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The Jack and Jill Story (part II) |
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Scene Three, The Tragedy. - Don't go Jack. - I won't Jill. Never, never,
never, ever, never, ever never... And they would kiss before the
fall... We were all long then. Our
necks were long, and our arms and legs were long and thin and tied tight,
s-tre-tched and drawn... because Jack and Jill had fallen.
They had fallen down the hill and it had taken a short time which became
long. It became a long because the fall lingered... it lingered on, long,
long, a long, long, lingering long... Of course the others would
probably blame the bucket. They have a tendency to take the easy way out -
condemn other things - never blame themselves - the bucket is easy to
blame - it is just a bucket. But if I was to ask somebody if
the bucket was metal or wood - who could reply... with certainty ?... Who? I don't believe the bucket was
there at all. And if it was there, what if it
was filled with blood...? Was it spilled? I believed it to be a pail. *
* * I always wanted to play
Jack. Jack the giant killer. The farmer's son who killed the giant Cormoran. ...tis it not a beauteous
thing, love, that a boy like Jack would forsake a career in giant killing
to climb the hill with Jill. What is thy quest Jack, Oh slayer
of trolls?! To slay? To love? Oh great giant killer, what is
thy passion? When Jack met Jill he told
her about his giant killing: - See that big bugger of a
giant Jill. I'll kill 'im for ya! - Jack, that giant is a tree. - Don't worry Jill, I'll get that
bloody troll... - But Jack, that troll is a hill. - Hold my hand Jill, we'll run up
its back and chop off its head together... -
But Jack, we don't have a sw-o-o-o-rd... "Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of an Engishman! Be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to bake my
bread!" Such was the cry of the
trees in the forest, and from the very start we knew Jack and Jill to be
doomed. Oh Jack, why were you not
stronger ? Why did you not use your sword? Poor Jack... That such a famous giant killer
should come to such an untimely end... Poor Jack... *
* * I always wanted to play
Jack. - I love you Jill... I have
a side you cannot see. I wish you could see it Jill. Underneath I am black.
Look Jill. Look underneath. Look how black I am. Underneath I am lonely - see Jill. I want to show you Jill, but I
can't. I want to show you my blackness, my intensity, my real intensity... I want to show you my fire, my
vengance. Sleep around and I'll show you
how I can kill. I'll show you Jill. I'll show you the blood, the
oozing, sweating, seeping, putrid, shitty blood. I'll show you Jill. I'll show you,
Oh Jill, let me show you, let me, let me, look Jill, look, look, look,
LOOK!!! If I could show you we
could be great. Our love could be great. If you could see we would be
together. I love you Jill. *
* * Of course he never said
those things. And Jill never saw. "Jack and Jill went up
the hill To fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke Jill's
crown and now they've got a daughter." But of course that never
really happened: - I want to talk to you Jack... - I haven't killed any bloody
giants in ages... - This is important. - Maybe we're in the wrong wood... - It's about us. - We could move. It may mean
climbing though... - Listen Jack, I can't understand
why... - I'd settle for a wizened old
gnome if I could find one... - Jack listen! *
* * I would like to be Jill: - I love you Jack. I want
to reveal all to you. I am the same as you and we are different. Can't you see it? That's it Jack, that's real nice... Look into my eyes Jack... It's not working, is it Jack? Where are you? Look at me. Open your eyes Jack. Touch me, touch me there. Put your finger there, That's it Jack... No, Not there, Open your eyes Look at me Please Jack... come here you're too far away Jack, I'm too far away Slow down Open Open No Jack, not now, no Jack... You're finished Jack. We're finished. I love you Jack. I want to love you. Love me. *
* * Of course to outsiders the
problems weren't always evident. They were all concentrating on the bucket. - Oh what a pretty bucket! ...they all said. - Oh what a nice pail! Jack and
Jill will be very happy when they get to the top of their hill ...they all said this. I didn't believe there was
a bucket on that hill... or a pail. I didn't believe... I'm telling you the story
of my life. Do you believe me? And the law said unto Jack: - Jack, you know Jill. You
know what she's like. Accept her and take her unto your bosom. Love her.
She's a lovely girl. Treat her like a good man should treat a good woman.
Be kind to her. Whisper her name in her ear and tell her how beautiful she
is. Buy things for her. Buy things for her, for you, for both of you. If
she bows down to you you'll have all of her, and you'll have everything.
Your life will be complete. Be a good boy Jack. Be good to Jill. Use your
"thingy", that's what its there for. Fornicate Jack. Give her
the works, that's what she wants. Be strong and hard, give it with a
vengance. That's what she needs. That's what they all need Jack. But when Jack heard this he
became frightened and told Jill to get lost. Poor Jill. And the law said unto Jill: - Jill, you know Jack. You
know what he's like. Accept him and take him unto your bosom. Love him.
He's a lovely boy. Treat him like a good woman should treat a good man.
Look after him. Hold him in your arms and make him feel loved. But always
hold something back. Something you can fall back on in troubled times. Do
this and he'll never destroy you... But Jill had already given
everything to Jack... ...for the bucket. And when Jack told her to
get lost she knotted up inside and cried. Poor Jill... When Jill first felt the
pain she never really knew she was feeling anything. When she thought
about it afterwards, then she knew. This happens when emotions are at
their most intense, the intensity stopped Jill from thinking.
It stopped her from thinking about the pain so she never realized
she was feeling it until the intensity had subsided and she was able to
think about it. Real pain is so intense that we don't know about it until
it has subsided enough for us to be aware of it. The awareness comes later. Awareness and sensation are
often quite different. Can often be quite divorced. When I first felt the pain
I was never aware that it was the same pain that Jack and Jill felt until
later. Poor Jack... Poor Jill... Poor me. *
* * Scene Four, The Ecstasy. On the way up the hill,
Jack and Jill got very tired: - I'm very tired Jack. - Yes, so am I. - Perhaps we'll never reach the
top. - You shouldn't talk like that
Jill, we will always reach the top. - Perhaps... And although she was tired
Jill sang: "I dream of a peak
beyond my tears Where I will lie with you, my
love. Where the sun is warm and the
flowers ours And will be ours for ever more... ...my love." Such was the song that Jill
sang and it warmed their hearts and they climbed the hill with renewed
vigour. Unto the hill did they lift their eyes, and upon the hill did they
climb. Upwards... Upwards... Together... Hillary and Tensing!... Jack and
Jill!... Conquerors of the most ominous peaks. Climb the hill, Climb the hill, Climb the hill upward... Upward, always and ever... ...upward. Sing, sing For everything. The slope is steep But do not weep. Not I Nor Jill, not even Jack! We must not cry, We must attack! So they climbed. Jack
climbed and Jill climbed. They climbed on their hands and needs, grasping
at every blade of grass, clinging to every rock - and neither of them were
holding the bucket, it was not like those silly drawings at all. You see
Jack and Jill thought that the bucket was on top - on top of the hill -
that's what they were going to fetch - to fetch a bucket! - to fetch a
pail of water! - and it wasn't easy. They coughed and spluttered and
choked and wheezed and coughed... It was hard... On, On, On we go... Up, Up, Up we go... Until we reach, Until we reach,
Until we reach the top we go! La, la, la,
la, la, la.... La, la, la,
la, la, la.... They climbed and sang and they
were happy. And then... and then they reached... ...the summit... from where they could see... ...everything. And Jack and Jill filled their
lungs with the air which blew over the peak!... ...and they were both chilled. Poor Jack and Jill... You forgot to bring your
pullovers. When they reached the top
Jack looked to the horizons. He searched and realized that there were
greater things elsewhere, beyond the hill, around the hill, on the other
sides. Jack realized this. And then he saw Humpty Dumpty. *
* * When they reached the top
Jill looked deep into the pail - because she believed that it existed. She
gazed at her reflection in the water, then traced her hand across the
surface to clear away a green slime which had settled. *
* * When I first saw Humpty
Dumpty she was neither with Jack nor Jill. She was with none of them. She wasn't even with me. I merely observed her from a
distance. Humpty Dumpty was on her
own. The first time I saw her
she was building a wall, with bricks and mortar... ...on her own. The second time I saw
Humpty Dumpty I spoke to her: - Why are you building that
wall Humpty? She didn't answer... ...perhaps she shrugged her
shoulders, I don't know it's pretty hard to
tell when an egg shrugs her shoulders. The third time I saw her, I
asked again - the very same question - and she replied: - To fall off... she said. And I felt pity for that egg. Jack felt pity for Humpty
too. He watched her from the hill - he watched her from up high. He looked at Jill slumped over
that bucket that might not have existed - Jill might not have existed for
all Jack knew just then - he believed in nothing now, now that he had
dreamed of Humpty. - I have seen everything... he thought, and believed
that. Jack thought and dreamed
that he could stroke smooth egg shells, that he could reach right inside
without spoiling anything and then withdraw a sticky palm to cover his
face in an embryonic yellowness... Such was Jack's dream. And Jack opened his heart and
voice to the egg below him and sang: "The beauteous ones
must unite Tra-la And remain within our own sight Tra-la Upon this green hill, 'neath the
light Tra-la With a purpose for which we will
fight Tra-la Tra-la Tra-la-la-la... ...A golden path A silver lane Tra-la Tra-la Tra-la-la-la... ...Our lives entwined A holy plane Dee-dee-dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum. And while Jack sang Humpty
left her wall and ascended her face of the hill, until she had reached the
summit - until she had reached Jack's open arms. *
* * And Jill stared into her
bucket and dwelled within that perfect love she had promised herself: a
love so refined that the very thought of it caused a tear to drop from
Jill's right eye, into the bucket, where it splashed in the water and dyed the liquid red. Jill watched the bucket and
Jack watched Humpty. And both were warmed by their
vision. - Jack come look ! Here in
the bucket. We have found it Jack. Look! The water will tell you, Jack,
our love is complete, has been completed - We've found the Graal... - Jill come look, come look
at the beauty of this egg. You must understand Jill that this is my fate.
I will be complete with Humpty Dumpty. You must understand Jill - it is
not for us to find eternity together - it's not for us... So Jack reached forward to
grab the egg, but Humpty's shell was too smooth for any grip to contain it,
and as Jack applied pressure on her the egg slipped backwards, and Humpty
was propelled down the hill... Poor Humpty... Poor Jack... For alike two magnets were
these two. And as Humpty fell down her side Jack too lost his balance and
began to topple. And Jill, sensing disaster, reached out to save her lover: - Jack, I can feel you
slipping... - Jill, I can feel myself
slipping... - Jack, I can feel myself
s-s-lipping... - Jill, you're slipping... Down, Down, Down, They fell. Fe, fi, fo, fum Down to the bottom from
whence they came, Landing on their bum. The vinegar and brown paper
never worked of course. That was another lie. I've tried it myself. This
is the story of my life remember. *
* * And on the other side the
egg bounced and rolled away, for Humpty was a tough egg. Where are you now Humpty
Dumpty? *
* * I remember Humpty very well. I loved her too. We all loved her. And those that didn't blamed her.
They blamed her for making Jack fall. They blamed her for making Jill fall. Poor Humpty... I watched her roll away. I watched her climb onto her wall...
Humpty's own wall, the wall she had built herself. I watched her sitting
on the wall, dangling her legs. I watched her, but I couldn't see all
those others behind her, carefully piercing her shell with a sharp pin. I didn't see the pin hit. I didn't see the shell crack, the
shell open. I didn't see the others sucking
the dripping yellow substance; sucking Humpty's life away. What I did see was horrible
enough... ...Humpty fell, and
shattered into a thousand pieces. Some say she was pushed... ...pushed off her own wall! But no one can be sure. Humpty was a tough egg, that
finally cracked. Poor Humpty. *
* * But neither Jack nor Jill
saw any of this. They were on the other side of
the hill crying over their own bruised and battered bodies. I watched Jack and Jill. I watched them pick
themselves up from the ground, their heads all cracked and bloodied. I watched Jack pick up a
rock and in his anger hurl it at a tree. I watched the rock bounce
off and I heard Jack cry out... Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, And all the Queen's horses and
all the Queen's men, Would never see the person Humpty
fell on again! Poor Jack and Jill. *
* * Jack blamed Jill for the
fall and Jill blamed Jack. And they both blamed Humpty
Dumpty... Some even accused Baa-Baa Black
Sheep. "Little Bo-Peep has
lost her sheep And doesn't know where to find
them..." Then Jack and Jill felt
self-pity and blamed themselves: "Jack Sprat could eat
no fat His wife could eat no eggs..." - Jack and Jill I find you
both guilty of falling and I sentence you both to the servitude of vinegar
and brown paper. May God have mercy on your bucket - - ...our pail, your honour. *
* * I watched this all from
where I was... I watched all from where I was... I watched Jack and Jill pick
themselves up off the ground... I watched them help each other
stand... And then I watched them build a
new wall. It was Jack's idea. Perhaps
he wanted to be Humpty. They built their wall Of brick and grass, It grew a thousand foot ! But grass and brick it does not
stick, And the wall, it was Kapputt... Silly Jack and Jill. You
should have chosen your materials more scrupulously... Grass and brick it
does not stick ! But they didn't care. When the wall was built they
tried to climb over it. I watched them struggle: balancing on brick,
holding on to grass... Until! ...but grass and brick it does not stick... And they found themselves knee
deep in a sea of rubble. So they slumped together, in despair in dust and thought: - A wall that is no more is
trying to swallow me. this they thought. And Jill thought about
other walls, incredible walls, beautificous walls, spendiforous walls -
walls made of marbles and ribbons, reinforced with Baa-Baa Black Sheep's
wool. Jill told Jack and they smiled and laughed and jumped up and built their new wall. And the marbles and ribbons
glistened in the sun: The marbles were tied by the
ribbons, The ribbons were tight around the
marbles, And Baa-Baa Black Sheep laughed: - Baaa...Baaa... and Jack and Jill began to
climb: On, On, On we go Up, Up, Up we go Until we reach, Until we reach, Until we reach the top, we go... La, la, la,
la, la... La, la, la,
la, la... They forgot the last wall the last climb the last adventure the last discovery the last despair And when they reached the
top... |