Jack Hannaford
by Joseph Jacobs · from Collected Folk Tales
Adapted Version
Once there was a clever man named Jack. He walked and walked and walked. He was very hungry.
Then he saw a farm. "Oh good!" said Jack.
Now, the farmer was not home. He went to town. But first he gave his wife coins. They were gold coins. "Keep them safe," he said. The wife put the coins in a pot. The pot was by the fire. "No one will find them here!" she said.
Knock, knock, knock! Jack was at the door.
"Who is there?" said the wife.
"I am Jack," he said. "I come from a far, far away land."
"Oh!" said the wife. "Do you know my old friend? He moved there long ago."
"Yes!" said Jack. "I know him."
"How is he?" she asked.
"He is sad," said Jack. "He needs coins. He needs to buy food and things."
"Oh, poor man!" said the wife. She ran to the pot by the fire. She took out all the gold coins. She gave them all to Jack. "Give these to him!" she said.
"I will," said Jack. He said thank you. Then he walked away very, very fast. He smiled a big smile.
Soon the farmer came home. "Where are my coins?" he asked.
"I gave them to a man," she said. "He came from a far-away land. He knows our old friend! Our friend needs help."
The farmer's eyes got very big. "Oh no!" he said. "That was a trick!"
"But YOU gave ME the coins!" she said. "That was silly too!"
The farmer jumped on his horse. He rode fast to find Jack.
Jack heard the horse. Clip, clop, clip, clop! He had an idea. He smiled.
Jack lay down on the grass. He looked up at the sky. He pointed up. "Look!" he said. "A big golden bird! Up in the sky!"
The farmer stopped his horse. "Where? Where?" he said.
"Lie down and look up!" said Jack. "I will hold your horse."
The farmer got off. He lay down. He looked up at the sky.
Jack jumped on the horse. He rode away very fast! The farmer looked and looked. But there was no golden bird.
The farmer walked home. He had no coins. He had no horse. He was very sad.
The wife looked at him. "I was silly," she said. "I lost the coins. But YOU lost the coins AND the horse! You are more silly than me!"
And Jack? He rode the horse far, far away. And he was not hungry anymore.
Original Story
JACK HANNAFORD
There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars—so long, that
he was quite out-at-elbows, and he did not know where to go to find a
living. So he walked up moors, down glens, till at last he came to a farm,
from which the good man had gone away to market. The wife of the farmer
was a very foolish woman, who had been a widow when he married her; the
farmer was foolish enough, too, and it is hard to say which of the two was
the more foolish. When you've heard my tale you may decide.
Now before the farmer goes to market says he to his wife: “Here is ten
pounds all in gold, take care of it till I come home.” If the man had not
been a fool he would never have given the money to his wife to keep. Well,
off he went in his cart to market, and the wife said to herself: “I will
keep the ten pounds quite safe from thieves;” so she tied it up in a rag,
and she put the rag up the parlour chimney.
“There,” said she, “no thieves will ever find it now, that is quite sure.”
Jack Hannaford, the old soldier, came and rapped at the door.
“Who is there?” asked the wife.
“Jack Hannaford.”
“Where do you come from?”
“Paradise.”
“Lord a' mercy! and maybe you've seen my old man there,” alluding to her
former husband.
“Yes, I have.”
“And how was he a-doing?” asked the goody.
“But middling; he cobbles old shoes, and he has nothing but cabbage for
victuals.”
“Deary me!” exclaimed the woman. “Didn't he send a message to me?”
“Yes, he did,” replied Jack Hannaford. “He said that he was out of
leather, and his pockets were empty, so you were to send him a few
shillings to buy a fresh stock of leather.”
“He shall have them, bless his poor soul!” And away went the wife to the
parlour chimney, and she pulled the rag with the ten pounds in it from the
chimney, and she gave the whole sum to the soldier, telling him that her
old man was to use as much as he wanted, and to send back the rest.
It was not long that Jack waited after receiving the money; he went off as
fast as he could walk.
Presently the farmer came home and asked for his money. The wife told him
that she had sent it by a soldier to her former husband in Paradise, to
buy him leather for cobbling the shoes of the saints and angels of Heaven.
The farmer was very angry, and he swore that he had never met with such a
fool as his wife. But the wife said that her husband was a greater fool
for letting her have the money.
There was no time to waste words; so the farmer mounted his horse and rode
off after Jack Hannaford. The old soldier heard the horse's hoofs
clattering on the road behind him, so he knew it must be the farmer
pursuing him. He lay down on the ground, and shading his eyes with one
hand, looked up into the sky, and pointed heavenwards with the other hand.
“What are you about there?” asked the farmer, pulling up.
“Lord save you!” exclaimed Jack: “I've seen a rare sight.”
“What was that?”
“A man going straight up into the sky, as if he were walking on a road.”
“Can you see him still?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Where?”
“Get off your horse and lie down.”
“If you will hold the horse.”
Jack did so readily.
“I cannot see him,” said the farmer.
“Shade your eyes with your hand, and you'll soon see a man flying away
from you.”
Sure enough he did so, for Jack leaped on the horse, and rode away with
it. The farmer walked home without his horse.
“You are a bigger fool than I am,” said the wife; “for I did only one
foolish thing, and you have done two.”
Story DNA
Moral
Foolishness can lead to being easily deceived and suffering losses.
Plot Summary
An old soldier, Jack Hannaford, tricks a foolish farmer's wife into giving him ten pounds by claiming her deceased first husband in Paradise needs money for cobbling supplies. When the farmer returns and learns of his wife's folly, he pursues Jack. Jack then tricks the farmer into dismounting his horse by pretending to see a man ascending to heaven, steals the horse, and leaves the farmer to walk home. The story concludes with the wife declaring the farmer a greater fool for losing both money and a horse, while she only lost the money.
Themes
Emotional Arc
naivety to frustration to further frustration
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
Joseph Jacobs was a prominent collector of English fairy tales, often adapting them from earlier oral traditions or printed sources. This tale reflects common folk motifs of trickery and outsmarting the foolish.
Plot Beats (15)
- An old, penniless soldier, Jack Hannaford, wanders until he finds a farm.
- The farmer leaves for market, entrusting ten pounds in gold to his foolish wife, who hides it in the chimney.
- Jack Hannaford arrives, claims to be from Paradise, and asks about the wife's deceased first husband.
- Jack fabricates a story that the deceased husband is cobbling shoes in Paradise, is out of leather, and needs money.
- The gullible wife retrieves the ten pounds from the chimney and gives it all to Jack for her former husband.
- Jack quickly departs with the money.
- The farmer returns, and his wife explains she sent the money to Paradise via Jack Hannaford.
- The farmer, enraged, calls his wife a fool but she retorts that he was a bigger fool for giving her the money.
- The farmer mounts his horse and pursues Jack Hannaford.
- Jack hears the farmer approaching and devises a new trick.
- Jack lies on the ground, shading his eyes and pointing to the sky, pretending to see a man ascending to heaven.
- The farmer stops, curious, and Jack convinces him to dismount and lie down to see the sight, offering to hold the horse.
- As the farmer shades his eyes, Jack leaps onto the horse and rides away.
- The farmer is left to walk home, having lost both his money and his horse.
- The wife, upon the farmer's return, declares him a greater fool for losing two things compared to her one.
Characters
Jack Hannaford ★ protagonist
Implied to be somewhat disheveled or poor due to being 'out-at-elbows'.
Attire: Soldier's attire, though 'out-at-elbows' suggests worn-out clothing.
Cunning, deceptive, quick-witted, opportunistic.
Image Prompt & Upload
A young teenage boy with tousled brown hair and a determined, hopeful expression. He wears a simple cream-colored tunic, a brown leather vest, sturdy trousers, and worn leather boots. He stands confidently, one hand resting on a tall wooden walking stick, looking slightly off-camera as if on an adventure. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Farmer's Wife ◆ supporting
Unknown, but her actions suggest a simple, perhaps naive, demeanor.
Attire: Period-appropriate peasant dress, perhaps a cap or apron.
Extremely foolish, gullible, well-meaning but misguided.
Image Prompt & Upload
A middle-aged woman with a kind, weathered face and a few strands of hair escaping a simple headscarf. She wears a practical, faded blue dress with a clean white apron tied at the waist, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her posture is strong and grounded, standing with one hand resting on her hip and the other gently holding a woven basket of fresh eggs. A look of quiet resilience and gentle warmth is in her eyes. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Farmer ◆ supporting
Unknown, but implied to be a man of some means, owning a farm and a horse.
Attire: Period-appropriate farmer's clothing, perhaps a smock or sturdy trousers.
Foolish, easily angered, somewhat gullible, prone to poor judgment.
Image Prompt & Upload
A middle-aged man with a kind, weathered face, deep smile lines, and sun-tanned skin. He has short, salt-and-pepper hair peeking from under a wide-brimmed straw hat. He wears a simple, faded blue linen shirt, brown suspenders over well-worn denim overalls, and sturdy leather boots. He stands with a gentle, welcoming posture, one hand resting on a wooden pitchfork held upright, the other hand open in a gesture of offering. He has a calm, reassuring expression. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Locations
Farmhouse
A typical farmhouse, home to the foolish farmer and his wife. Contains a parlour with a chimney.
Mood: Initially mundane, then becomes a scene of foolishness and deception.
The wife hides the money in the chimney and later gives it to Jack Hannaford. The farmer returns here to discover the deception.
Image Prompt & Upload
A late afternoon golden hour scene of a rustic, slightly weathered wooden farmhouse with a thatched roof. A stone chimney puffs gentle smoke into a soft blue sky. Warm light glows from small-paned windows. The house sits amidst a patchwork of green fields, with a small vegetable garden and a winding dirt path. Wildflowers dot the foreground. The atmosphere is peaceful and quaint. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration
Road/Moorland
The path Jack Hannaford travels, described as 'up moors, down glens'. Later, it's the road where the farmer pursues Jack.
Mood: Initially desolate for Jack, then becomes a scene of pursuit and further trickery.
Jack travels this path to the farm. Later, the farmer rides along it in pursuit of Jack, and Jack tricks the farmer into giving up his horse here.
Image Prompt & Upload
A winding dirt path cuts through vast, rolling moorland at dusk. The sky is a brooding tapestry of deep purples and bruised oranges as the sun sinks behind distant, craggy mountains. Low-lying mist clings to the valleys and glens below the path. The moors are covered in heather and gorse, their muted greens and browns broken by patches of rust-red bracken. The road itself is a pale ribbon, disappearing over a hill, flanked by ancient, moss-covered stone walls. The atmosphere is lonely and dramatic, with a cool, damp feel and long, deep shadows stretching across the landscape. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration
Open Ground by the Road
A spot alongside the road where Jack Hannaford lies down, shading his eyes and pointing skyward.
Mood: Deceptive, as Jack creates a false sense of wonder and urgency.
Jack Hannaford stages his trick to steal the farmer's horse by pretending to see a man ascending to heaven.
Image Prompt & Upload
Low-angle view from the ground of a sun-drenched, open field beside a dusty country road. The time is late afternoon, with the golden hour light casting long, soft shadows. The sky is vast and deep blue, filled with dramatic, billowing cumulus clouds illuminated by the warm sun. The road is a simple, unpaved dirt path winding through the scene. The field is a sea of tall, golden-green grass and scattered wildflowers in white and yellow. A single, ancient oak tree with a sprawling canopy stands nearby, its leaves rustling in a gentle breeze. The atmosphere is peaceful, quiet, and slightly magical, with a sense of vast openness. No border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
