Jack and His Comrades
A man and his animal helpers drive robbers from a house.
A short Irish fairy tale, Jack and His Comrades follows a hero who succeeds with animal companions. Folklorist Patrick Kennedy collected it from Garrett Forrestal of County Wexford and published it in Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts (1866). Joseph Jacobs later reprinted it with minor revisions. In the Aarne-Thompson system, it is type 130, outcast animals finding a new home.
Quick Facts
- Aarne–Thompson grouping
- ATU 130 (Outcast Animals Find a New Home)
- Country
- Ireland
- Origin date
- 1866
- Published in
- Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts
Facts from the source article.
Synopsis
Jack announced to his mother that he intended to go out and make his way in the world. She gave him a choice: he could have half a hen and half a cake, along with her blessing, or the whole of both without it. Jack asked for the halves, but his mother gave him the whole of both, and her blessing as well. Along the road, he found a donkey named Neddy stuck in a bog and pulled him free. Soon after, a dog called Coley ran up to Jack for help; a pot was tied to the dog’s tail, and a crowd was chasing him. The donkey bellowed loudly, scaring off the crowd, and Jack untied the pot. Jack shared his food with the dog while the donkey ate thistles. A half-starved cat named Tom appeared, and Jack gave him a meaty bone. That evening, they saved a cockerel, known as Black Cock, from a fox. They all settled down to sleep in the woods. The cockerel crowed, claiming to see the dawn, but Jack realized it was actually a candle burning in a house. They crept up and peered inside, finding a den of robbers. The donkey placed his forehooves on the windowsill, and the animals stacked themselves one atop another, making a racket. Jack shouted a false order to raise pistols and fire, and the beasts smashed all the windowpanes. The terrified robbers fled the house and rode deep into the woods. Jack and his animals entered, ate a meal, and went to sleep. Later, the robber captain sorely missed the loot he had left behind. He sneaked back into the dark house, where the cat scratched him, the dog bit him, the cockerel pecked him, and finally the donkey gave him a mighty kick out in the stable. Unable to see anything in the darkness, the captain concocted a wildly exaggerated tale of the attack, insisting that all the plaster in Enniscorthy could not heal his cuts and wounds. Hearing this, the other robbers lost any desire to go back for their stolen goods.
Commentary
Jacobs noted three close parallels to this tale: the American "How Jack Went to Seek his Fortune," the Scottish "Story of the White Pet," and the German "Town Musicians of Bremen." In the Scottish and German versions, only animals seek their fortune, with no human character, yet the similarities remain strong. The motif of big and little cakes appears often in folklore, but Jack stands out because he has no older brothers; choosing the smaller cake typically marks the youngest child, as seen in tales like "The King of Lochlin's Three Daughters," "The Adventures of Covan the Brown-haired," and "The Girl and the Dead Man." The "helpful animals" motif (Stith Thompson Motif-index B300-) is widespread in folktales. "Puss in Boots" is a well-known example, though it features only one animal. Many Irish and Scottish tales involving the Sword of Light (Claíomh Solais) also include animal helpers, but those animals usually perform supernatural or magical feats, unlike the straightforward, practical assistance offered here.
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