In the town of Little Town on the edge of the enchanted forest that the townspeople called simply “the Forest”, there lived three very fortunate brothers, Jasper, Jon and Jack Barrow. Jasper was the oldest and most responsible of the three, Jack the youngest and the biggest dreamer.
These brothers were very fortunate indeed; all the townspeople said so. For they all three had very important jobs working for the mayor. At least, everyone told them that their jobs were very important.
While most of the townsfolk spent their days cutting wood or making shoes or blacksmithing or doing some other hard work, Jasper, Jon and Jack sat all day behind a large table reading papers for the mayor. Important papers, though really no one understood a thing about them. They never toiled or built or created or destroyed anything. They simply read papers, rather boring papers actually, that no one else could understand. And they were all three paid handsomely in gold at the end of every day for their work.
They were the luckiest men in the town. Everybody said so. They each owned a very big house and never had to sweat or labor for their gold.
Which is why Jack Barrow felt it was a great shame that he was so unhappy. And he worked as hard to hide his unhappiness from everyone as he did at reading papers all day.
Jon was not quite as unhappy as Jack, but he couldn’t help feeling that there should be more to his life than reading papers and sitting at a table everyday.
At the end of their long day of work, Jasper, Jon and Jack would often go to the town’s inn for food and drink in the hour or two they had before bedtime.
There, Jasper would boast of the great number of important papers he had read and of all the gold he had saved for the comfort of his old age. He never spent a silver piece more than he had to on anything else. Jon and Jack would drink their ale and try very hard to feel and appear as happy with their lot as Jasper seemed to be. And all the townsfolk would tell them how lucky they were.
One day, after long hours of sitting behind the large table reading the important papers, the three brothers were again taking their meal at the inn when they heard a rumor of a fairy carnival coming to town.
They listened to the townspeople talk about the music, games, jugglers, fire-eaters, fortunetellers and more that would be at the carnival.
Jasper turned up his nose at the news. He had no interest in such things. “I had much rather save my gold for the comfort of my old age,” he said.
But the idea of the carnival, with all its magic and excitement, made Jon and Jack quite determined to go. And they both looked forward to it eagerly.
A week went by before the fairy carnival arrived. And never had a week of reading papers felt so dull to Jon or Jack.
When the carnival at last came to town they were both at the front of the crowd to watch the grand parade coming down the road from the south.
Acrobats back-flipped at the head of a line of brightly colored wagons drawn by horses. Fairy dancers spun and flew to the sound of a strange and magical music. A wizard conjured lights and smoke and fanciful birds out of thin air. And a troupe of exotic and mystical animals followed behind. It was unlike anything Jon or Jack had ever seen. And they stared wide-eyed and as excited as any child in the crowd watching the procession.
The parade came to a stop in a large clearing just across the road from the town gates. Within minutes the colorful wagons had made a huge circle in the clearing. And all sorts of mysterious contraptions and tents and lights sprang up in the center of the wagon ring like magic. A large sign unfurled above the wagons reading “The Magical Carnival of Fairy, Fancy and Wonder”.
Jon and Jack were first in line to enter the carnival, as giddy as boys.
They watched the fairy dancers and listened to wonderful and enchanting music. They ate spicy and sweet and sharp foods that they had never tasted before in their lives. They watched men and women in sparkling costumes eat fire and juggle knives and twist themselves into impossible shapes. They saw a wizard turn a cow into a unicorn and they rode on a large, spinning contraption called Ferris wheel. They saw griffins and chimeras and sphinxes. And they played games, throwing axes and tossing large stones, and won prizes.
Never had the brothers had more fun in their lives.
As they wandered through the carnival they came to the fortuneteller’s wagon.
“Fortunes Told for 1 Silver Coin” the sign above it read in golden letters.
Such was the happiness of the brothers that they stepped immediately inside to see what wonderful things their futures held for them.
The wagon was lit by candles, and the woman inside sat behind a small table covered with cards and crystals. She was darkly beautiful, though not in the normal way. She wore colorful, sparkling clothing and silver talismans around her neck. Her hair was strewn with beads and her eyes were large and piercing. Neither Jon nor Jack could tell whether she was a fairy or not. She looked human, but there was an enchanting air around her.
“Welcome,” she said in a strange accent, “You seek to know your future. And I can help you along your path.”
Jon and Jack each sat on a stool facing the fortuneteller.
She scooped up her cards and shuffled them. Laying a card before each of the brothers she said, “You must choose your own path. The cards will only show you what is possible.”
Jon and Jack each picked up a card and looked at it.
Suddenly, each could see in his mind’s eye a hundred different ways that he could choose to live his life. So many ways that neither of the brothers had dared to think was possible. Each knew that he could do or be anything, or go anywhere, and all he had to do to make it happen was to choose it. A knight or a carpenter, a poet or a juggler, a mighty lord or a magician, more, each brother saw that he might choose to be any of these things.
They stared at the fortuneteller, stunned.
“Keep the cards,” the fortuneteller said, “They are for you.” And she smiled at them as they got up and left in silence. It wasn’t until they were outside that they realized that she had not even asked them for a silver coin.
Jon and Jack took their cards and each put it beneath his pillow that night for safekeeping. And they dreamed wonderful dreams of traveling the world, of seeing and tasting new things, and of creating, building, learning and living a different life.
The next day of reading papers was even more dull than before for both Jon and Jack.
At the end of the day, as they sat once again in the town inn, they told Jasper of the wonderful things they saw at the carnival and especially of the mysterious fortuneteller.
Jasper could see the light shining in their eyes as they spoke of all the things the cards had shown them they could choose to do.
“Fools!” Jasper exclaimed, “Would you really throw away your good fortune? Throw away your life here, your good and easy work - your gold! - to live a dream?” Jon and Jack were silent. They had never seen their brother Jasper so angry. “These cards are nothing but a magic trick,” he said with a sneer. “What we have here, THIS is real.” And Jasper, rolling his eyes at their stupidity, took a long swallow of his ale.
Neither Jon nor Jack could sleep that night. Each looked again at his fortuneteller’s card. But the cards were only cards now. They had lost their magic.
The next day, when Jasper and Jon came ready for a long day of sitting and reading papers, Jack was nowhere to be seen. The brothers, worried that Jack might be ill, went to look for him at his house. But he wasn’t there.
Instead they found a note that read:
“Dear Jasper and Jon, I am off to live my dreams. Your loving brother, Jack Barrow”
Jasper was furious. He stormed about the house yelling that Jack was a fool, an idiot dreamer, that he would starve in the fields and have no comfort in his old age.
Jon was quiet. For deep in his heart he wanted to follow Jack. But he was afraid. What if he failed? What if he grew poor? What would the townsfolk say about him? What would Jasper say? Who would read the important papers if he ran away to live his dreams?
And Jon quietly left Jack’s house and, with a heavy heart, went back to his work sitting at the large table and reading papers, because it was the easiest and safest thing to do.
As the years went on Jon and Jasper would receive letters from their brother Jack, describing his adventures and the wonderful places he had seen and the strange people he had met.
And Jasper would call him a fool and turn his nose up.
But Jon would read Jack’s letters eagerly, all the while forming a secret plan to join him some day. For Jon knew that if he worked long and hard enough at reading the papers that he could save enough gold that he could finally do what he truly wanted to do.
So he read, and dreadfully boring reading it was, and went to the inn each night with Jasper. But he took his gold home at the end of the day to save it for the time he could follow his brother Jack.
Jasper worked at reading the papers for many years and saved so much gold that he was sure to be always rich, even if he lived to be 105 years old. He loved to brag about his important work and how much gold he had saved at the town inn. And everyone congratulated him and agreed that he was a very wise and prudent man.
But the day after he retired from his work to enjoy his hard earned gold in comfort, the angel of death came to him in the night, and he never got to spend a single silver piece of his savings.
Jon worked at reading the papers too. For years he spent his days wishing and waiting for the time he could do what he truly wanted, like learning to sword fight or climb a mountain, while he read page after page of dull words. And he too became very rich.
Sometimes Jon would go walk into the Forest, or as far down the road as he could go in a day, to try to ease his mind, but he always came back wishing more than ever for that future when he could follow Jack.
And finally, when he felt he had worked at reading papers long enough, and had the approval of the townsfolk, and had saved enough gold to live his dreams, he found that he had grown old and weak and tired. Bent and withered, he no longer had the strength to travel or to do any of the many many things he had waited so long to do. And his only comfort was in the letters he received from his brother Jack, whom he wished he had followed years ago.
And Jack?
On the night that he left his house for good, Jack ran to the fairy carnival and begged for any kind of work they would give him. And when the carnival left the next day, Jack drove one of the brightly colored wagons with a smile upon his face.
In the years that followed, Jack learned how to train magical animals and how to weave spells to make it rain. He learned how to dance and how to speak the fairy language. He learned how to weave baskets and how to build wagons, how to sword fight and how to use healing herbs to cure sickness. He worked as a carpenter, a juggler, a storyteller, a lute player, and a woodcutter. He climbed a mountain and he tasted golden apples from a magical tree. He traveled the world, always eager to see new things. And he made friends from many countries and many walks of life. He made and lost great fortunes and was both poor and rich in his turn. He felt great joy, and also great sorrow.
And he married the very fortuneteller that had shown him he could control his own fate. And after many journeys and adventures together, they built a small house in the Forest where they spent their old age reminiscing about all the wonderful things they had done and learned and seen in the wide world.
THE END
These brothers were very fortunate indeed; all the townspeople said so. For they all three had very important jobs working for the mayor. At least, everyone told them that their jobs were very important.
While most of the townsfolk spent their days cutting wood or making shoes or blacksmithing or doing some other hard work, Jasper, Jon and Jack sat all day behind a large table reading papers for the mayor. Important papers, though really no one understood a thing about them. They never toiled or built or created or destroyed anything. They simply read papers, rather boring papers actually, that no one else could understand. And they were all three paid handsomely in gold at the end of every day for their work.
They were the luckiest men in the town. Everybody said so. They each owned a very big house and never had to sweat or labor for their gold.
Which is why Jack Barrow felt it was a great shame that he was so unhappy. And he worked as hard to hide his unhappiness from everyone as he did at reading papers all day.
Jon was not quite as unhappy as Jack, but he couldn’t help feeling that there should be more to his life than reading papers and sitting at a table everyday.
At the end of their long day of work, Jasper, Jon and Jack would often go to the town’s inn for food and drink in the hour or two they had before bedtime.
There, Jasper would boast of the great number of important papers he had read and of all the gold he had saved for the comfort of his old age. He never spent a silver piece more than he had to on anything else. Jon and Jack would drink their ale and try very hard to feel and appear as happy with their lot as Jasper seemed to be. And all the townsfolk would tell them how lucky they were.
One day, after long hours of sitting behind the large table reading the important papers, the three brothers were again taking their meal at the inn when they heard a rumor of a fairy carnival coming to town.
They listened to the townspeople talk about the music, games, jugglers, fire-eaters, fortunetellers and more that would be at the carnival.
Jasper turned up his nose at the news. He had no interest in such things. “I had much rather save my gold for the comfort of my old age,” he said.
But the idea of the carnival, with all its magic and excitement, made Jon and Jack quite determined to go. And they both looked forward to it eagerly.
A week went by before the fairy carnival arrived. And never had a week of reading papers felt so dull to Jon or Jack.
When the carnival at last came to town they were both at the front of the crowd to watch the grand parade coming down the road from the south.
Acrobats back-flipped at the head of a line of brightly colored wagons drawn by horses. Fairy dancers spun and flew to the sound of a strange and magical music. A wizard conjured lights and smoke and fanciful birds out of thin air. And a troupe of exotic and mystical animals followed behind. It was unlike anything Jon or Jack had ever seen. And they stared wide-eyed and as excited as any child in the crowd watching the procession.
The parade came to a stop in a large clearing just across the road from the town gates. Within minutes the colorful wagons had made a huge circle in the clearing. And all sorts of mysterious contraptions and tents and lights sprang up in the center of the wagon ring like magic. A large sign unfurled above the wagons reading “The Magical Carnival of Fairy, Fancy and Wonder”.
Jon and Jack were first in line to enter the carnival, as giddy as boys.
They watched the fairy dancers and listened to wonderful and enchanting music. They ate spicy and sweet and sharp foods that they had never tasted before in their lives. They watched men and women in sparkling costumes eat fire and juggle knives and twist themselves into impossible shapes. They saw a wizard turn a cow into a unicorn and they rode on a large, spinning contraption called Ferris wheel. They saw griffins and chimeras and sphinxes. And they played games, throwing axes and tossing large stones, and won prizes.
Never had the brothers had more fun in their lives.
As they wandered through the carnival they came to the fortuneteller’s wagon.
“Fortunes Told for 1 Silver Coin” the sign above it read in golden letters.
Such was the happiness of the brothers that they stepped immediately inside to see what wonderful things their futures held for them.
The wagon was lit by candles, and the woman inside sat behind a small table covered with cards and crystals. She was darkly beautiful, though not in the normal way. She wore colorful, sparkling clothing and silver talismans around her neck. Her hair was strewn with beads and her eyes were large and piercing. Neither Jon nor Jack could tell whether she was a fairy or not. She looked human, but there was an enchanting air around her.
“Welcome,” she said in a strange accent, “You seek to know your future. And I can help you along your path.”
Jon and Jack each sat on a stool facing the fortuneteller.
She scooped up her cards and shuffled them. Laying a card before each of the brothers she said, “You must choose your own path. The cards will only show you what is possible.”
Jon and Jack each picked up a card and looked at it.
Suddenly, each could see in his mind’s eye a hundred different ways that he could choose to live his life. So many ways that neither of the brothers had dared to think was possible. Each knew that he could do or be anything, or go anywhere, and all he had to do to make it happen was to choose it. A knight or a carpenter, a poet or a juggler, a mighty lord or a magician, more, each brother saw that he might choose to be any of these things.
They stared at the fortuneteller, stunned.
“Keep the cards,” the fortuneteller said, “They are for you.” And she smiled at them as they got up and left in silence. It wasn’t until they were outside that they realized that she had not even asked them for a silver coin.
Jon and Jack took their cards and each put it beneath his pillow that night for safekeeping. And they dreamed wonderful dreams of traveling the world, of seeing and tasting new things, and of creating, building, learning and living a different life.
The next day of reading papers was even more dull than before for both Jon and Jack.
At the end of the day, as they sat once again in the town inn, they told Jasper of the wonderful things they saw at the carnival and especially of the mysterious fortuneteller.
Jasper could see the light shining in their eyes as they spoke of all the things the cards had shown them they could choose to do.
“Fools!” Jasper exclaimed, “Would you really throw away your good fortune? Throw away your life here, your good and easy work - your gold! - to live a dream?” Jon and Jack were silent. They had never seen their brother Jasper so angry. “These cards are nothing but a magic trick,” he said with a sneer. “What we have here, THIS is real.” And Jasper, rolling his eyes at their stupidity, took a long swallow of his ale.
Neither Jon nor Jack could sleep that night. Each looked again at his fortuneteller’s card. But the cards were only cards now. They had lost their magic.
The next day, when Jasper and Jon came ready for a long day of sitting and reading papers, Jack was nowhere to be seen. The brothers, worried that Jack might be ill, went to look for him at his house. But he wasn’t there.
Instead they found a note that read:
“Dear Jasper and Jon, I am off to live my dreams. Your loving brother, Jack Barrow”
Jasper was furious. He stormed about the house yelling that Jack was a fool, an idiot dreamer, that he would starve in the fields and have no comfort in his old age.
Jon was quiet. For deep in his heart he wanted to follow Jack. But he was afraid. What if he failed? What if he grew poor? What would the townsfolk say about him? What would Jasper say? Who would read the important papers if he ran away to live his dreams?
And Jon quietly left Jack’s house and, with a heavy heart, went back to his work sitting at the large table and reading papers, because it was the easiest and safest thing to do.
As the years went on Jon and Jasper would receive letters from their brother Jack, describing his adventures and the wonderful places he had seen and the strange people he had met.
And Jasper would call him a fool and turn his nose up.
But Jon would read Jack’s letters eagerly, all the while forming a secret plan to join him some day. For Jon knew that if he worked long and hard enough at reading the papers that he could save enough gold that he could finally do what he truly wanted to do.
So he read, and dreadfully boring reading it was, and went to the inn each night with Jasper. But he took his gold home at the end of the day to save it for the time he could follow his brother Jack.
Jasper worked at reading the papers for many years and saved so much gold that he was sure to be always rich, even if he lived to be 105 years old. He loved to brag about his important work and how much gold he had saved at the town inn. And everyone congratulated him and agreed that he was a very wise and prudent man.
But the day after he retired from his work to enjoy his hard earned gold in comfort, the angel of death came to him in the night, and he never got to spend a single silver piece of his savings.
Jon worked at reading the papers too. For years he spent his days wishing and waiting for the time he could do what he truly wanted, like learning to sword fight or climb a mountain, while he read page after page of dull words. And he too became very rich.
Sometimes Jon would go walk into the Forest, or as far down the road as he could go in a day, to try to ease his mind, but he always came back wishing more than ever for that future when he could follow Jack.
And finally, when he felt he had worked at reading papers long enough, and had the approval of the townsfolk, and had saved enough gold to live his dreams, he found that he had grown old and weak and tired. Bent and withered, he no longer had the strength to travel or to do any of the many many things he had waited so long to do. And his only comfort was in the letters he received from his brother Jack, whom he wished he had followed years ago.
And Jack?
On the night that he left his house for good, Jack ran to the fairy carnival and begged for any kind of work they would give him. And when the carnival left the next day, Jack drove one of the brightly colored wagons with a smile upon his face.
In the years that followed, Jack learned how to train magical animals and how to weave spells to make it rain. He learned how to dance and how to speak the fairy language. He learned how to weave baskets and how to build wagons, how to sword fight and how to use healing herbs to cure sickness. He worked as a carpenter, a juggler, a storyteller, a lute player, and a woodcutter. He climbed a mountain and he tasted golden apples from a magical tree. He traveled the world, always eager to see new things. And he made friends from many countries and many walks of life. He made and lost great fortunes and was both poor and rich in his turn. He felt great joy, and also great sorrow.
And he married the very fortuneteller that had shown him he could control his own fate. And after many journeys and adventures together, they built a small house in the Forest where they spent their old age reminiscing about all the wonderful things they had done and learned and seen in the wide world.
THE END