you lie here, and trickle and run
down all alone?"
"Yes, I do," said the Walnut; "and here have I trickled and run this
many a long day, waiting for you."
"Well, here I am," said Jack, as he took up a lump of moss, and
plugged up the hole, that the water mightn't run out. Then he put the
walnut into his wallet, and ran down to his brothers.
"Well, now," said Peter and Paul, "have you found out where the water
comes from? A rare sight it must have been!"
"Oh, after all, it was only a hole it ran out of," said Jack; and so
the others laughed and made game of him again, but Jack didn't mind
that a bit.
"After all, I had the fun of seeing it," said he.
So when they had gone a bit farther they came to the King's palace;
but as every one in the kingdom had heard how they might win the
Princess and half the realm, if they could only fell the big oak and
dig the King's well, so many had come to try their luck that the oak
was now twice as stout and big as it had been at first, for two chips
grew for every one they hewed out with their axes, as I dare say you
all bear in mind. So the King had now laid it down as a punishment
that if any one tried and couldn't fell the oak, he should be put on
a barren island, and both his ears were to be clipped off. But the two
brothers didn't let themselves be scared by that; they were quite sure
they could fell the oak, and Peter, as he was eldest, was to try his
hand first; but it went with him as with all the rest who had hewn
at the oak; for every chip he cut out, two grew in its place. So the
King's men seized him, and clipped off both his ears, and put him out
on the island.
Now Paul, he was to try his luck, but he fared just the same; when he
had hewn two or three strokes, they began to see the oak grow, and so
the King's men seized him too, and clipped his ears, and put him out
on the island; and his ears they clipped closer, because they said he
ought to have taken a lesson from his brother.
So now Jack was to try.
"If you _will_ look like a marked sheep, we're quite ready to clip
your ears at once, and then you'll save yourself some bother," said
the King, for he was angry with him for his brothers' sake.
"Well, I'd like to just try first," said Jack, and so he got leave.
Then he took his axe out of his wallet and fitted it to its handle.
"Hew away!" said he to his axe; and away it hewed, making the chips
fly again, so that it wasn't long before down came the oak.
When that was done, Jack pulled out his spade, and fitted it to its
handle.
"Dig away!" said he to the spade; and so the spade began to dig and
delve till the earth and rock flew out in splinters, and so he had the
well soon dug out, you may think.
And when he had got it as big and deep as he chose, Jack took out his
walnut and laid it in one corner of the well, and pulled the plug of
moss out.
"Trickle and run," said Jack, and so the nut trickled and ran, till
the water gushed out of the hole in a stream, and in a short time the
well was brimful.
Then Jack had felled the oak which shaded the King's palace, and dug
a well in the palace-yard, and so he got the Princess and half the
kingdom, as the King had said; but it was lucky for Peter and Paul
that they had lost their ears, else they had heard each hour and day
how every one said, "Well, after all, Jack wasn't so much out of his
mind when he took to wondering."