The Life and Times of Glory: The Jack, the Cat, the Rat, and the Joker

(Follow along with the video on my channel if you wish: Times of Glory: The Jack, Cat, Rat, and Joker ^_^)

The Life and Times

of Glory

by: Dani Adams

I'll tell you a story, about Jack and Glory

And now, my story's begun...

1 The Jack, the Cat, the Rat, and the Joker

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick! Jack jump over the candlestick!

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick! Jack jump over the candlestick!

Jack was nimble, Jack was quick. Jack jumped over the candlestick~

The Fire fled to Far Away, so Jack the Hero saved the day~

So unafraid was he to hold his stance to any flame

The village people called him "Cole" - and King he soon became

Young King Cole was a merry young soul

And a very merry soul was he

He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl

And he called for his fiddlers three

Arrival of the Joker

In his courts came a Joker, and the Joker played as a Jest

He danced and he sang until it was plain that the King esteemed him best

The Jester was paid much in Silver and all the more in Gold

An idea had he that a King he could be and the Kingdom he could hold

"Oh King Cole, you're a very merry soul,

But alas I make a plea:

A Rat found my trove, and has stolen my Gold

Are the streets now to await me?"

Now King Cole was a very kind soul, so he would not let this be

His guards searched the town, looking up, looking down, but the Rat they could not see

But King Cole was a generous soul,

And restored to his Jester every single piece of Gold

So the Jester bowed his knee - "How I thank Your Majesty" -

then he left with a smile cold.

Winter without Fire

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick! Jack jump over the candlestick!

Jack was nimble, Jack was quick. Jack jumped over the candlestick~

The Fire fled to Far Away, so Jack the Hero saved the day!!

But Winter brought a price to pay…

The Jester would dance, and the children would play

While a man dressed pied came by the way

And arrived at the castle with a hope in vain

To prithee King Cole for some Fire

And in that moment, the Joker sang

(While "Ding Dong Dell" the Bells they rang)

"Oh King, the Rat! T'was the Rat again!"

"Confound!" cried the King. "I tire…"

The Pied Piper’s Plea

"Oh King Cole, you do seem a good soul

So I dare to make my plea

For I am the Piper, in my hand I hold

Just the thing to relieve thee"

"That?" said the Joker. "What a thing, King Cole!

Do you not have a pipe that you play with your bowl?"

"Ah," said the Piper, "This I play with my soul.

I will bring that Rat to thee."

So a deal was struck for a capture 'tween the Piper and the King

To the Piper, Cole promised Fire, though intended not to honor such a thing

A Rat was found in the village known Near and Far as a Thief

So Cole would have him finished but that night his lie was released.

The Jester came as the Joker, and to the Piper, this lie he revealed

The angered Piper set free the Rat and the King's fate then was sealed.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick! Jack jump over the candlestick!

The candles blaze more than they ought – and as you jump, you will be caught.

The Piper’s Curse

"King you lied! You lied, oh King!

Fire you said you would bring!

My people suffer in the cold

While you are growing fat and old!"

"Away, Piper! Away from me!

You do not know, so cannot see!

That angry Fire will not come

Within the walls of my Kingdom!"

"A curse I place on you, oh Liar:

Mourning mothers, blazing Fire -

And your love, the fairest Cat

Her life be taken by the Rat!"

One year passed, then passed some more since the Piper, young and pied,

Fled himself to Far Away and cursed the King because he lied.

The King, he met a maiden fair with deep sea eyes and golden hair

Enchanting as her smile be, King Cole got lost within that sea

And as the curse he soon forgot more of his purse the Joker caught…

The Piper’s Wrath

Now King Cole was a very merry soul

And a very merry soul was he!

He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl

And he called for his fiddlers three!

"Ding! Dong! Dell!"

Can you hear the Bell?

The Pied Piper comes from a deep dark well

The children play 'til they hear his call

They drop their chalk and forsake their ball

The mother mourns, her child gone -

For every child heard his song...

"Come little children, I'll take thee away~

Into a land of enchantments

Come little children, away, Far Away -

I know a garden of magic~

"Come with me to a land of dreams, with JubJub Birds and TumTum Trees

The Jaberwock is slain each day by the Hero of Far Away~

The greatest man of Far Away will scorch the land with a blaze today!"

Aftermath

As prophesied, the mothers mourned

As blazes grew, the King was scorned

The Joker used his coin and then

He bought cool Water for the land

The King was taken to a hold

His Kingdom bought by Joker's Gold

It was the most amazing thing

King became Jack, and Joker, King.

The Maiden and the “Teller”

Grieved, fair maiden ran away

A promise on her lips that day

To find the man who sent the blaze

For her Love's Kingdom to raze

Hope against all hope did she

That her Jack might soon be free

She found herself a Teller's shed

In want to get her fortune read…

But the Joker ran ahead.

He donned a wig, wore Gold and red,

Paid off the witch and took her stead,

And poised himself inside that shed.

"Oh Teller, please! I ask of thee -

Would you divine a man for me?

I hear that he is Far Away

And so I come to you today!"

"Hush, dear child. Hear me true. That man I can divine for you.

But there will be a price to pay..."

- "Right. Then will my necklace do?"

The Fortune:

"I'll tell you a story about Jack and Glory

And now, my story's begun.

I'll tell you another: The Rat and his Brother -

And now, my story is done."

"Not fair!" said the maiden. "In riddles you speak!

And I still do not know the man that I seek!"

"Then plain I shall speak; Will you understand that?

The one you are chasing, my dear, is the Rat."

"Ah. I know of the Rat. Indeed he fled,

To Far Away," the maiden said,

"The night he was to lose his head..."

Another Fortune

"Maiden, a story I will regail

About a Rat who lost his tail:

Three blind mice! Three blind mice! See how they run?

They all chased after the Farmer's Wife,

who cut off their tails with a carving knife!

Have you ever seen such a sight in your life?”

"I thought you would tell me about a Rat..."

"That I shall~ Shall I that~

"He is closer than you think.

Just leave here, look left, and blink.

Something odd will catch your eye~

Follow it, and you'll know why..."

The Maiden Begins Her Journey

So the maiden paid her helper, whom she’d thought to be the witch

Joker thought himself quite clever, knowing he had made the switch

He left the necklace to the Teller, to do with it as she pleased;

He, with plenty Gold and Silver, now would rest his mind at ease

In a day or two, thought he,

Perhaps he’d set the poor Jack free…

The Far Away Lands

T'was brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe

All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe

Beware the Jaberwock, my son – The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the JubJub Bird and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!

And as in uffish thought he stood, the Jaberwock, with eyes of flame

Came whiffling through the tulgy wood, and burbled as it came…

The Maiden in Blue and the Rabbit in White

~Little white rabbit, hippity hop!

Little blue pony, clippity clop!~

Out into the streets went she, an 'odd thing' to be seeking

When 'left' she looked, white fur she saw – A funny Rabbit speaking

"I am late! How late I am! The Queen will turn me into jam!"

His watch secured on waistcoat band, he hopped off through the darkened land~

Little Bunny, oh so funny

Wherefore dost thou hop away from me?

Thou art the very one I seek

And I shall chase thee even though you flee!

The Rabbit hopped into the wood, with maiden soon to follow

Alas the rabbit disappeared into a little hollow

The maiden squeezed herself on through, but what a foolish thing to do

A hole was there she could not see, and tumble down head-first did she~

Luckily, she was not hurt

Although her words a little curt...

The Maiden has gone Far Away

Ding Dong Dell! Someone's in the Well!

Who has fallen in?? – A silly little simpkin.

"Someone get me out!"

Call for Timmy Stout

The maiden being more petite than most held easy hope

That any man could pull her up as she held to that rope

But it came quite a shock to her when she saw not a man

But Timmy Stout, a little boy, held the rope in his hand

How odd, thought she, though odder yet is that I am not sopping wet

And how I came out of a well when down some random hole I fell

But little Timmy disappeared, so much to her surprise.

And as she looked around the wood was tulgy to her eyes

She felt a little chill and thought – how brillig was the day -

But since the rabbit still she sought, she must be on her way.

The Maiden and the Hero

T'was brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe

All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe

She held her arms around herself, long time the manxome Rat she sought

Then spotted she a TumTum tree, and a man eyes closed in thought

"Excuse me sir! For I am lost. Directions I implore~"

But softly on the tree he leaned, and all he did was snore.

But as in uffish thought he stood, the Jaberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgy wood, and burbled as it came!

The maiden's eyes went wide with fear –

She could not fight! What could she do!?

Oh how she longed for Jack!

But suddenly the man awoke and ran his vorpal sword right through~

He left it dead and with its head he came galumphing back!

"See, I have slain the Jaberwock, so do not fear, you will be fine."

Then realized he just who was she, and added, "So your life is mine."

The Cat is Trapped

She did not know what he implied.

Said she, "Indeed! I almost died!

And I will thank you one day, true,

But first there's something I must do-"

She wished to ask him if he knew

A Rat or Rabbit passing through

But he stopped her mid of speech

She would not make her beseech...

"I, dear maiden, tip my hat

For, you see, I am the Rat

But you, dear maiden, are the Cat

And I will have none of that."

Jack Mourns

Little Kitty, oh so pretty

Wherefore hast thou gone away from me?

With boots of white and fur of

Golden yellow and eyes deeper than the sea…

Poor old Jack

He's never coming back

He traveled 'round the world just to find his Kitty Cat

The Cat he didn't find

But the Bell she left behind

He stayed away, cried many a day, and now has lost his mind.