“Say'st thou so,” quoth Jack; “that is like one of your Welsh tricks,
yet I hope to be cunning enough for you.” Then, getting out of bed, he
laid a billet in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of
the room. At the dead time of the night in came the Welsh giant, who
struck several heavy blows on the bed with his club, thinking he had
broken every bone in Jack's skin. The next morning Jack, laughing in his
sleeve, gave him hearty thanks for his night's lodging. “How have you
rested?” quoth the giant; “did you not feel anything in the night?”
“No,” quoth Jack, “nothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps
with her tail.” With that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to
breakfast, bringing him a bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding.
Being loth to let the giant think it too much for him, Jack put a large
leather bag under his loose coat, in such a way that he could convey the
pudding into it without its being perceived. Then, telling the giant he
would show him a trick, taking a knife, Jack ripped open the bag, and
out came all the hasty pudding. Whereupon, saying, “Odds splutters hur
nails, hur can do that trick hurself,” the monster took the knife, and
ripping open his belly, fell down dead.
Now, it happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his
father to give him a large sum of money, in order that he might go and
seek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful
lady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king did his best to
persuade his son from it, but in vain; so at last gave way and the
prince set out with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for
himself to ride upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to a
market-town in Wales, where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered
together. The prince asked the reason of it, and was told that they had
arrested a corpse for several large sums of money which the deceased
owed when he died. The prince replied that it was a pity creditors
should be so cruel, and said: “Go bury the dead, and let his creditors
come to my lodging, and there their debts shall be paid.” They came,
in such great numbers that before night he had only twopence left for
himself.
Now Jack the Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the
generosity of the prince, that he desired to be his servant. This
being agreed upon, the next morning they set forward on their journey
together, when, as they were riding out of the town, an old woman called
after the prince, saying, “He has owed me twopence these seven years;
pray pay me as well as the rest.” Putting his hand to his pocket, the
prince gave the woman all he had left, so that after their day's food,
which cost what small spell Jack had by him, they were without a penny
between them.
When the sun got low, the king's son said: “Jack, since we have no
money, where can we lodge this night?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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