"Prithee," quoth the giant, "what bad news can come to me? I am a
giant with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five
hundred men in armor, and make them fly like chaff before the wind."
"Oh, but," quoth Jack, "here's the King's son a-coming with a thousand
men in armor to kill you and destroy all that you have!"
"Oh, cousin Jack," said the giant, "this is bad news indeed! I will
immediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar
me in, and keep the keys until the Prince is gone." Having secured
the giant, Jack fetched his master, when they made themselves heartily
merry whilst the poor giant lay trembling in a vault under the ground.
Early in the morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of
gold and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey,
at which time the Prince was pretty well out of the smell of the
giant. Jack then returned, and let the giant out of the vault, who
asked what he should give him for keeping the castle from destruction.
"Why," quoth Jack, "I want nothing but the old coat and cap, together
with the old rusty sword and slippers which are at your bed's head."
Quoth the giant: "You know not what you ask; they are the most
precious things I have. The coat will keep you invisible, the cap will
tell you all you want to know, the sword cuts asunder whatever you
strike, and the shoes are of extraordinary swiftness. But you have
been very serviceable to me, therefore take them with all my heart."
Jack thanked his uncle, and then went off with them. He soon overtook
his master and they quickly arrived at the house of the lady the
Prince sought, who, finding the Prince to be a suitor, prepared a
splendid banquet for him. After the repast was concluded, she told
him she had a task for him. She wiped his mouth with a handkerchief,
saying, "You must show me that handkerchief to-morrow morning, or
else you will lose your head." With that she put it in her bosom.
The Prince went to bed in great sorrow, but Jack's cap of knowledge
informed him how it was to be obtained. In the middle of the night she
called upon her familiar spirit to carry her to Lucifer. But Jack put
on his coat of darkness and his shoes of swiftness, and was there as
soon as she was. When she entered the place of the demon, she gave the
handkerchief to him, and he laid it upon a shelf, whence Jack took it
and brought it to his master, who showed it to the lady next day, and
so saved his life. On that day, she gave the Prince a kiss and told
him he must show her the lips to-morrow morning that she kissed last
night, or lose his head.
"Ah!" he replied, "if you kiss none but mine, I will."
"That is neither here nor there," said she; "if you do not, death's
your portion!"
At midnight she went as before, and was angry with the demon for
letting the handkerchief go. "But now," quoth she, "I will be too
hard for the King's son, for I will kiss thee and he is to show me thy
lips." Which she did, and Jack, when she was not standing by, cut off
Lucifer's head and, brought it under his invisible coat to his master,
who the next morning pulled it out by the horns before the lady. This
broke the enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared
in all her beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon
after went to the Court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many great
exploits, was made one of the Knights of the Round Table.
Jack soon went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden
far, when he saw a cave, near the entrance of which he beheld a giant
sitting upon a block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side.
His goggle eyes were like flames of fire, his countenance grim and
ugly, and his cheeks like a couple of large flitches of bacon, while
the bristles of his beard resembled rods of iron wire, and the locks
that hung down upon his brawny shoulders were like curled snakes or
hissing adders. Jack alighted from his horse, and, putting on the coat
of darkness, went up close to the giant, and said softly, "Oh! are you
there? It will not be long before I take you fast by the beard." The
giant all this while could not see him, on account of his invisible
coat, so that Jack, coming up close to the monster, struck a blow
with his sword at his head, but, missing his aim, he cut off the nose
instead. At this, the giant roared like claps of thunder, and began to
lay about him with his iron club like one stark mad. But Jack, running
behind, drove his sword up to the hilt in the giant's back, so that he
fell down dead. This done, Jack cut off the giant's head, and sent
it, with his brother's also, to King Arthur, by a wagoner he hired for
that purpose.
Jack now resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure,
and, passing along through a great many windings and turnings, he came
at length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of
which was a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at
which the giant used to dine. Then he came to a window, barred with
iron, through which he looked and beheld a vast number of miserable
captives, who, seeing him, cried out: "Alas! young man, art thou come
to be one amongst us in this miserable den?"
"Ay," quoth Jack, "but pray tell me what is the meaning of your
captivity?"
"We are kept here," said one, "till such time as the giants have a
wish to feast, and then the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many
are the times they have dined upon murdered men!"
"Say you so," quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let
them free, who all rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon.
Then searching the giant's coffers, he shared the gold and silver
equally amongst them and took them to a neighboring castle, where they
all feasted and made merry over their deliverance.
But in the midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that
Thunderdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his
kinsman, had come from the northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and
was within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him
like chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said, "Let him come! I
have a tool to quiet him; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out into
the garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell's death and
destruction."
The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by
a moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a
drawbridge. So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on
both sides, nearly to the middle; and then, dressing himself in
his invisible coat, he marched against the giant with his sword
of sharpness. Although the giant could not see Jack, he smelt his
approach, and cried out in these words:
"Fee, fi, fo, fum!
I smell the blood of an Englishman!
Be he alive or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make me bread!"
"Say'st thou so," said Jack; "then thou art a monstrous miller
indeed."
The giant cried out again, "Art thou that villain who killed my
kinsmen? Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and
grind thy bones to powder."
"You'll have to catch me first," quoth Jack, and throwing off his
invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his
shoes of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking
castle, so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at
every step. Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and
ladies might see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over
the drawbridge, the giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club.
Then, coming to the middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight
broke it down, and he tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled
and wallowed like a whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at
him all the while; but though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and
plunged from place to place in the moat, yet he could not get out to
be revenged. Jack at length got a cart rope and cast it over the two
heads of the giant and drew him ashore by a team of horses, and then
cut off both his heads with his sword of sharpness, and sent them to
King Arthur.
After some time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the
knights and ladies, set out for new adventures. Through many woods he
passed, and came at length to the foot of a high mountain. Here, late
at night, he found a lonesome house, and knocked at the door, which
was opened by an aged man with a head as white as snow. "Father,"
said Jack, "can you lodge a benighted traveler that has lost his way?"
"Yes," said the old man; "you are right welcome to my poor cottage."
Whereupon Jack entered, and down they sat together, and the old man
began to speak as follows: "Son, I see by your belt you are the great
conqueror of giants, and behold, my son, on the top of this mountain
is an enchanted castle; this is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and
he, by the help of an old conjurer, betrays many knights and ladies
into his castle, where by magic art they are transformed into sundry
shapes and forms. But above all, I grieve for a duke's daughter, whom
they fetched from her father's garden, carrying her through the air in
a burning chariot drawn by fiery dragons. When they secured her within
the castle, they transformed her into a white hind. And though many
knights have tried to break the enchantment, and work her deliverance,
yet no one could accomplish it, on account of two dreadful griffins
which are placed at the castle gate and which destroy every one who
comes near. But you, my son, may pass by them undiscovered, then on
the gates of the castle you will find engraven in large letters how
the spell may be broken." Jack gave the old man his hand, and promised
that in the morning he would venture his life to free the lady.
In the morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap
and shoes, and prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached
the top of the mountain he soon discovered the two fiery griffins, but
passed them without fear, because of his invisible coat. When he
had got beyond them, he found upon the gates of the castle a golden
trumpet hung by a silver chain, under which these lines were engraved:
"Whoever shall this trumpet blow,
Shall soon the giant overthrow,
And break the black enchantment straight;
So all shall be in happy state."
Jack had no sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the
castle trembled to its vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer
were in horrid confusion, biting their thumbs and tearing their hair,
knowing their wicked reign was at an end. Then the giant stooping to
take up his club, Jack at one blow cut off his head; whereupon the
conjurer, mounting up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind.
Then the enchantment was broken, and all the lords and ladies who
had so long been transformed into birds and beasts returned to their
proper shapes, and the castle vanished away in a cloud of smoke. This
being done, the head of Galligantua was likewise, in the usual manner,
conveyed to the Court of King Arthur, where, the very next day,
Jack followed, with the knights and ladies who had been delivered.
Whereupon, as a reward for his good services, the King prevailed upon
the duke to bestow his daughter in marriage on honest Jack. So married
they were, and the whole kingdom was filled with joy at the wedding.
Furthermore, the King bestowed on Jack a noble castle, with a very
beautiful estate thereto belonging, where he and his lady lived in
great joy and happiness all the rest of their days.
* * * * *