Jack And The Robbers (1974)

This is the Appalachian Mountain Range in the eastern part of North America. A long time ago, when America was young, people from England, Scotland, and Ireland settled here. In those days, children were entertained by hearing folk tales, stories handed down from generation to generation. And I'm Richard Chase. And when I was a young man, I went all through the mountains and collected these old tales from people who remembered them. >> Can Jason tell us another story? >> Yeah, sure. Oh, >> hello girls. Now, here you are. Many of these tales were about a boy named Jack. Now, he had two nicknames. One was Lazy Jack and the other was Lucky Jack. Now, you want to hear a tale? >> Great. >> All right. Sure. >> Well, what about that story of Jack and the robbers? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Jack forgot to split his kindling again. You know what his daddy did? You know, he paddled him. He just dusted Jack's britches. Well, Jack didn't like that. He got mad and he run off from home the next morning. He traveled and he traveled. He was getting lonesome. Came to where there was an old ox in a pasture field. Good morning. Morning, boy. What's troubling you now? Oh, I'm getting too old to work. Old man's going to kill me. I ain't no good to work no more. Well, come on. I'll let you out of there. We'll take off. So, he let the ox out of the pasture field and they went on down the public road and directly there was an old donkey with his head hanging down over the gate looking kind of lonesome. Jack says, "Hey there. How are you?" "Not so good, boy. What's troubling you?" "Oh, I'm getting too old to work. I can't drag wood down off the mount no more, and that old man's going to kill me. Get rid of me." Ah, now stand back and I'll open the gate and we'll take off. Let the donkey out and on they went. Jack had a hard time keeping up with him. And finally, the donkey stopped and waited for Jack to catch up with him and says, Uh, what's your name, boy? My name's Jack. All right, Jack. Now, listen. You can get up on my back and ride if you remind him. Much obliged. I suit the lazy Jack just fine. So, on to And there in a man's yard was an old flea bitten hound dog sitting there with his head kind of droopy. Jack says, "Hello there. How are you?" Whoa, not so good, boy. Oh, what's troubling you? I'm getting too old to go. Oh, nothing. That old man's going to shoot me. Get rid of me. Oh, come on. Go with us. We'll look after you. So the old dog screded under the gate and on they went. Now that old dog was really a slowpoke. And finally the donkey asked the dog, "Do it want to ride." Says, "I can pack the both of you. Get up on my back behind Jack if you want to." Old dog says, "Yes, I was just studying about that myself." So Jack pulled the old dog up behind him and on they went. Then there was an old mangy looking tomat walking along the top rail of a fence. Jack says, "Hey there, how are you? Morning, boy. You sound like you feel bad. What's on your mind?" Oh, I'm getting too old to catch rats and mice out in the barn. That old woman say she going to put me in a sack and take me down to the river and drown me. Well, come on. Go with us. We'll look after you. So the cat jumped down off the fence and went loping along there as they went on down the public road. The donkey finally asked the cat they didn't want to ride. Cat says much obliged. Streked up behind the dog and on they went. Now finally sitting on a fence post was a rooster and he was molten. Can you imagine a rooster with no tail feathers? Well, Jack was a whistling when he got down there. The old roo starting crowing so lonesome and pitiful you'd have thought he's crowing for midnight. Rooaroo rareroo. Jack says, "Hey there. How you doing?" "Oh, not so good, boy. What's your trouble? The old woman's got company coming. Talking about going to kill me and putting me in a pie. Putting me in a pie." Jack says, "Ain't no sense of you standing here and getting cooked. Come on, go with us. my dad. I just believe I will. Uh he didn't wait for any invitation. He flopped down behind the cat. Wasn't much room there. So Jack and the dog and the cat had to inch up a little till the rooster got settled just above the doggy's tail. Says, "All right, boys. Let's go. Let's go." Well, on they went. They traveled and they traveled and finally the sun started going down. The donkey stopped all at once. Jack. Jack said, "Huh? What are we going to do when it gets dark? Jack said, "I don't know." "Well, we better leave the public road and see if we can find somebody that'll let us stay in his barn tonight cuz when it get to have a place to stay." Hound dog said, "Yes, I was just studying about that myself." So, they found a farm lane and come to a house finally and they hollered hello at the house. Nobody answered. And nobody answered out in the fields neither. So Jack went through the gate and they hollered again. Hello. Hello. Still nobody answered. So they went right to the house and started looking in the windows. And inside that pole shack there was more good things to eat. There was tables and shelves just full of cornbread and biscuits and storebought light bread and cakes and pies and fried chicken and baked hams and canned pizzas and canned blueberries. Jack's mouth was watering, too. Jack says, "Who do you reckon could live here?" And the donkey says, "Well, Jack, you want my opinion? This place ain't got no crops in the field. Ain't even got a garden patch. My notion, Jack, this place belongs to a gang of rogues. The rooster says it's Highway Robbers, boys. That's who they are. Jack says, "Well, if they've stolen all them good fiddles in there, we've got as much right to them as they have." The old hound dog says, "Yes, I was just studying about that myself." So the donkey got up on the porch. Bam bam. Kicked the door open. They went in. And now Jack crumbled some cornbread on the hearth. The rooster went to pecking it. Got a piece of fried chicken for the cat. Big ham bone. Lots of meat on it for the dog. Of course, the ox and the donkey just cropped the grass in the yard there. Now Jack, instead of eating some bread and meat like any sensible boy would do, he started in with a big quart of canned blueberries and a great big piece of cake. There ate his dessert first. So they went down to the well and got a good drink of water. Came back. Now Jack sat right in the middle of the porch steps, petting the dog on one side and scratching that old cat behind ears. Make it feel good. The ox and the donkey of course lay down in the grass at the foot of the steps. Now that old rooster, he was a strutting back and forth on the top step overseeing everything. And they got to telling old tales and singing and having a lot of fun. Got way up in the night. Finally, the donkey said, "Jack." Jack said, "Huh? What about them robbers? They'll be back in here by midnight, and I expect it's close to midnight now. old rooster stopped strutting and he put his head on one side and stuttered at me and said, "No, boys." Locks about half an hour. Well, what are we going to do when them robbers get here? Rooster said, "Well, boy, let's get fixed to fight them. Let's get fixed to fight them. Huh?" Well, they agreed and said they did. So, the cat went in and got right down one side of the fireplace over behind one of the hands. Now that old dog, he saw a good dark place with a table bench there and he hid under there and said he'd fight from there. Now there was a shade vine and that old donkey said that would be his fighting place. The ox of course now he backed into the shrubbery by the porch and said he would fight from there. Now what did the rooster do? Well, he got up on the roof somehow and he got right on top of the chimney. Down says, "You don't need any help down there. just call on me. Well, Jack was all tired out, all that traveling and all that eating. And he went into another part of the pole shack and there was seven fine feather beds. Jack tumbled over into the first one that come through and he sunk down out of sight. Slept right on. Didn't wake up neither. Well, sure enough, about midnight, here come seven of the meanest, ugliest looking rogues you ever saw. two guns a piece, you know, bullet belts and all that. Instead of all of them coming in and going right to the house, the big robber started rolling them a cigarette. And he says, "One of you boys going in there now and blow up the fire so winds can see to divide up all the money and stuff we've stolen today." Now, one robber went in the house with had a handful of shavings ready, got down on his knees, and put his face right over in the fireplace. Thought he saw two little coals of fire over there on one side. He dropped the shavings and blew. Now, when he dropped the shavings on the Tomcat's head and blew in his eyes, it reached out and let him have it. Scratched him down the face. Well, that sort of disturbed him. He headed for the door and the dog run out and bit him in the ankle. No sooner had he stepped out the door, that old doggy raised both high and they wham, knocked him off the course. And that old ox run out and scooped him up in his horns and run through the yard. Now that rooster, he got it growing so big up there like he done it all. Chunk him up here. The other robs took off. And that poor fella when he got his legs untangled, he stre away from there. I'll tell you now, he's going so fast. caught up with the other robbers about a mile away and they had to reach out and grab him to keep him from running past him. Finally, the big robber said, "What in the nation was all that racket back there to the house?" "Well, I don't know, but I'll just tell you that place is full of men. They've rent me. They've rent me. I'm going to die. Shows the world. I'm not 15 minutes to live." Well, before you die, tell us what in all happened back there. Well, I'll tell you. I went to blow up the fire and there was a man sitting there had a handful of needles and pins. Somehow scratched me down the face. Look at there. Uh then another man run out and jabbed me in the leg with a butcher knife. I no sooner got out the door. There was a man waiting there. Had two sledgehammers, swung both of them, knocked me off the porch. And there's a man waiting there in the bushes with a pitchfork. He scooped me up in his pitchfork and he run through the yard and he threw me over the fence. Hey Lord, they even had a man up on the roof and he got to hing get done with him. Chunk him up to me. Chunk him on up here. I'll fix him. I didn't want that man on the roof to get a hold of me. So I left about then. Well, I'm glad you told us the situation back there before you died. Well, those robbers ran and left the country and have been seen since. And Jack stayed there oh, two or three more days. And finally, Jack got founded on cake and canned fruit and got to thinking how good his mommy's biscuits and red gravy would taste. So Jack decided to take all those animals back home with him. But before they left, that old dog, you know, he got to scratching around under the house and found where those robbers hid all their gold and silver and green bags and packed all that on the donkey. So when Jack got home, had plenty of money to take care of all those animals, get them good feed, you know, over the county seat. Now, the last time I was down that way and went by Jack's house, I saw that old ox and donkey out grazing in the pasture field. That old dog, there he was under the house, curled up asleep. And that cat, it was a chilly day. And I know right where the cat was at, curled up under the kitchen stove. And that old rooster, he was scratching and the pecking out there in the front yard. And do you know, he had the finest set of tail feathers you ever saw. Now, I saw Jack, too. Of course, you know what he was doing. Yeah. He was out there at the wood fire with his tomahes, hacking and the chopping and the splitting. And after all that, never did forget to get his mommy that pile of K. [Music] [Music]