Long, long ago, a boy named Jack lived with his mother.
Jack was not very bright, but he was kind and diligent.
One day, Jack worked hard at a mill by a stream.
He was paid two silver coins.
On his way home, Jack played with the coins.
But suddenly, he stubbed his toe on a rock.
"Ouch! Oh no, the coins!" he cried.
But it was too late. Splash, splash!
Each of the silver coins splashed into the stream.
When Jack arrived home with nothing, his mother got very angry.
"Next time, be sure to put your pay into your pocket!" she said.
"I will, Mother," said Jack.
Later, Jack worked very hard at a bakery.
In return, he got paid a loaf of bread.
On his way back home, he stuffed the bread into his pocket, just like Mother said.
When he got home, he ran to his mother.
"Mother, look! I put my pay in my pocket!"
Jack pulled the bread out of his pocket.
"Oh, the bread crumbled," he said.
"Jack, next time be sure to carry your pay on your head!" his mother told him.
Later, Jack worked on a farm.
He worked very hard, and he got paid a large jar of milk.
"Hmm, I must put this jar on my head, just like my mother told me," he thought.
Jack carefully balanced the jar of milk on his head.
But Jack had to walk under a tree with a lot of branches.
The jar of milk on his head hit a branch.
"Oh no!" he cried.
When Jack returned home, he was so sad that he almost cried.
"Jack, don't feel so sad.
Next time, be sure to carry your pay on your shoulders."
"I will, Mother."
Later, Jack worked very hard at the market.
The master liked how diligently he worked.
So he gave Jack one of his donkeys.
"This time, I will put the donkey on my shoulders!
Then I can take it home safely," Jack said.
But the donkey was so heavy that Jack could not walk in a straight line.
"Oh, what a heavy donkey!"
Jack sang a silly song to forget the donkey's weight.
"Doodle-dee-doo! Doodle-dee-doo!"
The donkey cried because it felt so uncomfortable too.
"Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"
Jack tried very hard not to drop the donkey.
So he did not see the king and the princess having a picnic by the road.
The princess saw Jack zigzagging across the road and heard him and the donkey singing a funny song.
"Ha-ha-ha! That is the funniest thing I have ever seen!" She laughed.
"Oh, my daughter is laughing," said the king.
"She is laughing at last!"
The princess had not laughed since her mother had died.
No one had made her laugh since then.
The king was so pleased to see the princess laugh that he called out to Jack.
"You, my son! You have made my daughter laugh!
Please, be my daughter's husband!"
Jack kneeled. "Oh, Your Majesty."
So Jack and his mother went to the castle.
Jack married the princess.
Jack and the princess laughed all the time and lived happily ever after.
"Ha-ha-ha! Doodle-dee-doo! Doodle-dee-doo!"