BRITISH TALES
Country: England
Language: english
Country: England
Language: english
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00Jack and his golden snuff box
00:06Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it was neither in my time nor
00:10in your time nor in anyone else's time, there was an old man and an old woman, and
00:14they had one son, and they lived in a great forest.
00:18And their son never saw any other people in his life, but he knew that there were some
00:21more in the world besides his own father and mother, because he had lots of books, and
00:25he used to read every day about them.
00:28And when he read about some pretty young women, he used to go mad to see some of them, till
00:32one day, when his father was out cutting wood, he told his mother that he wished to go away
00:36to look for his living in some other country, and to see some other people besides them
00:40too.
00:42And he said, I see nothing at all here but great trees around me, and if I stay here,
00:47maybe I shall go mad before I see anything.
00:50The young man's father was out all this time, when this talk was going on between
00:54him and his poor old mother, the old woman begins by saying to her son before leaving,
00:58Well, well, my poor boy, if you want to go, it's better for you to go, and God be with
01:03you.
01:04The old woman thought for the best when she said that.
01:07But stop a bit before you go.
01:10Which would you like best for me to make you, a little cake and bless you, or a big cake
01:13and curse you?
01:15Dear, dear, said he, make me a big cake.
01:19Maybe I shall be hungry on the road.
01:22The old woman made the big cake, and she went on top of the house, and she cursed him as
01:26far as she could see him.
01:27He presently meets with his father, and the old man says to him, Where are you going,
01:31my poor boy, when the son told the father the same tale as he told his mother.
01:36Well, says his father, I'm sorry to see you going away, but if you've made your mind to
01:41go, it's better for you to go.
01:43The poor lad had not gone far, when his father called him back, then the old man drew out
01:48of his pocket a golden snuff-box, and said to him, Here, take this little box, and put
01:52it in your pocket, and be sure not to open it till you are near your death.
01:57And away went poor Jack upon his road, and walked till he was tired and hungry, for he
02:01had eaten all his cake upon the road, and by this time night was upon him, so he could
02:06hardly see his way before him.
02:09He could see some light a long way before him, and he made up to it, and found the back
02:13door, and knocked at it, till one of the maidservants came and asked him what he wanted.
02:18He said that night was on him, and he wanted to get some place to sleep.
02:22The maidservant called him into the fire, and gave him plenty to eat, good meat and
02:26bread and beer, and as he was eating his food by the fire, there came the young lady to
02:30look at him, and she loved him well and he loved her.
02:34And the young lady ran to tell her father, and said there was a pretty young man in the
02:38back kitchen, and immediately the gentleman came to him, and questioned him, and asked
02:42what work he could do.
02:45Jack said, the silly fellow, that he could do anything.
02:48He meant that he could do any foolish bit of work, that would be wanted about the house.
02:53Well, says the gentleman to him, if you can do anything, at eight o'clock in the morning
02:57I must have a great lake and some of the largest man o' war vessels sailing before my mansion,
03:02and one of the largest vessels must fire a royal salute, and the last round must break
03:07the leg of the bed where my young daughter is sleeping.
03:10And if you don't do that, you will have to forfeit your life.
03:14All right, said Jack, and away he went to his bed, and said his prayers quietly, and
03:19slept till it was near eight o'clock, and he had hardly any time to think what he was
03:22to do, till all of a sudden he remembered about the little golden box that his father
03:26gave him.
03:28And he said to himself, well, well, I never was so near my death as I am now, and then
03:33he felt in his pocket, and drew the little box out.
03:37And when he opened it, out there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack, what is your
03:41will with us?
03:42Well, said Jack, I want a great lake and some of the largest man o' war vessels in the world
03:47before this mansion, and one of the largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last
03:52round to break one of the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping.
03:56All right, said the little men, go to sleep.
04:00Jack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the little men what
04:03to do, but what it struck eight o'clock, when bang, bang went one of the largest man
04:08o' war vessels, and it made Jack jump out of bed to look through the window, and I can
04:12assure you it was a wonderful sight for him to see, after being so long with his father
04:16and mother living in a wood.by this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and
04:21came down laughing, for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well.
04:28The gentleman comes to him, and says to him, well, my young man, I must say that you are
04:33very clever indeed.
04:35Come and have some breakfast.
04:37And the gentleman tells him, now there are two more things you have to do, and then you
04:41shall have my daughter in marriage.
04:44Jack gets his breakfast, and has a good squint at the young lady, and also she at him, the
04:48other thing that the gentleman told him to do was to fell all the great trees for miles
04:52around by eight o'clock in the morning, and, to make my long story short, it was done,
04:57and it pleased the gentleman well the gentleman said to him, the other thing you have to do,
05:01and it was the last thing, you must get me a great castle standing on twelve golden pillars,
05:06and there must come regiments of soldiers and.
05:09Go through their drill.
05:11At eight o'clock the commanding officer must say, shoulder up.
05:15All right, said Jack, when the third and last morning came the third great feat was finished,
05:19and he had the young daughter in marriage.
05:22But oh dear!
05:24There is worse to come yet.
05:26The gentleman now makes a large hunting party, and invites all the gentlemen around the country
05:31to it, and to see the castle as well.
05:34And by this time Jack has a beautiful horse and a scarlet dress to go with them.
05:39On that morning his valet, when putting Jack's clothes by, after changing them to go a-hunting,
05:44put his hand in one of Jack's waistcoat pockets, and pulled out the little golden snuff-box,
05:49as poor Jack left behind in a mistake.
05:52And that man opened the little box, and there hopped the three little red men out, and asked
05:56him what he wanted with them.
05:58Well, said the valet to them, I want this castle to be moved from this place far and
06:02far across the sea.
06:04All right, said the little red men to him, do you wish to go with it?
06:08Yes, said he.
06:10Well, get up, said they to him, and away they went far and far over the great sea, now the
06:15grand hunting party comes back, and the castle upon the twelve golden pillars had disappeared,
06:20to the great disappointment of those gentlemen as did not see it before.
06:25Now poor silly Jack is threatened by taking his beautiful young wife from him, for taking
06:29them in in the way he did.
06:31But the gentlemen at last made an agreement with him, and he is to have a twelve months
06:35and a day to look for it, and off he goes with a good horse and money in his pocket
06:39now poor Jack goes in search of his missing castle, over hills, dales, valleys, and mountains,
06:45through woolly woods and sheep walks, further than I can tell you or ever intend to tell
06:49you.
06:50Until at last he comes up to the place where lives the king of all the little mice in the
06:54world.
06:55There was one of the little mice on sentry at the front gate going up to the palace,
06:59and did try to stop Jack from going in.
07:02He asked the little mouse, where does the king live?
07:05I should like to see him.
07:07This one sent another with him to show him the place, and when the king saw him, he called
07:11him in.
07:13And the king questioned him, and asked him where he was going that way.
07:16Well, Jack told him all the truth, that he had lost the great castle, and was going to
07:21look for it, and he had a whole twelve months and a day to find it out.
07:26And Jack asked him whether he knew anything about it, and the king said, No, but I am
07:30the king of all the little mice in the world, and I will call them all up in the morning,
07:34and maybe they have seen something of it.
07:37Then Jack got a good meal and bed, and in the morning he and the king went on to the
07:40fields, and the king called all the mice together, and asked them whether they had seen the great
07:45beautiful castle standing on golden pillars.
07:48And all the little mice said, No, there was none of them had seen it.
07:52The old king said to him that he had two other brothers, one is the king of all the frogs,
07:57and my other brother, who is the oldest, he is the king of all the birds in the world.
08:02And if you go there, maybe they know something about the missing castle.
08:06The king said to him, Leave your horse here with me till you come back, and take one of
08:09my best horses under you, and give this cake to my brother, he will know then who you got
08:14it from.
08:15Go and tell him I am well, and should like dearly to see him.
08:19And then the king and Jack shook hands together.
08:22And when Jack was going through the gates, the little mouse asked him, Should he go with
08:26him, and Jack said to him, No, I shall get myself into trouble with the king.
08:32And the little thing told him, It will be better for you to let me go with you, maybe
08:35I shall do some good to you some time without you knowing it.
08:39Jump up, then.
08:41And the little mouse ran up the horse's leg and made it dance, and Jack put the mouse
08:45in his pocket, now Jack, after wishing good morning to the king and pocketing the little
08:49mouse which was on sentry, trudged on his way, and such a long way he had to go, and
08:54this was his first day.
08:56At last he found the place, and there was one of the frogs on sentry, and gun upon his
09:00shoulder, and did try to hinder Jack from going in, but when Jack said to him that he
09:04wanted to see the king, he allowed him to pass, and Jack made up to the door.
09:09The king came out, and asked him his business, and Jack told him all from beginning to end.
09:14Well, well, come in.
09:17He gets good entertainment that night, and in the morning the king made such a funny
09:21sound and collected all the frogs in the world.
09:24And he asked them, did they know or see anything of a castle that stood upon twelve golden
09:29pillars, and they all made a curious sound, crow-crow, crow-crow, and said, No Jack had
09:34to take another horse, and a cake to this king's brother, who is the king of all the
09:38fowls of the air, and as Jack was going through the gates, the little frog that was on sentry
09:42asked John should he go with him.
09:45Jack refused him for a bit, but at last he told him to jump up, and Jack put him in his
09:49other waistcoat pocket.
09:51And away he went again on his great long journey, it was three times as long this time as it
09:55was the first day, however, he found the place, and there was a fine bird on sentry.
10:01And Jack passed him, and he never said a word to him, and he talked with the king, and told
10:06him everything, all about the castle.
10:09Well, said the king to him, you shall know in the morning from my birds, whether they
10:12know anything or not.
10:15Jack put up his horse in the stable, and then went to bed, after having something to eat.
10:20And when he got up in the morning the king, and he went on to some field, and there the
10:23king made some funny noise, and there came all the fowls that were in all the world.
10:28And the king asked them, did they see the fine castle, and all the birds answered, No
10:32well, said the king, where is the great bird.
10:36They had to wait then for a long time for the eagle to make his appearance, when at
10:39last he came all in a perspiration, after sending two little birds high up in the sky
10:44to whistle on him to make all the haste he possibly could.
10:47The king asked the great bird, did he see the great castle?
10:51And the bird said, Yes, I came from there where it now is.
10:55Well, says the king to him, this young gentleman has lost it, and you must go with him back
11:00to it, but stop till you get a bit of something to eat first.
11:04They killed a thief, and sent the best part of it to feed the eagle on his journey over
11:08the seas, and had to carry Jack on his back.
11:11Now when they came in sight of the castle, they did not know what to do to get the little
11:15golden box.
11:17Well, the little mouse said to them, Leave me down, and I will get the little box for
11:21you.
11:22So the mouse stole into the castle, and got hold of the box, and when he was coming down
11:27the stairs, it fell down, and he was very near being caught.
11:31He came running out with it, laughing his best.
11:34Have you got it?
11:36Jack said to him, He said, Yes, and off they went back again, and left the castle behind.
11:41A.S.
11:42They were all of them, Jack, Mouse, Frog, and Eagle, passing over the great sea.
11:47They fell to quarrelling about which it was that got the little box, till down it slipped
11:50into the water.
11:52It was by them looking at it and handing it from one hand to the other that they dropped
11:56the little box to the bottom of the sea.
11:58Well, well, said the frog, I knew that I would have to do something, so you had better let
12:03me go down in the water.
12:05And they let him go, and he was down for three days and three nights, and up he comes, and
12:10shows his nose and little mouth out of the water, and all of them asked him, Did he get
12:14it?
12:15And he told them, No, well, what are you doing there, then?
12:20Nothing at all, he said, only I want my full breath, and the poor little frog went down
12:24the second time, and he was down for a day and a night, and up he brings it, and away
12:28they did go, after being there four days and nights, and after a long tug over seas and
12:33mountains, arrive at the palace of the old king, who is the master of all the birds in
12:37the world.
12:39And the king is very proud to see them, and has a hearty welcome and a long conversation.
12:44Jack opens the little box, and told the little men to go back and to bring the castle here
12:49to them, and all of you make as much haste back again as you possibly can.
12:53The three little men went off, and when they came near the castle they were afraid to go
12:57to it till the gentleman and lady and all the servants were gone out to some dance.
13:02And there was no one left behind there only the cook and another maid with her, and the
13:06little red men asked them which would they rather, go, or stop behind.
13:11And they both said, I will go with you, and the little men told them to run upstairs quick.
13:16They were no sooner up and in one of the drawing-rooms than here comes just in sight the gentleman
13:20and lady and all the servants, but it was too late.
13:24Off the castle went at full speed, with the women laughing at them through the window,
13:28while they made motions for them to stop, but all to no purpose.
13:33They were nine days on their journey, in which they did try to keep the Sunday holy, when
13:37one of the little men turned to be the priest, the other the clerk, and third presided at
13:41the organ, and the women were the singers, for they had a grand chapel in the castle
13:45already.
13:46Very remarkable, there was a discord made in the music, and one of the little men ran
13:50up one of the organ pipes to see where the bad sound came from, when he found out it
13:54only happened to be that the two women were laughing at the little red man stretching
13:58his little legs full length on the bass pipes, also his two arms the same time, with his
14:02little red nightcap, which he never forgot to wear, and what they never witnessed before,
14:07could not help calling forth some good merriment while on the.
14:11Face of the deep.
14:12And poor thing.
14:14Through them not going on with what they begun with, they very near came to danger, as the
14:18castle was once very near sinking in the middle of the sea.at length, after a merry
14:23journey, they come again to Jack and the king.
14:26The king was quite struck with the sight of the castle, and going up the golden stairs,
14:31went to see the inside, the king was very much pleased with the castle, but poor Jack's
14:35time of a twelve months and a day was drawing to a close, and he, wishing to go home to
14:39his young wife, gives orders to the three little men to get ready by the next morning
14:43at eight o'clock to be off to the next brother, and to stop there for one night, also to proceed
14:48from there to the last or the youngest brother, the master of all the mice in the world, in
14:53such place where the castle shall be left under his care until it sent for.
14:58Jack takes a farewell of the king, and thanks him very much for his hospitality away went
15:02Jack and his castle again, and stopped one night in that place, and away they went again
15:07to the third place, and there left the castle under his care.
15:11As Jack had to leave the castle behind, he had to take to his own horse, which he left
15:15there when he first started now poor Jack leaves his castle behind and faces towards
15:20home, and after having so much merriment with the three brothers every night, Jack became
15:24sleepy on horseback and would have lost the road if it was not for the little men aguiding
15:28him.
15:30At last he arrived weary and tired, and they did not seem to receive him with any kindness
15:34whatever, because he had not found the stolen castle, and to make it worse, he was disappointed
15:39in not seeing his young and beautiful wife to come and meet him, through being hindered
15:43by her parents.
15:45But that did not stop long.
15:47Jack put full power on and despatched the little men off to bring the castle from there,
15:51and they soon got there as Jack shook hands with the king, and returned many thanks for
15:55his kingly kindness in minding the castle for him, and then Jack instructed the little
15:59men to spur up and put speed on.
16:02And off they went, and were not long before they reached their journey's end, when out
16:05comes the young wife to meet him with a fine lump of a young son, and they all lived happy
16:09ever afterwards.