Jack

Lecture on the Chrinicles of Jack given by Jackoline Jackson at the University of Jacksville, Jackpot. 1st of november 2004

These are the accounts of Jack. Not chronicles, for most accounts are as short as a sentence. For example: “Jack was born.” This three-word sentence holds such meaning. Jack was created and then lived among us from that point on. The importance of this sentence is almost incomprehensible for those who are not from Jackpot. The length of the sentence only makes it seem to to the point, for outsiders, but Jackpotters didn’t intend it as that. Rather, the reason is because there is no information available. It is unknown when and to whom he was born, merely that he was born. There are speculations to where, however: the General Hospital, under a weeping willow, in a bus stop- but nothing concrete. It is also thought that when he died, or disappeared, or abducted, depending on whom you ask, Jack was thought to be thirty, in that case offering a rough estimate in the year. Even this, though, is not entirely set in stone; as other resources say that he was ‘just a boy, and barely a man,’ which would imply that he was closer to being a teenager. Hence the fact that we merely say that he was born and rejoice in it.
Other short accounts, for example: Jack and the Pilgrim, are told as bedtime stories to little children with short attention spans and just want to go to sleep: “Jack walked down the dusty road on a rainy day. Half way he encountered a Pilgrim. ‘Well met, fine sir,’ he said and the Pilgrim groaned in greeting. Then the two of them parted.” There are many different interpretations of this account. Some believe that the fact that Jack walked a dusty road while it rained implied that he walked the road regularly to know that it was dusty. Others say that wherever Jack stepped, it would automatically dry- that he used supernatural powers in order to keep from getting wet. The latter is the more plausible of the two, for if Jack indeed walked the road regularly, he would have been recognized and there would have been more written in the accounts.

It is also not known where he was talking to when he met the Pilgrim. Nor is it known where he was walking from, simply that he was walking. A diary entry of an unknown Pilgrim tells of a story with such an encounter. The Pilgrim though, stated that the man he encountered between Arock and Ahardplace, seemed to him to be a man of the cloth, which too seems unlikely, considering the story the third account in the Jack and Jill scripts. In the third and last part of the parchment it tells of Jack trying to become intimate with Jill and her reply to his attempted seduction being: “Jack! Off!”

Unfortunately the Jill mentioned here, too, was never found. In the first part of the script, which speaks of Jack and Jill’s youth, it says: “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after. Then up Jack got and home he did trot as fast as he could caper. They put him to bed and plastered his head, with vinegar and water.” Some stories say that Jack patched himself up, resulting in parts of the country knowing him as Jack-of-all-traits, especially considering he is speculated to be the creator of Flap Jacks, and Cracker Jacks. However, people in the southern part of Jackpot say that cooking was merely his hobby, and if he were to be called something it would be Black Jack, for the way he played cards and constantly seemed to win on the Jack of clubs. Whether he cheated or not, though is questionable.

Jack-of-all-traits and Black Jack, are only some of the names that have been mentioned over time. In certain texts he was noted to have names such as Jack Frost, and Jack Robinson. However, the latter was a little bit of a mouthful for the youngsters and therefore the expression: “faster than you can say Jack Robinson,” became a hype between the Jackpotters’ youth.

Later on in life he apparently began taking pleasure in the creating of wooden objects. According to the chronicles of Jack, Jack could be seen at many different locations cutting down trees. This caused the term wodcutter to become obsolete as it was then replaced by Lumberjack in honor of the magnificent way in which he was able to cut down trees efficiently and with a tramendous amount of force.

Jack's influence in language and culture has been extraordinary. Never before had we heard anything so prodigious as the Jack and we probably never will.

Thank you.