Jack was courting a girl, and one evening he went to her house for supper. The girl went down to the cellar to draw some cider, but she saw an axe stuck in a beam right over the cider barrel. She started crying, thinking that if she and Jack got married and had a son, and that son grew up and went to draw cider, that axe might fall and kill him. When she didn't return, her mother went down, heard the tale, and started crying too. Then the father went down and joined them. Jack finally went to see what was taking so long and found them all wailing over a baby that didn't even exist. Jack told them he wouldn't marry the girl until he found three people sillier than they were. On his travels, he first met a man trying to jump into his trousers by leaning them against a wall and leaping from a bed. Next, he found a woman trying to carry sunshine into her dark house using a wheelbarrow. Finally, he saw a man trying to hoist a cow onto a roof with a rope to eat the grass growing there. Jack decided the world was plumb full of fools, so he went back home and married the girl after all.
It is easy to find fault in others, but folly is universal; we should learn to laugh at life's absurdities rather than let them overwhelm us.
Questions about this story
What is the moral of Jack and the Three Sillies?
The story teaches that everyone has their own brand of foolishness and that worrying about imaginary problems is a waste of time. It encourages a perspective that accepts human imperfection with humor.
Where did the story of Jack and the Three Sillies originate?
While this specific version is part of the Appalachian Jack Tales, it is a regional adaptation of an older English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs. It represents how European folklore evolved in the American mountains.
Who are the three sillies Jack meets on his journey?
Jack meets a man trying to jump into his pants, a woman trying to catch sunshine in a wheelbarrow to light her house, and a man trying to pull a cow onto a roof to graze. Each represents a different kind of logical absurdity.
Why did Jack leave his fiancée in the story?
Jack left because he was frustrated by the 'silliness' of her family, who were all crying over the hypothetical death of a child that hadn't even been born yet. He set out to see if the rest of the world was any more sensible.
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Good night.
