There once was a man who was nothing. His name was Jack, but hardly anyone knew his name.
He wasn't a plumber, wasn't a lawyer, wasn't a baker or tinker. He wasn't a soldier at arms, or a man who builds brand new barns. He wasn't a pauper and wasn't a talker. He was not anything at all. He seemed to know nothing and he was never around to help anyone.
Jack, the man who was nothing, went walking one day down by the lazy stream that runs this way and that way down below town. Walking along, he happened to see a great fish as it swam around in a pool. And he marveled at how big and pretty it was.
"I should like to catch a great fish like that," he said to himself. "I could show it off to everyone and then clean it and eat it. But I don't how to fish. And I don't know how to clean a fish."
And it was true. Jack knew nothing at all about fishing or cleaning fish. So the man who was nothing walked on.
Soon, he came upon a large tree that grew by the river. And looking up and up and up, he saw that way up high in the tree was a great bird.
"I should like to have such a bird as that," he said, marveling at its great size and pretty feathers. "But I don't know anything about catching birds. I'd probably kill myself trying."
And it was true that Jack had never caught a bird in his life. So the man walked on, continuing to be nothing.
The day was mild and the sky was blue. The water of the river sparkled in the bright afternoon sun, and it sang its watery songs about rivers and streams and inland seas, and oceans far, far away. The water's song began to make Jack sleepy and dreamy. So he found a nice place under an evergreen tree, and settled himself down and went to sleep on the soft, brown needles.
Hours went by, and then days went by. And then months went by. Soon year followed year. Three years went by as Jack, the man who was nothing, slept there, always being soothed in his sleep by the singing of the water in the river.
Then one day, the man who was nothing suddenly woke up. "I'm hungry!" he said aloud. "I'm very hungry, indeed." And so he went back toward the village and his house to get something to eat.
Now Jack, the man who was nothing, lived with his old mother and father. He had no house of his own because he had no money. He had no money because he never did any work. Jack never worked because he knew nothing about how to work. And he knew nothing about how to work... well, I'm not sure why Jack never learned anything about working.
When the man who was nothing got home, his mother was preparing lunch. "I'm hungry," Jack said. And he sat down at the table with his old father to eat.
As always, his mother divided up the little food that they had and served it in three wooden bowls. The man who was nothing grabbed the bowl and gobbled up the food.
"Where you been, Boy?" his father asked after he, too, had finished eating. "You've been missing for three long years."
"I have?" asked the man who was nothing. "I didn't know that I slept that long."
"Yep," the old man said. "It's been three years this week."
"What did you think?" Jack asked. "Did you go out looking for me? Did you weep for me and miss me?"
"No," said his father. "We hoped that you maybe got work somewhere, and that you got yourself a house of your own. We liked having more food."
His old father's remarks hurt Jack's feelings and made him a little angry. So he got up and went outside to go into the village.
The man who was nothing passed several people on the road, but no one seemed to notice him after his long absence. Even in the village, no one seemed surprised to see him. Finally, Jack decided to say something.
"Hello," he said to the man repairing broken cobblestones along the edges of the main street. "I'm back."
"Back from what?" the stone mason asked, hardly looking up.
"Back from my long sleep," said the man who was nothing. "I've been gone for 3 years. But now I'm back."
"Three years?" said the worker, laying a new cobblestone into place. "You serious? I hadn't noticed you gone at all."
Jack went on by, his feelings hurt again by the worker's remarks. He went on up the street to the crossroad and into the Roadhouse tavern. Inside, he saw the tavern keeper standing ready at the counter, with a small white towel flung over his left shoulder.
"What'll you be having today, Good Neighbor?" the tavern keeper asked, as the man who was nothing walked up to the bar.
"Oh, nothing today, Sam," said Jack. "Just stopped by to say that I'm back. Been gone for 3 years, but I'm back in town."
"Gone?" said Sam, cheerfully. "Is that so? I never knew you were gone at all. Well, I'm glad you're back, anyway."
Instead of leaning against the smooth wooden counter, as he usually did, Jack turned around and walked back outside. He was unhappy. How could no one in the small village not know that he had been missing for 3 long years?
"The mere fact that I do nothing," he thought to himself, "does not mean that I am nothing, or that I count for nothing." But the feelings did not go away.
Walking slowly down the street, he saw the carpenter working on a large house. He walked up to the busy carpenter.
"Hey, Thom, I'm back. Did you miss me?" Jack asked.
Looking down from his ladder, the carpenter said, "Miss you? Why should I miss you? Have you been away?"
"Yes," said the man who was nothing. "I've been asleep for three years, down there by the river, under a pine tree."
"Is that so?" said Thom. He finished nailing a board into placed and then started back down the ladder.
As he came down off the ladder, Thom said, "Well, I hadn't noticed anything any different. Seems to me you've been asleep all your life." The two of them looked at each other for a moment, and then the carpenter turned to go get another board.
Jack, the man who was nothing, felt very ashamed. He thought about his life and what his father had said. He thought about what the men of the village had said.
"Wait," he said suddenly. "Let me get that board for you." And he ran to get a board off the stack and brought it back. "Here," he said, handing the board to Thom. I know you're busy and that you need help. I don't know how to build things, but I know that I can help you, if you'll tell me what to do."
And that's just what Jack did. And Thom the carpenter was very glad to have the help.
And that's when things began to change. The man who was nothing helped the carpenter to do his work. He helped him all that day, and he helped the next day, and all the next week. Then Jack also helped the woodsman to cut trees and haul them in to the village. And then he helped the brick mason repair walls and build a new house. And that winter, Jack helped the busy baker to bake all the extra bread, tarts, pies, and pastries for the holidays. He even helped the glassmaker to produce new windows, and the potter to make new bowls, the wheelwright to make new wheels, and the tinsmith to make new pots.
Jack's days were now always full of new things, learning and doing all sorts of things. It was great fun.
Very soon, the man who was nothing was becoming the man in great demand when anything needed to be done well, and when anything needed to be done right. He helped to paint rooms, and helped to dig wells, and helped to mend fences, and helped to harvest crops, and helped to mend roofs, and helped to do just about anything. Instead of the man who knew nothing he had become a regular Jack of all trades.
Everyone knew him now and everyone always greeted him whenever they saw him. The young ladies of the village noticed him as much as anyone else did, and maybe a little more. One of them, Clara, noticed him most of all. And before long, the two of them were married. They moved into a nice house that Jack himself had built. And they raised a nice family. And Jack was never again thought of as a man who was nothing.
The Bible says:
How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? (Proverbs 6:9)
As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy man to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26)
The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. (Proverbs 13:4)
The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing. (Proverbs 20:4)
The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can answer sensibly. (Proverbs 26:16)
For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. (1 Corinthians 9:19)
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