The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a
moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge.
So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to
the middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched
against the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could
not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words:
“Fee, fi, fo, fum!
I smell the blood of an Englishman!
Be he alive or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make me bread!”
“Say'st thou so,” said Jack; “then thou art a monstrous miller indeed.”
The giant cried out again: “Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen?
Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones
to powder.”
“You'll have to catch me first,” quoth Jack, and throwing off his
invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his
shoes of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking
castle, so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at
every step. Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and
ladies might see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over the
drawbridge, the giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club. Then,
coming to the middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke
it down, and he tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and
wallowed like a whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all
the while; but though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged
from place to place in the moat, yet he could not get out to be
revenged. Jack at length got a cart-rope and cast it over the two heads
of the giant, and drew him ashore by a team of horses, and then cut
off both his heads with his sword of sharpness, and sent them to King
Arthur.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account