| “ | Clickety clack! Get into my sack! | „ |
| ~ Jack Horner captures Death, Fables #11 — "Bag o' Bones" |
The magic bag is an enchanted bag that can hold and trap anything, and never fills up. It used to belong to Nick Slick, the Devil himself, until Jack Horner won the bag from him in a game of Poker. It appears in a story set during the American Civil War in Fables #11 — "Bag o' Bones."
History[]
| “ | You did it, Jack! You captured Death himself! | „ |
| ~ Sally Cornwelles to Jack Horner, Fables #11 — "Bag o' Bones" |
The bag was a magic sack owned by the Devil, Nick Slick, where he kept all his treasures and possessions. The sack never filled up no matter how much he put into it, and it seemed as if there was no limit to what it could hold. After fighting for the Southern States during the American Civil War, Jack Horner left the army when he realized that the war would not turn out well for the South. He met Nick in the middle of the swamp, who invited Jack to sit down and offered to play a game of Poker with him. Nick implied that he had all sorts of treasures hidden away in his sack, which was enough to persuade Jack.
At first, Nick won almost nearly everything from Jack. However, Nick convinced Jack to play one more round with him. Jack agreed on the condition that if he won, he would not only keep his own winnings, but also claim Nick's enchanted pouch as well. He also stated that he noticed the magical nature of the sack when Nick kept stuffing more and more things into it, but it never got fuller. He then proceeded to show Nick a winning hand of four Jacks. Nick was furious and accused Jack of cheating, but Jack denied this, saying that no one could trick the devil. Nick was forced to surrender the sack and teach Jack the magic words used to make anything go into the bag: "Clickety clack! Get into my sack!"
After cheating Nick Slick out of his magic bag, Jack came upon Sally Cornwelles' empty mansion with herself in bed. She said she was awaiting death, as it came for members of her family at her age. Jack offered to stop death if she'd sleep with him. Not really believing him, she agreed. When Death came for her, Jack used his magic bag and trapped him in the sack. After having their night together, Jack tiredly shoved Sally to cook him breakfast. Annoyed, Sally reluctantly did what he requested and picked a chicken to cook. However, upon trying to cut off its head, she saw the price of bagging death. Every animal she killed for food was still alive, with Death to take them. When she came to Jack all bloody, he soon saw his former soldiers now undead, angrily shouting at him for taking Death. He desperately released Death. Death was not really angry, as he was relieved to have a nap and agreed not to take revenge as long as Jack let him take a day off in his magic bag once a year. He agreed not to come after Sally for another year as he went back to work. Sally would eventually leave Jack for a musician, and Jack would someday lose the magic bag.
Original Source[]
The magic bag is based on the sack from the Appalachian folk tale[1] "Soldier Jack," one of the more obscure Jack tales.[2] In the original tale, Jack leaves the army following the war, and his only payment on discharge is two loaves of bread. As he travels down the path, an elderly man requests some food, and Jack presents him with a single loaf of bread. As a gesture of gratitude, the stranger hands him a mysterious sack that can capture anything it is instructed to, telling him that all he has to do is hold the bag open with one hand and slap it with the other, and say "Whickety whack! Into my sack!" The old man also gives him a glass vial through which he can spot Death. The bag proves useful when he is able to capture three devils from a haunted house that he wins as the prize for spending the night there. Eventually, he falls in love with the daughter of a King and she soon falls ill. Being able to see Death, he captures it inside his enchanted bag in order to save his beloved from inevitable mortality. The King is delighted and Jack heartened to have his beloved alive. The only issue they face now was that no one could die. Jack and all the others live for centuries with their aged, weary bodies hunched over. Jack meets an elderly person one day who expresses their weariness and wishes for death, but can't because some fool had managed to capture Death six hundred years ago, leaving no one able to pass away from their earthly life. In order to restore balance, Jack liberates his captive from the sack and finally brings an end to everyone's suffering, and everyone can die in peace.[3]
References[]
- ↑ Harrington, Richard, Tom Davenport's Film Folk, March 4, 1989, The Washington Post. ""Soldier Jack, Or the Man Who Caught Death in a Sack," based on an Appalachian folk tale variation"
- ↑ Jack Tales and Folklore, Iblio. "Ever wondered what it would be like to keep getting older but never being able to die? Jack and the folk of a small town do exactly that when Jack and Death meet in person. What happens? Will Jack and the town's folk ever die? You'll just have to read Soldier Jack to find out."
- ↑ Soldier Jack! (part I, II and III), Iblio