story (part 4)
At first all the rest set upon Jack for being a knave and a cheat; and, in particular, his wife’s father threatened to have at him for deceiving the gay young daughter; but at last he agreed to let Jack have twelve months and a day to find the Castle and bring it back.
So off Jack starts on a good horse with some money in his pocket.
And he travelled far and he travelled fast, and he travelled east and west, north and south, over hills, and dales, and valleys, and mountains, and woods, and sheepwalks, but never a sign of the missing castle did he see. Now at last he came to the palace of the King of all the Mice in the Wide World. And there was a little mousie in a fine hauberk and a steel cap doing sentry at the front gate, and he was not for letting Jack in until he had told his errand. And when Jack had told it, he passed him on to the next mouse-sentry at the inner gate; so by degrees he reached the King’s chamber where he sat surrounded by mice courtiers.
Now the King of the Mice received Jack very graciously, and said that he himself knew nothing of the missing Castle, but as he was King of all the Mice in the whole world, it was possible that some of his subjects might know more than he. So he ordered his chamberlain to command a Grand Assembly for the next morning, and in the meantime he entertained Jack right royally.
But the next morning, though there were brown mice, and black mice, and grey mice, and white mice, and piebald mice, from all parts of the world, they all answered with one breath:
"If it please your Majesty, we have not seen the missing Castle."
Then the King said, "You must go and ask my elder brother the King of all the Frogs. He may be able to tell you. Leave your horse here and take one of mine. It knows the way and will carry you safe."
So Jack set off on the King’s horse, and as he passed the outer gate he saw the little mouse sentry coming away, for its guard was up. Now Jack was a kind-hearted lad, and he had saved some crumbs from his dinner in order to recompense the little sentry for his kindness. So he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the crumbs.
"Here you are, mousekin," he said. "That’s for your trouble!"
Then the mouse thanked him kindly and asked if he would take him along to the King of the Frogs.
"Not I," says Jack. "I should get into trouble with your King."
But the mousekin insisted. "I may be of some use to you," it said. So it ran up the horse’s hind leg and up by its tail and hid in Jack’s pocket. And the horse set off at a hard gallop, for it didn’t half like the mouse running over it.
So at last Jack came to the palace of the King of all the Frogs, and there at the front gate was a frog doing sentry in a fine coat of mail and a brass helmet. And the frog sentry was for not letting Jack in; but the mouse called out that they came from the King of all the Mice and must be let in without delay. So they were taken to the King’s Chamber where he sat surrounded by frog courtiers in fine clothes. But alas! He had heard nothing of the Castle on golden pillars, and though he summoned all the frogs of all the world to a Grand Assembly next morning, they all answered his question with:
"Kro kro, Kro kro,"
which every one knows stand for "No" in frog language.
So the King said to Jack, "There remains but one thing. You must go and ask my eldest brother the King of all the Birds. His subjects are always on the wing, so mayhap, they have seen something. Leave the horse you are riding here, and take one of mine. It knows the way, and will carry you safe."
So Jack set off, and being a kind-hearted lad he gave the frog sentry, whom he met coming away from his guard, some crumbs he had saved from his dinner. And the frog asked leave to go with him, and when Jack refused to take him he just gave one hop on to the stirrup, and a second hop on to the crupper, and the next hop he was in Jack’s other pocket.
Then the horse galloped away like lightning, for it didn’t like the slimy frog coming down "plop" on its back.
Well, after a time, Jack came to the palace of the King of all the Birds, and there at the front gate were a sparrow and a crow marching up and down with matchlocks on their shoulders. Now at this Jack laughed fit to split, and the mouse and the frog from his pockets called out:
"We come from the King! Sirrahs! Let us pass."
So that the sentries were right bewildered. and let them pass ill without more ado.
But when they came to the King’s chamber, where he sat surrounded by all manner of birds, tomtits, wrens, cormorants, turtle-doves, and the like, the King said he was sorry, but he had no news of the missing Castle. And though he summoned all the birds of all the world to a Grand Assembly next morning, not one of them had seen or heard tell of it.
So Jack was quite disconsolate till the King said, "But where is the eagle? I don’t see my eagle."
Then the Chamberlain—he was a tomtit—stepped forward with a bow and said:
"May it please your Majesty he is late."
"Late?" says the King in a fume. "Summon him at once."
So two larks flew up into the sky till they couldn’t be seen and sang ever so loud, till at last the eagle appeared all in a perspiration from having flown so fast.
Then the King said, "Sirrah! Have you seen a missing Castle that stands upon twelve pillars of gold? "
And the eagle blinked its eyes and said, "May it please your Majesty that is where I’ve been."
Then everybody rejoiced exceedingly, and when the eagle had eaten a whole calf so as to be strong enough for the journey, he spread his wide wings, on which Jack stood, with the mouse in one pocket and the frog in the other, and started to obey the King’s order to take the owner back to his missing Castle as quickly as possible.
So off Jack starts on a good horse with some money in his pocket.
And he travelled far and he travelled fast, and he travelled east and west, north and south, over hills, and dales, and valleys, and mountains, and woods, and sheepwalks, but never a sign of the missing castle did he see. Now at last he came to the palace of the King of all the Mice in the Wide World. And there was a little mousie in a fine hauberk and a steel cap doing sentry at the front gate, and he was not for letting Jack in until he had told his errand. And when Jack had told it, he passed him on to the next mouse-sentry at the inner gate; so by degrees he reached the King’s chamber where he sat surrounded by mice courtiers.
Now the King of the Mice received Jack very graciously, and said that he himself knew nothing of the missing Castle, but as he was King of all the Mice in the whole world, it was possible that some of his subjects might know more than he. So he ordered his chamberlain to command a Grand Assembly for the next morning, and in the meantime he entertained Jack right royally.
But the next morning, though there were brown mice, and black mice, and grey mice, and white mice, and piebald mice, from all parts of the world, they all answered with one breath:
"If it please your Majesty, we have not seen the missing Castle."
Then the King said, "You must go and ask my elder brother the King of all the Frogs. He may be able to tell you. Leave your horse here and take one of mine. It knows the way and will carry you safe."
So Jack set off on the King’s horse, and as he passed the outer gate he saw the little mouse sentry coming away, for its guard was up. Now Jack was a kind-hearted lad, and he had saved some crumbs from his dinner in order to recompense the little sentry for his kindness. So he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the crumbs.
"Here you are, mousekin," he said. "That’s for your trouble!"
Then the mouse thanked him kindly and asked if he would take him along to the King of the Frogs.
"Not I," says Jack. "I should get into trouble with your King."
But the mousekin insisted. "I may be of some use to you," it said. So it ran up the horse’s hind leg and up by its tail and hid in Jack’s pocket. And the horse set off at a hard gallop, for it didn’t half like the mouse running over it.
So at last Jack came to the palace of the King of all the Frogs, and there at the front gate was a frog doing sentry in a fine coat of mail and a brass helmet. And the frog sentry was for not letting Jack in; but the mouse called out that they came from the King of all the Mice and must be let in without delay. So they were taken to the King’s Chamber where he sat surrounded by frog courtiers in fine clothes. But alas! He had heard nothing of the Castle on golden pillars, and though he summoned all the frogs of all the world to a Grand Assembly next morning, they all answered his question with:
"Kro kro, Kro kro,"
which every one knows stand for "No" in frog language.
So the King said to Jack, "There remains but one thing. You must go and ask my eldest brother the King of all the Birds. His subjects are always on the wing, so mayhap, they have seen something. Leave the horse you are riding here, and take one of mine. It knows the way, and will carry you safe."
So Jack set off, and being a kind-hearted lad he gave the frog sentry, whom he met coming away from his guard, some crumbs he had saved from his dinner. And the frog asked leave to go with him, and when Jack refused to take him he just gave one hop on to the stirrup, and a second hop on to the crupper, and the next hop he was in Jack’s other pocket.
Then the horse galloped away like lightning, for it didn’t like the slimy frog coming down "plop" on its back.
Well, after a time, Jack came to the palace of the King of all the Birds, and there at the front gate were a sparrow and a crow marching up and down with matchlocks on their shoulders. Now at this Jack laughed fit to split, and the mouse and the frog from his pockets called out:
"We come from the King! Sirrahs! Let us pass."
So that the sentries were right bewildered. and let them pass ill without more ado.
But when they came to the King’s chamber, where he sat surrounded by all manner of birds, tomtits, wrens, cormorants, turtle-doves, and the like, the King said he was sorry, but he had no news of the missing Castle. And though he summoned all the birds of all the world to a Grand Assembly next morning, not one of them had seen or heard tell of it.
So Jack was quite disconsolate till the King said, "But where is the eagle? I don’t see my eagle."
Then the Chamberlain—he was a tomtit—stepped forward with a bow and said:
"May it please your Majesty he is late."
"Late?" says the King in a fume. "Summon him at once."
So two larks flew up into the sky till they couldn’t be seen and sang ever so loud, till at last the eagle appeared all in a perspiration from having flown so fast.
Then the King said, "Sirrah! Have you seen a missing Castle that stands upon twelve pillars of gold? "
And the eagle blinked its eyes and said, "May it please your Majesty that is where I’ve been."
Then everybody rejoiced exceedingly, and when the eagle had eaten a whole calf so as to be strong enough for the journey, he spread his wide wings, on which Jack stood, with the mouse in one pocket and the frog in the other, and started to obey the King’s order to take the owner back to his missing Castle as quickly as possible.
posted by Justine at 12:41 a.m.
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