Week 14 Story: Jason and the Giant's Gold

Jason and the Giant's Gold

Jason had always been a poor peasant, unknown by most. He had a job as a shepherd for the Lord of the lands and it provided for himself, his mothers, and his sisters and he was grateful for it. However, he was with the sheep night and day and was unable to do little else. If he didn't have this job, his family would have starved when his father died some years back and so Jason worked hard, both to support his family and from the gratitude he felt toward the Lord for trusting him with his flocks.

However, some days back, he had left the sheep, for a little while, when he had come across a giant. He thought that would be the end of him and he briefly wondered who would take care of his family when he died but the giant hadn't killed him. It had needed his help and as a reward, it had taken him to a giant celebration. It had given him a belt of invisibility so he would be safe from the other giants and in this way, Jason had been able to witness the celebration without worry.

Even now, he could scarcely believe what he had experienced that night, however, he had taken with him a loaf of bread and as he looked at it, its presence reassured him that the night had been real, for this wasn't ordinary bread. When he took a bite, it did not diminish, and instead, it turned to gold in his mouth.

When Jason had discovered this, his first thought was that his family would be set for life, however, he remembered the Lord who had helped him in his time of need and realized he couldn't just leave the job he was so thankful for. So the first night after the giant's celebration, Jason took his family a single piece of gold and told them he had rescued the sheep from a wolf and had earned a gold coin in return. It would last them for a while and when it ran out, he would think of another excuse to bring another one.

Meanwhile, one night, he took a sack of gold, using his belt of invisibility, to the daughter of the Lord, Ariadne. She had always been kind to him and since it had been her birthday, he took her the first sack and then continued to do so each night after. He hoped it would be a gesture of gratitude, for her kindness.

He was about to go and do the same thing, though it was violently storming, he did not want to disappoint   Ariadne. So he hurried through the night and entered the manor. But as he did so, he realized he had forgotten his belt.

He was as quiet as he could be, sneaking into the room, setting down the gold and turning to leave. As he reached for the handle, the door swung open and, half blinded by the sudden light of a lamp, Jason barely saw the Lord, standing in the doorway.

"You!" the man cried, "you found out about the gold the fairies have been bringing my daughter, have you? You thought you would steal it, did you?" The man looked enraged but in a moment he said in a quieter voice, "you always served me well as a shepherd and so I won't send you to prison. But you must leave now and never return."

Behind Jason,  Ariadne had woken up and he could hear her begin to cry, likely frightened by the sudden commotion. "Jason?" She whispered, "how could you do this?"

Jason couldn't believe what he'd heard and darted into the night, unable to explain himself. Outside of the Lord's manor, he ran back to his home. His first thought was to leave the town with his family and never return. They would go somewhere nobody knew them and they could live as richly as they pleased but he remembered how sad Ariadne had been. He didn't want to leave and have her think the worse of him from then on. So he hurried to the nearest town.

There, he told the shopkeepers that he was the son of a Lord and that he had been separated from his attendants in the storm and that his clothes had been ruined. Using a few gold coins, he purchased a fine wardrobe, a coach with four black horses, and hired footmen to drive it. Then, he returned to the Lord's house to explain himself.

Dawn was breaking when he crested the hill and came into view of the Lord's grand manor. As his coach pulled up to the steps leading to the main entrance, the door open and the Lord himself stepped outside. He watched as the coachman opened the door and Jason himself stepped out. The former shepherd couldn't help but smile as he saw the look of utter surprise on his former master's face.

Photo Credit: fulcrumgallery

Author's Note

This story is based on Andrew Lang's tale, The Giants and the Herd-Boy. The story is about a herd-boy who helped a giant and went to the giant's party as a reward. The events are similar to what happened in my story, however, I gave my characters names (I was in a Greek mythology mood) and fleshed out Jason a bit more. I really liked his character in the original but I wondered why he would return to being a shepherd when he was now really wealthy so I added some backstory in order to explain it.