Think Tales Collection

JACK-O-LANTERN
By
Sirhajwan Idek
T
here was once a poor peasant and his family lived in a
tiny cottage in the woods. They led a fair life as they
had a small vegetable garden. They lived in a blissful
village which had a lot of feasts and gatherings. However,
every year, there would be one night where fear would
terrorize the villagers. Every night on October 31, the
villagers would lock themselves in their house and no one
dared to go out for the dead would be awakened and roam
around the village. The ghosts ransacked abandoned houses,
ruined crops and plants, and made chaos and commotion
throughout the night. They feared no one for they were the
dead.

There were few more days before the terrifying night

came, the villagers had prepared themselves for the night by
stashing some food, gathering enough firewood and fortifying
their houses with nails and wood. However, the peasant whose
livelihood depended on the produce of his vegetables could not
afford to have his garden ruined. His garden was the source
of his income and the food supply for him and his family. If
the ghosts destroyed their plants, they had nothing to live on.
Thus, the peasant thought that he had to watch his garden on
that night so they would not be ruined by the ghosts. He
needed light to help him watch the garden and his youngest
son suggested for them to make a lantern out of a pumpkin
that they could get from their garden. A day before the
terrifying night, the peasant and his oldest son carved the
pumpkin by making some holes through it and put a lit candle
inside the carved pumpkin. Therefore, the pumpkin was able to
hold the candle and keep it lit. The youngest son, Jack, was so
pleased with the carved pumpkin that he decided to name it
“Jack-O-Lantern”.

At that night, the peasant went to the garden with the

lantern. He lit up the lantern and sat in a small hut in his
garden. He saw the ghosts wandering around the village but
they did not come close to his garden, they seemed to be
scared of the illuminating light from the pumpkin. Throughout
the night, none of the ghosts came to his garden and ruined
his plants. He went home on the next morning and told his
family of the story. They were so happy that they were able
to save their garden and managed to find a way to keep the
ghosts away with a lantern of a carved pumpkin.

Several months later, the peasant’s youngest son, Jack,

fell really ill and he passed away. The family was so sad. The
following year, during 31 October, the peasant carved a
pumpkin in order to keep the ghosts away from their garden.
However, he fell really ill that night and he could not afford
to watch his garden. The oldest son volunteered himself to do
it but the peasant did not allow any of his children to go out at
that night because he was scared that they might be harmed
by the ghosts. He did not want to lose any of his children
anymore.

When the dead came out that night, Jack was one of
them, he noticed that neither his father nor his brothers
were in the garden. He decided to help them out so he went to
his house. He saw his father was really ill. He came in and
showed himself to his family. His family was surprised that he
was there and they were happy that they were able to meet
him. Jack told them his intention of helping them. He
explained that he could use the carved pumpkin to frighten
other mean ghosts for he was not reawakened as a ghost but a
pure spirit and pure spirits were not scared of lights. In a
form of a spirit, he flew into the pumpkin and lit the candle
from inside. He then went out of the house and flew around
the village as a carved pumpkin. His other brothers followed
him and rallied behind him. The ghosts were running and
hustling away from him as he chased them out of the village.

When the ghosts were all gone, Jack and his brothers
went back to their house. Jack told his family that the ghosts
were afraid of light, so therefore, he told them to advice the
villagers to make as many lanterns as possible out of a carved
pumpkin every 31 October and place them around their
houses, gardens and the entire village. When the night was
over, Jack flew out of the pumpkin and disappeared.

The peasant told the story to the other villagers. The

villagers believed in the peasant’s story for they had seen the
carved pumpkin flying and chasing away the ghosts the night
before. Thus, every 31 October, the villagers would carve a lot
of pumpkins and put a candle inside them. They lit the candles
and placed them all around their village and the ghosts were
nowhere to be seen. They were so happy about it that they
decided to celebrate that night as a way of reminding
themselves that they managed to keep the ghosts away. They
also wanted to thank “Jack-O-Lantern” for helping them to
keep their village safe.

Thinking Maps

1. Use a bubble map to describe the characteristics of the father

2. Use a double bubble map to compare and contrast the characteristics of Jack and the
other ghosts.
3. Use a flow map to illustrate the development of the story and how “Jack O Lantern”
became significant.
4. Use a tree map to classify the father, what he was like and what he did.
5. Use a bridge map to show how fear of ghosts is related to the fear that the modern society
has.

Thinking Hats

1. Describe what the ghosts did that made the villagers feel scared of them?
2. How did you react to the death of Jack?
3. What were the good deeds that Jack and his family did that all the villagers could benefit
from?
4. What was the saddest part of the story?
5. What were other possible ways of keeping the ghosts away apart from lighting fire in a
carved pumpkin?
6. Why do you think the ghosts were scared of the fire?