| “ | Thas not everything you got, boy. You still gots' your soul. How 'bout we play one lass hand? Your soul 'gainst everything I have here, my stuff and your stuff combined. | „ |
| ~ Nick Slick to Jack Horner, Fables #11 - "Bag o' Bones". |
Nick Slick, also known as Old Nick and Old Nick Slick, is a Devil who first appears in Fables #11 - "Bag o' Bones". He is one of several Devils (who are all the Devil) that Jack Horner made a deal with in order to prolong his life; although Jack first ran into him during the American Civil War, where Jack beat him in a game of cards and forced him to surrender his magical sack.
History[]
Meeting Jack Horner[]
Nick was an old hermit who lived by himself in a swamp in Louisiana. He owned a magic bag where he kept all his treasures and possessions in. Miraculously, the sack never filled up no matter how much he put into it, and there was no limit to what it could hold.[2]
After fighting for the Southern States during the American Civil War, Jack Horner left the army when he realized that the war would not turn out well for the South. As he left, a fellow soldier advised him to take the road rather than cut through the swamp, since the swamp was said to be infested with all sorts of vile creatures, "maybe Nick Slick himself." However, Jack took the chance on passing through the swamp, nevertheless. As he cut across the bayou, he spotted Nick Slick sitting there on a log all by himself. Jack asked what the old man was doing all alone in the middle of the swamp, and the man replied that he was playing poker with himself to take his mind off his empty belly. Nick invited Jack to sit down and offered to play a game of Poker with him, for a chance to win some of the tasty food that Jack had with him. Jack admitted that even though he liked Poker, Nick didn't have anything to bet with. However, Nick implied that he had all sorts of treasures hidden away in his sack, which was enough to persuade Jack.[2]
Jack opened with betting a loaf of fresh-baked bread he had with him, and they began their game. However, the game of Poker did not go well for Jack, and eventually, he lost all his food and most of his clothes to Nick, which angered Jack. Jack now had nothing left to bet, except for his trousers, which he refused to give up, as he refused to continue through the swamp naked. Nick offered to play one more hand. He said that if he were to win, Nick got to take Jack's soul. But, if Jack won, he got all of his stuff back. Jack took note of this, and recognized Nick as the Devil himself. He snidely asked Nick where his horns and tail and cloved hoofs were, but Nick ordered him to stick to the subject, and asked once again if they were going to have one more hand. Jack agreed on the condition that if he won, he would also get Nick's magical sack. He also stated that he noticed the magical nature of the sack when Nick kept stuffing more and more things into it, but it never got fuller. He then proceeded to show Nick a winning hand of four Jacks. Nick was furious and accused Jack of cheating, but Jack denied this, saying that no one could trick the devil. Nick was forced to surrender the sack and teach Jack the magic words used to make anything go into the bag: "Clickety clack! Get into my sack!" He was never able to figure out how Jack had outsmarted him.[2]
Having made several deals with several other Devils to prolong his life, Jack realized that he was running out of time, and was forced to seek Nick out again a few years later. He offered to reveal to Nick how he tricked him back then and teach him every other Poker trick he knew. In return, Nick bought him out of the deal that Jack had made with the Devil Chernobog, and Jack got 150 more years added to his life.[3]
Reckoning[]
Eventually, Jack was killed in a chaotic battle, and all the Devils — Nick, Chernobog, Lucifer, Old Scratch and Pan — came to collect Jack's soul. However, as soon as they had their quarry in their sight, they started arguing about which of them would get his soul. Nick suggested that they should play poker over him, but Old Scratch refused, saying that Nick was a notorious card cheat. Nick replied that they were all the Devil, so of course they cheated. Lucifer admitted that Nick had a point. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jack's ghost slipped away and escaped.[1] However, the group eventually caught up with him: One day, when Jack's ghost was hitchhiking, a red and black van with a flame motif stopped to pick him up, but when the doors opened, all five Devils jumped out of the car, ready to catch him. After arguing which of their hells he would go to, they eventually decided to put Jack in a specialized Hell custom-made just for him, where he would sit alone on an empty planet with nothing to do but think about everything he'd done wrong.[4]
Appearances[]
Fables[]
- Fables #11 (first appearance)
- Fables #148
Jack of Fables[]
Trivia[]
- Nick Slick is an amalgamation of the old man and one of the devils from the Appalachian folk tale[5] "Soldier Jack," one of the more obscure Jack tales.[6]
- In the original tale, Jack leaves the army following the war, and his only payment on discharge is two loaves of bread. As he travels down the path, an elderly man requests some food, and Jack presents him with a single loaf of bread. As a gesture of gratitude, the stranger hands him a mysterious sack that can capture anything it is instructed to, telling him that all he has to do is hold the bag open with one hand and slap it with the other, and say "Whickety whack! Into my sack!" The old man also gives him a glass vial through which he can spot Death. The bag proves useful when Jack is able to capture three devils from a haunted house that he wins as the prize for spending the night there. Eventually, he falls in love with the daughter of a King and she soon falls ill. Being able to see Death, he captures it inside his enchanted bag in order to save his beloved from inevitable mortality. The King is delighted and Jack heartened to have his beloved alive. The only issue they face now was that no one could die. Jack and all the others live for centuries with their aged, weary bodies hunched over. Jack meets an elderly person one day who expresses their weariness and wishes for death, but can't because some fool had managed to capture Death six hundred years ago, leaving no one able to pass away from their earthly life. In order to restore balance, Jack liberates his captive from the sack and finally brings an end to everyone's suffering, and everyone can die in peace.[7]
- "Old Nick" is a name for the Devil in Christian tradition.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jack of Fables #50 - "The Dragon, His Sidekick, a Nemesis, & Their Cows: The Final Indispensable Components in the Last Jack of Fables Story of All Time!"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Fables #11 - "Bag o' Bones"
- ↑ Jack of Fables #16 - "Jack o' Lantern"
- ↑ Fables #148 - "The Very Last Jack of Fables Story of All Time"
- ↑ Harrington, Richard, "Tom Davenport's Film Folk," March 4, 1989, The Washington Post. "“Soldier Jack, Or the Man Who Caught Death in a Sack,” based on an Appalachian folk tale variation"
- ↑ "Jack Tales and Folklore", Iblio. "Ever wondered what it would be like to keep getting older but never being able to die? Jack and the folk of a small town do exactly that when Jack and Death meet in person. What happens? Will Jack and the town's folk ever die? You'll just have to read Soldier Jack to find out."
- ↑ " Soldier Jack!" (part I, II and III), Iblio
See Also[]
| Jack of Fables | |
|---|---|
| Issues | The (Nearly) Great Escape • Jack of Hearts • The Bad Prince • Americana • Turning Pages • The Big Book of War • The New Adventures of Jack and Jack • The Fulminate Blade • The End |
| Characters | Jack Horner • Kevin Thorn • Gary • Mr. Revise • Robin Page • Priscilla Page • Hillary Page • Jack Frost • Babe • The Snow Queen • Wicked John • Alice |
| Locations | Fabletown • Golden Boughs Retirement Village |