In a recent series of posts, we have been exploring the American Folklife Center’s collections of Jack tales. In this post we’ll look at some tales from a collection that features some of our very earliest folktale recordings: the Alan Lomax, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle expedition collection (AFC 1935/001). In some ways, the music in this collection is so important that it has overshadowed the storytelling, and the fact that this collection is an important source of Jack tales and other narratives has therefore rarely been recognized. Although the illustrious folklorist and novelist Zora Neale Hurston traveled with the expedition through Florida, and although she had suggested the trip to the Bahamas in the first place, for personal reasons she withdrew from the expedition before the collectors left for the island nation. Therefore, the recordings and photos were made by 20-year-old University of Texas student Alan Lomax and his older and more experienced mentor, the NYU professor Mary Elizabeth Barnicle.
In the course of their Bahamas collecting, Lomax and Barnicle gathered mainly songs. I’ve presented and discussed a few of these before, including an amusing version of “Our Goodman,” as well as a number of songs in the “anthem” genre, including “I Bid You Good Night,” which became an unlikely pop song by Aaron Neville, the Incredible String Band, and the Grateful Dead. But they also collected folktales, and their recordings stand as some of the earliest sound recordings of the distinctive Bahamian storytelling tradition. Many of the stories have clever and tricky protagonists, including B’Rabby (The Bahamian version of Brer Rabbit), B’Bouki (another animal character whose name probably derives from the Wolof word for hyena), and, of course, Jack. Although one informant for the folklorist Daniel Crowley stated that of all these characters, Jack is the smartest, they are also somewhat interchangeable, so that the same plots might feature B’Rabby as the central character for some tellers and Jack for others. But there are some stories that are very distinctively part of the Jack tale tradition, which must have been brought to the Bahamas with English settlers. For example, let’s start with a tale that has clear connections to English Jack tales: “Jack and his Little Tune-Tune Escape the Many-Headed Giants.”
Jack and his Little Tune-Tune Escape the Many-Headed Giants
Introduction and Summary
In this tale, told by Zacharias Greene with a group of friends in Andros Island, Jack has a musical instrument that Greene says “goes by the name of Tune-Tune.” As we’ll see, Tune-Tune makes beautiful music that pleases giants and convinces them not to eat Jack. Tune-Tune isn’t clearly described but, based on internal and external evidence, I’ll tentatively identify it as a fife. The internal evidence is that Greene says it is played by blowing, and it sounds like a fife or horn when Greene imitates its sound. The external evidence derives from two other versions of this story collected in Andros Island, by Elsie Clews Parsons in 1912-14 and 1926. In one, “Jack Plays Fife on the Giant,” the musical instrument is clearly identified as a fife, but is not called “Tune-Tune.” In the other, which she called “From Bad to Worse,” the instrument IS called “Tune-Tune” but not described at all. For reasons I can’t fathom, Parsons decided Tune-Tune in “From Bad to Worse” was a concertina, but there’s nothing in the story to indicate what type of instrument it was. The fact that it’s a fife in at least one previous version of this story, combined with the way Greene imitates its sound, suggests it’s a fife in our version too.
The language in this tale may be difficult to understand, and the disc is damaged near the end so it’s hard to hear the outcome. I can’t produce a full transcription at this time, but I’ll summarize. For those not familiar with Bahamas storytelling, I’ll also explain some of the conventions.
First, “Bunday!” is an exclamation of unknown origin that introduces storytelling and provides emphasis. It may have its origins in an African language, or it could originate from “good day” in dialects of Spanish (bon día) or Portuguese (bom dia), or even from a French exclamation, “bon Dieu.” After an initial exclamation of “Bunday,” tales begin with an opening formula, which in this case is something like:
Once upon a time and a good old time
Monkey chewed tobacco and spit white lime
Bullfrog go on the old people’s house sit on the shade trees, and
The old people say it was a good season
One last thing before I summarize the tale: Bahamian tales frequently are interspersed with songs (making them technically cantefables), which is also the case with this story.
Greene’s tale begins “There was an old lady and she started her boy in the fields and this boy has the name of…Jack!” Jack spends the whole day working in the fields, during which he spends some time playing with Tune-Tune. He inadvertently leaves Tune-Tune on a rock in the fields when he goes home to his mother. When he discovers that he has left Tune-Tune behind, he asks his mother to let him go back for it. His mother asks him not to go because at night the area is frequented by giants who might kill Jack. Jack insists on going back to the fields, and his mother says he will be in the hands of the Lord. In the fields, after playing Tune-Tune for a while, Jack is indeed attacked by giants several times, and each time sings or plays a song. The first giant (who Greene says has “one-head-and-a-half!”) makes Jack climb onto his lips to play and sing; he then praises Jack’s song and says “you may go.” The second giant, who has two heads, makes Jack stand on his upper lip. After Jack plays the second giant says: “You’re a little bit too smart, or I’d take you home to Miss Lizzie-Ann, but after all I’ll let you go, and you’ll never pass the next man.” Jack thanks him, but soon encounters a three-headed giant. Tune-Tune’s charms don’t work on this giant, who puts Jack in a cage and instructs “Miss Anna” (presumably either his daughter or his servant) to cook the boy the next day: “‘I want you to bake some, roast some, stew some and boil some, smother some, parboil some,’ he said, ‘and fricassee some!'” In the morning Jack convinces Anna to let him out of the cage with a rope tied to him, and he goes outside and then returns to her (perhaps after retrieving Tune Tune). He plays her a song. The disc is damaged near the end, but it seems the song convinces her to let him go; at the end, Greene says “So the boy says, ‘madam,’ he says, ‘thank you ma’am.'” Jack then apparently wishes her well (though the exact words are indistinct, his formula begins with “I hope”) before Greene wraps up with a common formulaic ending:
“So E Bo ben, that story’s end, and if you don’t believe me, go to the captain of the longboat crew, and if he don’t tell you better lies, then come back to me and I’ll tell it much better. Bunday!”
Hear the story in the player below, and then I’ll present some ideas about its importance.
Jack and his Little Tune-Tune Escape the Many-Headed Giants: Commentary
As you may have noticed, “Jack and his Little Tune-Tune Escape the Many-Headed Giants” seems particularly remarkable for preserving early traditions about Jack, which we discussed in this previous post. Possibly the very first appearance of the character that became our folktale Jack, in the medieval tale “Jack and his Step-Dame,” makes him a farm laborer and musician who plays music out in the fields for his own amusement. In the tale he has a special musical instrument which causes infectious glee, and this allows him to escape his enemies. The second appearance of Jack, in “Jack the Giant-Killer,” makes him the opponent of vicious giants, some of whom have two or even three heads. The Bahamian tale “Jack and his Little Tune-Tune Escape the Many-Headed Giants” combines these two ideas: Jack is a farm laborer who plays out in the fields for his own amusement. He has a special musical instrument, which causes infectious glee. This allows him to escape vicious giants, some of whom have two or even three heads. In other words, this tale preserves the magical musical instrument from “Jack and his Step-Dame” alongside the theme of many-headed giants from “Jack the Giant-Killer,” demonstrating that these motifs persisted in the oral tradition of Jack tales over hundreds of years.
“Jack and his Little Tune-Tune” also sheds interesting light specifically on the Island’s storytelling tradition. The three variants of the story I’m familiar with, all collected in the 20 years between 1916 and 1935 within the small community of Andros Island in the Bahamas, feature three different endings. In the one presented here, Jack is captured and caged but apparently escapes without ever being eaten. In “From Bad to Worse,” he is eaten and apparently killed. In “Jack Plays his Fife on the Giant,” he is swallowed whole, but then cuts his way out of the giant’s belly and flees. He eventually kills the giant by getting his mother to rig a trap door to collapse beneath him.
This variability documented for this single tale goes a long way toward explaining how these stories can circulate for decades or centuries within small communities: the details and even the outcomes are fluid, and storytellers have leeway to decide how the tale ends, so there’s still a measure of suspense even if you’ve heard the story before.
The same observation goes for the next story too, which as we’ll see, existed in many forms in the Andros Island storytelling tradition. Let’s hear “Jack Gambles with the Devil for his Daughter Greenleaf.”
Jack Gambles with the Devil for his Daughter Greenleaf
Introduction
The tale of Jack wooing and winning the Devil’s daughter, Greenleaf, in known in myriad forms with many amusing motifs and plot twists that make each teller’s version unique. The one we’ll present was told by one of Lomax’s favorite informants, “Pappie,” which was the nickname of David Pryor. As both a singer and a storyteller, Pappie recorded 60 items for Lomax and Barnicle in 1935, then visited the Library of Congress in 1943 and 1944 to record more songs for Benjamin Botkin. (We’ll feature some of his songs in a future post!) Although Pappie was from Andros Island, by 1935 he had moved to Nassau, which is where Lomax and Barnicle recorded him. The recording conditions in Nassau seem to have been better than those in rural Andros, and Pappie speaks very clearly, which made it possible for me to transcribe the whole story.
Pappie had at least one friend with him in the session, who sang bass on the story’s two songs, and who apparently knew a slightly different version of the story. Occasionally he echoed Pappie, or interjected a different version of a phrase in Pappie’s story. I’ve put these interjections in square brackets, and comments in parentheses. Find the story in the player below, followed by my transcription and finally my commentary.
Jack Gambles with the Devil for his Daughter Greenleaf: Transcription
Once upon a time and a very good time, monkey chew tobacco and spit white lime, It wasn’t our time or our people’s time, it was cockroach was keeping up a high-low time
[Bunday]
(Pappie speaks an indistinct second opening formula.)
[Bunday]
Now, this was Jack and his brother John.
And growing up, they was arguing who would get the prettiest wife.
So after they get of age to take a wife, so his mother told them they could go and look for their wife.
So John went out, and he brought home a new wedded wife.
So when Jack see that, Jack says
“all right, mother, give me a loaf of bread and a bottle of water,”
said “I’m going to look for my livelihood.”
And Jack went and took his deck in his pocket, and went off.
And on his way traveling, he saw a great big tree.
And when he get under this tree,
under the tree was sweep as clean as the palm of your hand.
And when he started turning away he heard a loud voice say “Hello, hello, hello Jack!”
He turned around, he said “Hello, B’Devil.”
He said, “Ha, ha, my boy,” he say, “you know my name,” so straight.
Jack says “oh yeah,” he says “I could look right at you, and see you was the Devil.”
“Hey, my boy,” he said, “where you going?”
Jack said “well” he said “I’m going traveling.”
Say “Now me boy,” say “can you play?”
Jack say “I can play all games what you hear talk about in this quarter, man.”
He say, “alright, boy, let’s get a game.” He say, “I’ll bet you my daughter, Greenleaf.”
Jack say, “I’ll bet you two thousand dollars against your daughter Greenleaf.”
“Now all right, my boy, let’s play then. Slap your deck down.”
He say, “deal ‘em.” He say, “different path now.” He say “Let’s play.”
Every game, Jack beat him. After Jack done beat him three games, Jack done took up the deck, he put it in his pocket.
He say, “m’boy, m’boy, where you going?” He say “let’s play!”
Jack say, “no I’m not going to play see cause I ain’t got nobody to play with.”
So Jack start on he way going. He sing:
(Singing)
Well, since I’ve been a roving gambler, gambler is my name
I was gambling seven long years, and I never lose the game
And the people gave me a new name, High-Low Jack and again
But I give myself a new name, now Jack is the Game
Then B’Devil sing:
(Singing)
Well, since I’ve been a roving gambler, gambler is my name
I was gambling seven long years, and I lose every game
Anyhow, I say he was gambling seven long years and he lose every game.
So on…so Jack started going to get to this road to go to the river.
To get there, he stand and he look.
So he say, “anyhow,” he say, “I think I’ll take this road.”
He take that road, he went to the river.
He met Greenleaf and Blossom, in the river bathing. So he took up their clothes, and he got ‘em, and hide ‘em.
And that time, he come down to the riverside, whistling.
(Whistling.)
So when the girls now seen Jack, they all went down in the water.
And Greenleaf made an offer to Mister Jack.
She said, “Oh Mister Jack, please bring me my clothes here for me, and I’ll marry to you.”
So Jack said “Yeah, where the clothes is.”
She said “Right there, Mr. Jack.”
Well he look all about, he look all about, he didn’t see ‘em, so he go on down until he get to where he hide these clothes.
So he take ‘em up, he say “These them here?”
So she said “Yeah.”
So he come down the river side, he come backward, he passed the clothes, he wind up in the cornfield.
And after they put on their clothes, they came out.
So she say, “Mr. Jack, ain’t you going to the house with me?”
Jack say “No, I don’t care to take a walk with you all. I can find the house.”
“So you think you could find the house…our house here?”
Jack say “Yeah, I could find your house right here in this city.”
So the girl then gone, out of sight.
And then that time Jack start. Jack start down. And as he come to the crossroads, he bumped into B’Devil. B’Devil said “Hello, hello, hello my boy!”
He said, “huh, huh, huh, boy, where you been?”
Jack said, “oh,” he said, “I ain’t been nowhere. Just taking a walk around.”
He said “well, ain’t you going to the house with me?”
He said “yes, I’ll take a walk with you. We’ll be going to the house.”
And when they get to the house, tell Jack “come in.” Jack went inside.
And he saw a chair and sat down. T
Here was Greenleaf and Blossom sitting there, out in the hall.
So the Devil made answer, he said, “Jack,”
he said, “now Jack, this is my two daughters, and you can choose any one you want.”
So Jack get on up and get alongside Greenleaf and he says, “well, I choose this one.”
He says “no no my boy,” he says, “no no my boy,”
he say “how you could choose that one?”
Jack said “Yeah,” he said, “I must choose that one, because that’s the one you bet off of.”
“All right.”
That time, now, they out to kill Jack.
So as night time come, they make up a little bed in the little entry for Jack.
They tell Jack, Jack can go in there and lay down and sleep.
Jack tell them “All right.”
Jack went in there. For a long time Jack lay down there, and Jack snore.
[Bunday!]
He snore very hard.
[Yeah. Bunday!]
So that time, the Devil made answer. He said “My wife, done my boy”
[Done my boy]
She say, “yes, my husband! I want his heart!”
[Long for it]
Dawn, and when it dawn he shoved the room door open, and Jack stretch.
Jack say, “oh, my!”
He say “my boy, my boy,” he say, “you ain’t asleep yet?”
Jack say “oh, no,” he say, “when I home, before I go sleep, my mother always make a hot, hot cup of tea and give me. “
And in no time, they had the tea was done.
They bring it and they give it to Jack.
Jack pour the tea through the cuphole…the keyhole, and he throw the cup in the corner. All right.
Jack lay down there again, for a long while he snore.
Said, “My wife, set on the boiler!”
[On the boiler]
Said, “Oh yes, my husband, I want his heart!”
[Long for his heart!]
Yes, “Long for his heart!” Then he put his hand on the door like that, so he shove it open, Jack stretch again, he said “Oh my!”
He said “My boy! So you still not asleep yet, eh?”
He said, “Oh, no, when I home, before I go to sleep, my mother always give me a nice, thick, warm blanket to cover up with.”
Well, if I’m going to tell you the truth, the blanket what they gave Jack,
it would cover Nassau.
And if I’m going to tell you a lie, it would cover the world.
So anyhow, when they gave him that, Jack threw it in the corner.
Devil gone again, he lay down…Jack lay down.
And for a long while, Jack snore again.
(Snoring noises.)
“My wife! My wife! Set on the boiler…he done my boy!”
“Oh yes, my husband, I want his heart!”
[Long for his heart!]
“Long for his heart!”
Then he go and he put his hand on the door like that, and he shove it open
Jack sat there and Jack say “Oh, my!”
He said, “My boy, my boy, my boy!”
He say “what, you ain’t asleep yet?”
Jack said “Oh no, when I home, before I go to sleep,
my mother always take a sieve and go to the well and bring me nice cool water to bathe with!”
(The disc is changed, and the lead-in to the new disc is scratchy)
The Devil…went down to the well with his sieve,
but found he couldn’t dip the water with his sieve, all come out.
Saw the dip all come out, and he start to get his sieve and try to plug up the holes but it make the holes bigger.
He said, “my wife, my wife, my wife, how we going to manage?”
She said, “oh, my husband, I don’t know!” Say “I don’t know.” She said “try it again!”
Well, he dip again, all the water come out again.
Now that time, Jack was home, he had a great big bunch of bananas.
A tree in the yard.
And Jack cut it down, quite easy…
and chip off all the leaves.
And he carry it into the room,
and lay it in the bed, put the bunch of bananas on top of the pillow,
and cover it up quite good with the blanket.
And Greenleaf gone, and get all the silver and gold and the fastest horse
that her pa had there,
and the prettiest carriage he had,
and she put all her things inside,
and away she went.
After the Devil come home…didn’t brought no water, cause he didn’t carry nothing to bring water in. When he went in the room, he said “my wife, my wife, set on the boiler, he done.”
She said, “oh yes, my husband, I want his heart”
[“Long for his heart”]
“Long for his heart.”
In no time, the boiler was boiled,
so he draw his sword, and he nick the sword in the bed, whack!
“Yeah,” he said. “My wife! All home, all home, I say I got the boy, I got the boy.”
[All home!]
So he take up the bed,
and he carry the bed outside, and he lay it down before the boiler.
And when he throw the blanket off,
it was a great big bunch of banana tree he had there.
Oh he get mad now, and he commence to crying.
(Pryor speaks as if through tears, and his friend likewise makes crying sounds)
“Oh, you know now that’s the boy!
Now that’s the little boy!
That’s the bad boy come cut down my banana tree!
Boy! I’ll never have that boy boiled!”
And when he go to the pasture,
the fastest horse he had there was gone.
The prettiest carriage he had, gone.
All the silver and gold he had, gone.
He get mad now, and commence to crying again.
Anyhow, he get so mad now, he nick he wife head off.
He nick his wife head off and he eat her!
Well, he holler for Greenleaf.
No Greenleaf!
He said, “Blossom, where is Greenleaf?”
She say, “Papa, I don’t know where Greenleaf is!”
“Hey Greenleaf!”
“Papa I don’t know.”
That time Jack, Jack was home.
With his new lady wife.
Him and his brother John.
So anyhow, while they had the first…down the road yonder.
So Jack and his wife, they home, so Jack says,
“Now my brother,” he said,
“we was arguing, in our growing up, who would get the prettiest wife.
Now, you brought home a fine looking wife, and…” he say, “…I just the same.”
He say “but now, I would like for you, to let your wife step off here for me please.
I would like to see her step.”
So John says, “all right, dearest,” he says, “will you step off here for me please?”
She says yes, and she gets right up and stepping, tap, tap, tap, tap.
He says “Is your wife stepping now?”
He say “Tell your wife step!”
She step off again, tap, tap, tap.
He say “Man!”
He said “tell your wife to step down and ask me to let my wife step off.”
He said, “all right then, let your wife step dance.”
He said, “Beautiful doll, will you step off there for me please?”
She get up.
(Singing):
Redeem, redeem, redeem.
Every step I step
Prince George’s merry diamonds.
He says, “step off again, beautiful doll.”
(singing):
Redeem, redeem, redeem,
Every step I step
Prince George’s merry diamonds.
And when John and his wife vanish out the house, nobody didn’t know where they gone.
And that time, I was coming down the road in a haste
I heard the news, coming down the road in a haste
and when I get there I said
“Now Jack.” I said “Not because you named Jack and you very strong,”
I say “now, you shouldn’t do your brother like that.”
I say, “if that was me….”
(Disc runs out)
Jack Gambles with the Devil for his Daughter Greenleaf: Commentary
This tale is common in the Andros Island tradition in which Pappie Pryor was reared. Elsie Clews Parsons collected four variants in Andros, two under the title “Greenheart Er Knowledge” in her 1918 collection (the second version immediately follows the first), and two in her 1928 collection–one called “Greenleaf” and numbered story 6, at this link, and another called “Variant (Greenleaf)” and numbered story 23, at this link. In general terms, the tale is a variant of the story often known as “The Devil’s Daughter,” which as Carl Lindahl points out is one of the most common magic tales among African American storytellers. In the Jack Tale repertoire of the southern Appalachians, including in Richard Chase’s book “The Jack Tales,” it is sometimes known as “Jack and King Marock.” In even more general terms, it’s a variant of the tale known to folklorists a as ATU 313A, “The Girl as Helper in the Hero’s Flight.” In Pappie’s version, Greenleaf helps Jack by stealing the horse and carriage, as well as the gold and silver. In many other versions, various items she has stolen from the Devil are thrown behind the carriage and magically become huge obstacles to the pursuers. In this case, though, the couple gets away more cleanly!
This version of the tale can be divided into several episodes. The first involves Jack’s argument with his brother John, John’s marriage, and Jack’s decision to depart his mother’s house. This harkens back to the tradition of “Jack, Will, and Tom” tales like “Hardy Hard Back” and “Old Fire Dragon,” in which Jack is in competition with his older brothers to win the prettiest wife. It therefore connects deeply with the Jack tale tradition. As regards the plot, it sets up Jack’s quest as a part of his long sibling rivalry with John. Despite his claim to his mother that he is going to seek his “livelihood,” it establishes that his ultimate goal is to marry a beautiful woman.
The second episode, in which Jack gambles with the Devil by playing cards, is also shared with other Jack tales, including “The Green Man of Knowledge,” a Scottish version of the same tale type. It may have had special resonances for Bahamians, however: in 1935, gambling was illegal in the Bahamas but the government had long been looking the other way for a small casino in Nassau (where Pappie then lived), which catered to tourists. Gambling continued to be illegal for Bahamians after waivers were granted for tourist establishments in 1939. Thus, when Pappie told this story, gambling was a political issue. It was effectively legal for tourists but illegal for ordinary Bahamians, which many found unfair; at the same time, it was associated with urban life, lawlessness, wickedness, and the encroachment of foreigners on Bahamian culture.
Jack’s defeat of the Devil, an international figure of lawless and wicked behavior, establishes Jack as a trickster, not strictly lawful himself, and thus capable of beating the Devil at his own game. It also establishes the Devil as a surprisingly foolish and incompetent character, which he often is in Bahamian folklore. When Jack sings a song about never having lost a game, the Devil pathetically echoes it with his own song about never having won one! In regards to Jack’s ongoing quest, this episode establishes that Jack has grudging parental consent to marry Greenleaf, which is an important step toward marriage. I’ll mention too that Jack addresses the Devil as “B’Devil,” which like “B’Rabby” and other such names is a familiar form of address, meaning “Brother Devil.” In some tales Jack is even called “B’Jack.”
The third episode consists of Jack wooing Greenleaf by stealing her clothes, which she left on the riverbank when she went to bathe in the river. This motif can be traced all the way back to Hindu mythology, and is known in European and American folklore studies as motif K1335: Seduction (or wooing) by stealing clothes of bathing girl. In our story it further establishes Jack’s skill as a trickster: he apparently always intended to give Greenleaf her clothes, but by stealing and hiding them first he is able to appear clever and resourceful in Greenleaf’s eyes by “finding” something she didn’t know he had hidden. By approaching her backwards to return the clothes, so there is no chance of seeing her nakedness, he is able to appear gallant. By refusing the women’s offer to walk him to the house, he establishes his confidence in his own ability to find it. Although Greenleaf has theoretically agreed to marry Jack before all of this, his actions may serve to further convince her that he is a worthy husband and deserving of her love and loyalty–which all pays off when he needs her help to escape.
The fourth episode is the central action of the tale, in which Jack defeats the Devil and escapes with Greenleaf. First, Jack meets the Devil again and proceeds to the house, finally formally claiming Greenleaf. This causes the Devil and his wife to decide to kill Jack while he sleeps. The Devil seems motivated by wanting to keep Greenleaf at home, while the wife has the added incentive of wanting Jack’s heart, either as food or for some ritual purpose. (Human hearts were reportedly used in some Obeah rituals; whether this was actually true or not, the story could be depicting a fictional version of this idea.)
Jack uses three ploys on the Devil and his wife, which thwart their attempts to kill him. The ploys also buy Jack and Greenleaf time to set up their escape. First, Jack asks for a cup of tea. The fact that he doesn’t drink the tea indicates that he already suspects the Devil’s intentions, while the fact that he hides the cup in the corner becomes significant later. His second ploy is to ask for a big, thick blanket. Once again, this becomes significant later. His third ploy is to ask the Devil to bring him cool water in a sieve. The task of bringing water in a sieve often figures in versions of this tale, but it’s usually a task given by the ogre to the person who must escape; European legends, however, do include examples of the Devil being thwarted by being given this task. In this version, the Devil and his wife are shown to be comically incompetent, unable to figure out how to proceed. The fact that Jack has hidden their cup also leads to their inability to fetch any water, providing payoff for that earlier plot point. The long time this takes them gives Jack and Greenleaf time to escape.
While the Devil and his wife are occupied, Jack sets up his escape. The trick he uses comes straight from seventeenth-century versions of “Jack the Giant-Killer,” demonstrating again the influence of English Jack tales on the Bahamas tradition. As in those English stories, Jack cuts down a tree and arranges the logs under the blanket to look like he is sleeping so the Devil will attack the logs instead of killing Jack. This also provides the payoff of Jack’s earlier request for a blanket, showing that once again Jack was steps ahead of the Devil.
Greenleaf, too, uses this time to prepare, stealing the fastest horse, best carriage, and most valuable possessions from her father. Although she is the least developed of the major characters, she still has a crucial role to play.
The Devil’s reaction to having been fooled shows him to be both silly and wicked. Pappie amusingly makes the Devil sound like he’s lamenting Jack’s death (“Now that’s the boy/ That’s the little boy!”) when he is in fact lamenting that Jack has NOT been murdered. By casting the Devil’s reaction this way, Pappie shows him to be the opposite of human…and sure enough, the enraged Devil kills and eats his own wife. The tale leaves the Devil much worse off than before, entirely through his own incompetence and rage, while Jack and Greenleaf escape.
The final episode shows Jack and Greenleaf back in the house Jack shares with his brother John. Since both wives are beautiful, Jack decides to settle the question of which is better by having Greenleaf compete with John’s wife at “stepping off” or dancing. The dancing song, “Redeem Redeem Redeem,” which has also been collected as part of other tales, suggests Greenleaf’s dancing is so magical it produces “Prince George’s merry diamonds.” Greenleaf’s victory in the dance-off causes John and his wife to flee.
As you heard (or saw in the transcript), the recording ran out at this point, somewhat before the end of the tale. However, the narrator recounting his own interactions with the other characters is typically a signal that a tale is ending imminently. It’s therefore likely the story was only another sentence or two long, in which Pappie convinced Jack to reconcile with his brother and sister-in-law so that everyone could live happily ever after.
E Bow Ben, This Story’s End.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these two tales! We’ll have more on Jack tales, the 1935 Bahamas expedition, and Pappie Pryor in future posts.
As always, thanks for reading and listening!