So he got a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the
beginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before
morning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad,
covering it over with long sticks and straw. Then he strewed a little
mould over it, so that it appeared like plain ground. Jack then placed
himself on the opposite side of the pit, farthest from the giant's
lodging, and, just at the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth,
and blew, Tantivy, Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who rushed
from his cave, crying: “You incorrigible villain, are you come here
to disturb my rest? You shall pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will
have, and this it shall be, I will take you whole and broil you for
breakfast.” He had no sooner uttered this, than he tumbled into the pit,
and made the very foundations of the Mount to shake. “Oh, Giant,” quoth
Jack, “where are you now? Oh, faith, you are gotten now into Lob's
Pound, where I will surely plague you for your threatening words: what
do you think now of broiling me for your breakfast? Will no other diet
serve you but poor Jack?” Then having tantalised the giant for a while,
he gave him a most weighty knock with his pickaxe on the very crown of
his head, and killed him on the spot.
Jack then filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave,
which he found contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of
this they made a declaration he should henceforth be termed
JACK THE GIANT-KILLER
and presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these
words embroidered in letters of gold:
“Here's the right valiant Cornish man,
Who slew the giant Cormoran.”
The news of Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England,
so that another giant, named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be
revenged on Jack, if ever he should light on him. This giant was the
lord of an enchanted castle situated in the midst of a lonesome wood.
Now Jack, about four months afterwards, walking near this wood in his
journey to Wales, being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain
and fell fast asleep. While he was sleeping, the giant, coming there
for water, discovered him, and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the
Giant-killer by the lines written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack
on his shoulders and carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed
through a thicket, the rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was
strangely surprised to find himself in the clutches of the giant. His
terror was only begun, for, on entering the castle, he saw the ground
strewed with human bones, and the giant told him his own would ere
long be among them. After this the giant locked poor Jack in an immense
chamber, leaving him there while he went to fetch another giant, his
brother, living in the same wood, who might share in the meal on Jack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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