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015 - Jack and His Comrades · Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales

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  Speaker 1: Section fourteen of Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by M. J. Frank. Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales,
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  Speaker 1: edited by Joseph Jacob's Section fourteen Jack and his comrades.
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  Speaker 1: Once there was a poor widow, as often there has been,
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  Speaker 1: and she had one son. A very scarce summer came,
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  Speaker 1: and they didn't know how they'd live till the new
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  Speaker 1: potatoes would be fit for eating. So Jack said to
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  Speaker 1: his mother one evening, Mother, bake my cake and kill
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  Speaker 1: my hen till I go seek my fortune, and if
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  Speaker 1: I meet it, never fear, but I'll soon be back
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  Speaker 1: to share it with you. So she did as he
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  Speaker 1: asked her, and he set out at break of day
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  Speaker 1: on his journey. His mother came along with him to
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  Speaker 1: the yard gate and says she, Jack, which would you
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  Speaker 1: rather have half the cake and half the hen with
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  Speaker 1: my blessing or the whole of em with my curse?
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  Speaker 1: Oh Musha, mother says Jack, Why do you ax me
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  Speaker 1: that question? Sure you know I wouldn't have your curse
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  Speaker 1: and Damer's estate along with it. Well, then Jack says she,
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  Speaker 1: here's the whole lot of em, with my thousand blessings
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  Speaker 1: along with them. So she stood on the yard fence
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  Speaker 1: and blessed him as far as her eyes could see him. Well,
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  Speaker 1: he went along and along till he was tired, and
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  Speaker 1: ne'er a farmer's house he went into wanted a boy.
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  Speaker 1: At last his road led the side of a bog,
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  Speaker 1: and there was a poor ass up to his shoulders
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  Speaker 1: near a big bunch of grass. He was striving to
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  Speaker 1: come at ah. Then Jack Ashore says, he help me out,
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  Speaker 1: or I'll be drowned. Never say it twice, says Jack.
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  Speaker 1: And he pitched in big stones and sods into the
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  Speaker 1: slob till the ass got good ground under him. Thank you, Jack,
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  Speaker 1: says he, when he was out on the hard road.
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  Speaker 1: I'll do as much for you another time. Where are
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  Speaker 1: you going, faith, I'm going to seek my fortune till
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  Speaker 1: harvest comes in. God bless it. And if you like,
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  Speaker 1: says the ass, I'll go along with you. Who knows
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  Speaker 1: what luck we may have. With all my heart, it's
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  Speaker 1: getting late, let us be jogging. Well, they were going
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  Speaker 1: through a village, and a whole army of gassoons were hunting.
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  Speaker 1: A poor dog with a kettle tied to his tail.
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  Speaker 1: He ran up to Jack for protection, and the ass
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  Speaker 1: let such a roar out of him that the little
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  Speaker 1: thieves took through their heels as if the old boy
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  Speaker 1: was after them. More power to you, Jack, says the dog.
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  Speaker 1: I'm much obleeged to you. Where is the bast in
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  Speaker 1: yourself going? We're going to seek our fortune till harvest
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  Speaker 1: comes in. And wouldn't I be proud to go with you?
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  Speaker 1: Says the dog, and get rid of them ill conducted
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  Speaker 1: boys purshuin to em, Well, well, throw your tail over
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  Speaker 1: your arm and come along. They got outside the town
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  Speaker 1: and sat down under an old wall, and Jack pulled
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  Speaker 1: out his bread and meat and shared with the dog,
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  Speaker 1: and the ass made his dinner on a bunch of thistles.
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  Speaker 1: While they were eating and chatting, what should come by
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  Speaker 1: but a poor half starved cat, and the mole r
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  Speaker 1: oh he gave out of him would make your heart ache.
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  Speaker 1: You look as if you saw the tops of nine
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  Speaker 1: houses since breakfast, says Jack. Here's a bone and something
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  Speaker 1: on it. May your child never know a hungry belly,
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  Speaker 1: says Tom. It's myself that's in need of your kindness.
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  Speaker 1: May I be so bold as to ask where yez
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  Speaker 1: are all going. We're going to seek our fortune till
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  Speaker 1: the harvest comes in, and you may join us if
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  Speaker 1: you like. And that I'll do with a heart and
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  Speaker 1: a half, says the cat, And thank'ee for asking me off.
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  Speaker 1: They set again, and just as the shadows of the
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  Speaker 1: trees were three times as long as themselves, they heard
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  Speaker 1: a great cackling in a field inside the road, and
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  Speaker 1: out over the ditch jumped a fox with a fine
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  Speaker 1: black cock in his mouth. Oh, you anointed villain, says
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  Speaker 1: the ass, roaring like thought under at him. Good dog,
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  Speaker 1: says Jack, And the word wasn't out of his mouth
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  Speaker 1: when Colly was in full sweep after the red dog,
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  Speaker 1: Reynard dropped his prize like a hot potato and was
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  Speaker 1: off like a shot. And the poor cock came back
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  Speaker 1: fluttering and trembling to Jack and his comrades. Oh, Musha, neighbors,
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  Speaker 1: says he. Wasn't it the height o luck that threw
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  Speaker 1: you in my way? Maybe I won't remember your kindness
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  Speaker 1: if ever I find you in hardship. And where in
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  Speaker 1: the world are you all going. We're going to see
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  Speaker 1: our fortune till the harvest comes in. You may join
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  Speaker 1: our party if you like, and sit on Neddie's crupper
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  Speaker 1: when your legs and wings are tired. Well, the march
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  Speaker 1: began again, and just as the sun was gone down,
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  Speaker 1: they looked around, and there was neither cabin nor farm
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  Speaker 1: house in sight. Well, well, says Jack, the worse luck
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  Speaker 1: now the better another time. And it's only a summer night,
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  Speaker 1: after all. We'll go into the wood and make our
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  Speaker 1: bed on the long grass. No sooner said than done.
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  Speaker 1: Jack stretched himself on a bunch of dry grass. The
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  Speaker 1: ass lay near him, the dog and cat lay in
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  Speaker 1: the ass's warm lap, and the cock went to roost
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  Speaker 1: in the next tree. Well, the soundness of deep sleep
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  Speaker 1: was over them all when the cock took a notion
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  Speaker 1: of crowing. Bother you, black cock, says the ass. You'd
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  Speaker 1: disturbed me from as nice a wisp of hay as
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  Speaker 1: ever I tasted. What's the matter. It's daybreak, that's the matter.
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  Speaker 1: Don't you see light yonder? I see a light, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: says Jack. But it's from a candle it's coming, and
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  Speaker 1: not from the sun. As you've roused us, we may
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  Speaker 1: as well go over and ask for lodging. So they
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  Speaker 1: all shook themselves and went on through grass and rocks
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  Speaker 1: and briars till they got down into a hollow, and
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  Speaker 1: there was the light coming through the shadow, and along
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  Speaker 1: with it came singing and laughing and cursing. Easy boys,
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  Speaker 1: says Jack, Walk on your tippy toes till we see
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  Speaker 1: what sort of people we have to deal with. So
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  Speaker 1: they crept near the window, and there they saw six
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  Speaker 1: robbers inside, with pistols and blunderbushes and cutlasses, sitting at
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  Speaker 1: a table, eating roast beef and pork, and drinking mulled
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  Speaker 1: beer and wine and whiskey punch. Isn't that a fine
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  Speaker 1: haul we made at the Lord of Dunlavin's, says one
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  Speaker 1: ugly looking thief with his mouth full. And it's little
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  Speaker 1: we'd get only for the honest porter. Here's his purty health.
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  Speaker 1: The porter's purty health, cried out every one of them,
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  Speaker 1: and Jack bent his finger at his comrades. Close your ranks,
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  Speaker 1: my men, says he in a whisper, And let every
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  Speaker 1: one mind the word of command. So the ass put
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  Speaker 1: his fore hoofs on the sill of the window. The
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  Speaker 1: dog got on the ass's head, the cat on the
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  Speaker 1: dog's head, and the cock on the cat's head. Then
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  Speaker 1: Jack made a sign and they all sang out like
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  Speaker 1: mad Hee. Haw hee haw roared the ass, bow wow
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  Speaker 1: barked the dog, maw ma cried the cat. Cock cadoo,
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  Speaker 1: boo crowed the cock. Level your pistols, cried Jack, and
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  Speaker 1: make smitherings of em. Don't leave a mother's son of
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  Speaker 1: em alive present fire. With that, they gave another halloo
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  Speaker 1: and smashed every pane in the window. The robbers were
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  Speaker 1: frightened out of their lives. They blew out the candles,
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  Speaker 1: threw down the table, and scalped out the back door
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  Speaker 1: as if they were in earnest, and never drew rein
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  Speaker 1: till they were in the very heart of the wood.
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  Speaker 1: Jack and his party got into the room, closed the shutters,
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  Speaker 1: lighted the candles, and ate and drank till hunger and
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  Speaker 1: thirst were gone. Then they lay down to rest. Jack
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  Speaker 1: in the bed, the ass in the stable, the dog
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  Speaker 1: on the door mat, the cat by the fire, and
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  Speaker 1: the cock on the perch. At first, the robbers were
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  Speaker 1: very glad to find themselves safe in the thick wood,
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  Speaker 1: but they soon began to get vexed. This damp grass
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  Speaker 1: is very different from our warm room, says one. I
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  Speaker 1: was obliged to drop a fine pig's foot, says another.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't get a tayspoonful of my last tumbler, says another.
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  Speaker 1: And all the Lord of Dunlavin's gold and silver that
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  Speaker 1: we left behind, says the last. I think I'll venture back,
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  Speaker 1: says the captain, and see if we can recover anything.
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  Speaker 1: That's a good boy, said they all, and away he went.
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  Speaker 1: The lights were all out, and so he groped his
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  Speaker 1: way to the fire, and there the cat flew in
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  Speaker 1: his face and tore him with teeth. And he let
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  Speaker 1: a roar out of him, and made for the room
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  Speaker 1: door to look for a candle. Inside he trod on
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  Speaker 1: the dog's tail, and if he did, he got the
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  Speaker 1: marks of his teeth in his arms and legs and thighs.
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  Speaker 1: Thousand murders cried he. I wish I was out of
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  Speaker 1: this unlucky house. When he got to the street door,
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  Speaker 1: the cock dropped down upon him with his claws and bill.
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  Speaker 1: And what the cat and dog done to him was
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  Speaker 1: only a flay bite to what he got from the cock.
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  Speaker 1: Oh tattheration to you all, you unfeeling vagabones, says he
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  Speaker 1: when he recovered his breath, and he staggered and spun
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  Speaker 1: round and round till he reeled into the table back foremost.
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  Speaker 1: But the ass received him with a kick on the
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  Speaker 1: broadest part of his small clothes, and laid him comfortably
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  Speaker 1: on the dunghill. When he came to himself, he scratched
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  Speaker 1: his head and began to think what happened him, And
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  Speaker 1: as soon as he found that his legs were able
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  Speaker 1: to carry him, he crawled away, dragging one foot after
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  Speaker 1: another till he reached the wood well well, cried them
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  Speaker 1: all when he came within hearing. Any chance of our property,
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  Speaker 1: you may say, chance, says he, And it's itself is
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  Speaker 1: the poor chance all out? Ah, Will any of you
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  Speaker 1: pull a bed of dry grass for me? All the
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  Speaker 1: sticking plaster in Enniscorthy will be too little for the
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  Speaker 1: cuts and bruises I have on me. Ah, if you
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  Speaker 1: only knew what I have gone through for you. When
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  Speaker 1: I got to the kitchen fire looking for a sod
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  Speaker 1: of lighted turf, what should be there but an old
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  Speaker 1: woman carding flax, and you may see the marks she
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  Speaker 1: left on my face. With the cards, I made to
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  Speaker 1: the room door as fast as I could. And who
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  Speaker 1: should I stumble over but a cobbler and his seat.
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  Speaker 1: And if he did not work at me with his
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  Speaker 1: awls and his pincers, you may well call me a rogue. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I got away from him somehow, But when I was
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  Speaker 1: passing through the door, it must be the devil himself
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  Speaker 1: that pounced down on me with his claws and his
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  Speaker 1: teeth that were equal to sixpenny nails, and his wings.
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  Speaker 1: Ill luck be in his road. Well, at last I
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  Speaker 1: reached the stable, and there by way of salute, I
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  Speaker 1: got a pelt from a sledge hammer that set me
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  Speaker 1: half a mile off. If you don't believe me, I'll
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  Speaker 1: give you leave to go and judge for yourselves. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: my poor captain says they. We believe you to the nines.
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  Speaker 1: Catch us indeed, going within a hen's race of that
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  Speaker 1: unlucky cabin, well before the sun shook his doublet. Next morning,
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  Speaker 1: Jack and his comrades were up and about. They made
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  Speaker 1: a hearty breakfast on what was left the night before,
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  Speaker 1: and then they all agreed to set off to the
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  Speaker 1: castle of the Lord of Dunlavin and give him back
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  Speaker 1: all his gold and silver. Jack put it all in
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  Speaker 1: the two ends of a sack and laid it across
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  Speaker 1: Neddie's back, and all took the road in their hands away.
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  Speaker 1: They went through bogs, up hills, down dales, and sometimes
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  Speaker 1: along the yellow high road, till they came to the
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  Speaker 1: hall door of the Lord of Dunlavin. And who should
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  Speaker 1: be there, airing his powdered head, his white stockings, and
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  Speaker 1: his red breeches, but the thief of a porter. He
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  Speaker 1: gave a cross look to the visitors and says he
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  Speaker 1: to Jack, what do you want here, my fine fellow,
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  Speaker 1: There isn't room for you. All we want, says Jack,
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  Speaker 1: what I'm sure you haven't to give us, And that
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  Speaker 1: is common civility. Come be off, you lazy strollers, says he,
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  Speaker 1: while a cat'd be licking her ear, or I'll let
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  Speaker 1: the dogs at you. Would you tell a body, says
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  Speaker 1: the cock that was perched on the ass's head. Who
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  Speaker 1: was it that opened the door for the robbers the
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  Speaker 1: other night? Ah, Maybe the porter's red face didn't turn
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  Speaker 1: the color of his frill. And the Lord of Dunlavin
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  Speaker 1: and his pretty daughter that were standing at the parlor
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  Speaker 1: window unknownst to the porter, put out their heads. I'd
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  Speaker 1: be glad, Barney, says the master, to hear your answer
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  Speaker 1: to the gentleman with the red comb on him. Ah,
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  Speaker 1: my Lord, don't believe the rascal. Sure I didn't open
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  Speaker 1: the door to the six robbers. And how did you
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  Speaker 1: know their worse dicks? You poor innocent, said the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Never mind, sir, says Jack. All your gold and silver
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  Speaker 1: is there and that sack. And I don't think you
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  Speaker 1: will begrudge us our supper and bed, after our long
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  Speaker 1: march from the wood of Assalok be grudge. Indeed, not
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  Speaker 1: one of you will ever see a poor day if
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  Speaker 1: I can help it. So all were welcomed to their
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  Speaker 1: heart's content, and the ass and the dog and the
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  Speaker 1: cock got the best posts in the farm yard, and
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  Speaker 1: the cat took possession of the kitchen. The Lord took
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  Speaker 1: Jack in hands, dressed him from top to toe in
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  Speaker 1: broadcloth and frills as white as snow and turnpumps, and
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  Speaker 1: put a watch in his fob. When they sat down
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  Speaker 1: to dinner, the lady of the house said Jack had
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  Speaker 1: the air of a born gentleman about him, and the
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  Speaker 1: Lord said he'd make him his steward. Jack brought his
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  Speaker 1: mother and settled her comfortably near the castle, and all
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  Speaker 1: were as happy as you please. End of section fourteen.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by M. J. Frank, Portland, Oregon,