To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
(traditional nursery rhyme)
Jack and Jill were the best of friends. Jack was very
outgoing and rowdy. Jill was very quiet and shy. They had lived next door to
each other for their whole lives. They were still young, just ten years old,
and are in the same class at school. All of their classmates made fun of them
for being friends. The girls told Jill that Jack is gross and dumb because “he’s
a boy.” The boys told Jack that Jill has cooties and that he shouldn't be seen
with her. They still wanted to be friends though and ignored what their friends
were telling them. They didn't see any reason to stop being friends since they
had been friends for so long.
One day after school, Jack’s mother asked him to go up the
hill and get her a pail of water from the well. Jack ran next door to Jill’s
house and asked her to come along with him. Jack asked Jill to go with him
because he didn't want to go alone and wanted to spend time with Jill. They
talked as they walked up the hill. They couldn't understand why their friends
didn't want them to speak to each other. It made them both of them very sad.
When they reached the top of the hill, Jack filled the pail
with water. He told Jill that he will always be her friend no matter what any
of their friends said. He didn't care what anyone else thought. This made Jill
smile, but then Jack tried to kiss her. “Gross!” she screamed as she shoved Jack
down the hill. Jill was embarrassed that Jack had tried to kiss her and she
didn't understand why he did since they were best friends. She ran back home
and never spoke to Jack again.
Jack and Jill falling down the hill illustrated by William Wallace Denslow. Source: Wikipedia
Author's Note: This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill." It is quoted at the beginning of this post. This nursery rhyme can be found in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897). This was one of my favorite nursery rhymes when I was younger, so I chose to retell this story for my storytelling post. I wanted to create a background story for Jack and Jill to make the story more interesting. I always pictured Jack and Jill as children when I heard this story. I wanted them to be friends and not siblings, because that fit the story line I wanted to tell. I remember in elementary school when kids were made fun of for hanging out with a kid that was not the same gender. That seemed like a good plot to add into the retelling of this story.I wanted to add the funny twist of Jill pushing Jack down the hill. I chose this ending because I knew that in the original they both fell down the hill and I wanted the ending to be more humorous. I feel like Jack trying to kiss Jill and her shoving him was an appropriate reaction.
Oh, I am so glad you picked this one, Hilary! That is one of the most famous rhymes and because it doesn't give you any context for what is going on, everybody imagines something in their own way! Sometimes they are brother and sister, sometimes they are even husband and wife, or friends, like what you did here. But of the many versions I have read of this story, I have never read one where Jill pushed Jack: ingenious! It makes perfect sense (being pushed is a very obvious way to fall down!), and you did such a great job of figuring out just why she might have pushed him too! So sad... but kids really can be like that: life can be incredibly complicated even for little kids, with cooties and kisses and gossip to cope with! And I am glad you chose that Denslow image: he is one of my favorite illustrators. He is probably most famous for his illustrations of the Wizard of Oz. You'll recognize his style if you take a look — and the book is public domain, free to all! Here it is at Internet Archive: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with pictures by W. W. Denslow
ReplyDeleteI love how you expanded this story from four lines to an entire story. The background information that you gave was cute and funny. It reminded me of elementary school, especially the cooties part. When reading the story, I had no idea what to expect. The ending was a complete surprise, particularly Jill never talking to Jack again. I really like your retelling of the story. I thought it was an adorable take on a well known nursery rhyme.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job upon expanding the background for this famous nursery rhyme. I loved how you made it just like elementary school. I can remember when girls used to have cooties. I also loved that Jill was the one to push Jack down the hill! The reason for her pushing him down the hill was great! It makes perfect sense! You did a great job taking a well known nursery rhyme and making it your own!
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