Jimmy met his friend, The Brain.
For this fine day they had no plan.
They walked along a country lane
And came across a frightening man.

The man they met was twice as tall
As any man they'd seen before.
Their only hope was that he'd fall
Before he sent them to hell's door.

His fiery eyes were big enough
To serve as cannon balls in battle.
His weathered skin was twice as tough
As leather from the devil's cattle.

His rotting fence-post teeth let out
A shout to make men drop their shields
And run from their impending rout,
A tearful blood-filled bath in fields.

Jack the Hopper ambled by
In his happy bumbling way.
He whistled to the summer sky.
His tousled hair was full of hay.

He walked into the giant's left leg.
He might as well have met a tree.
He fell and rolled back like an egg
That made a bid at breaking free.

And then he stood with jumps and skips.
He whistled and he said 'yahoo!',
But then a word escaped his lips.
It rhymes with 'luck'. He meant it too.

His luck was clearly in the lack.
He trembled as the giant turned round.
With fearsome eyes that glared at Jack,
The giant unleashed a thunderous sound.

Brain and co could make their exit.
In situations of this kind
Jimmy nearly always legs it,
But on this day they stayed behind

To see what Jack would say or do,
Or what the giant would do to him.
Jack's sad face showed that he knew
The light of hope was growing dim.

But then they heard The Countess sing.
They saw her dance along the road.
Everywhere she went she'd bring
A stream of song that softly flowed.

She saw the giant and had to stop.
The ball gown that she wore stopped too.
Jack, when nervous, has to hop.
The Countess just surveyed the view.

On her way she'd passed a house.
She'd seen a sandwich on its own.
As silently as any mouse
She took the sandwich out on loan.

She didn't think this minor sin
Would mean she'd meet the devil soon.
She saw the giant and thought again,
But still she sang her happy tune,

And then she said, "Good day, young man.
I'm The Countess, as you know.
I hope I've found another fan.
I meet them everywhere I go.

"Many men have died before me.
I've always nursed them back to health,
Even those who slowly bore me
With endless stories of their wealth.

"I dance with style and perfect grace.
I'm like a leaf upon the breeze.
The briefest sighting of my face
Can make the coldest hearts un-freeze.

"There's subtle music in my voice.
My words are little butterflies.
They carry tunes and sound advice
To distant lands. They fight off noise.

"My words will travel round the world.
I set them free into the wild
With gentle shoves. They're never hurled.
The words I set free as a child

"Have recently been coming back.
They've travelled far away from here.
They've filled the voids, erased the black,
And sung themselves in every ear.

"You're standing in my way, it seems,
Unless I'm very much mistaken.
But life may well be made of dreams
From which we very rarely waken."

She asked the giant to stand aside,
But he refused to do this deed
Until he saw the devil's bride
Moving towards his head at speed.

The witch clung on to her broomstick
And tried her best to hold her hat.
She thought this journey was a trick
Because she kicked her sister's cat.

The giant began a well-timed dive.
All the others ran away.
Jack was glad to be alive.
He sang and skipped and hopped all day.