Jack Plank Tells Tales

Question 1

Where/when are these tales being told?

Answer 1

In Jamaica around the year 1720.

Question 2

Who was Jack Plank?

Answer 2

An out of work pirate, from the ship Avarice

Question 3

Why was Jack out of work?

Answer 3

He didn’t like to plunder, yell, make faces, and then take things from people.

Question 4

Why did the Captain of the Avarice finally put Jack ashore in Saltwash?

Answer 4

Pirating hadn’t been good and there wasn’t enough food for everyone aboard. Jack didn’t plunder, so he had to leave the ship.

Question 5

What did Mrs. DelFresno, the owner of the boarding house, tell Jack he had to do in order to stay?

Answer 5

He had to get along with the other boarders, get a good job, and pay one gold florin a day.

Question 6

Why didn’t Jack take the job in the sugarcanes fields?

Answer 6

He had to cross a bridge, and he didn’t like bridges because trolls lived under them.

Question 7

What did Jack’s cousin Lugger, do for a troll?

Answer 7

Helped him to collect money by telling him to move from a hill of rocks to under a bridge that people had to cross.

Question 8

How was Nina, Mrs. DelFresno’s daughter, helping Jack?

Answer 8

She was taking him around to try to find different jobs.

Question 9

Why didn’t Jack want to be a baker?

Answer 9

He didn’t want to make a cake. He only made soup.

Question 10

Why was Spooner floating in a tub?

Answer 10

He was taking a molasses cake to a mermaid that he’d seen, as a gift to try to win her love, when he was tossed overboard and the men rescued him.

Question 11

What did the sailors find at the bottom of the tub when they went back to find Spooner?

Answer 11

A mermaid’s hair comb

Question 12

Why didn’t Jack think he’d make a good fortune teller?

Answer 12

He didn’t look like one, and he couldn’t predict the future, and he didn’t know how to call ghosts or cast spells.

Question 13

What did Victor Mack have that was a problem?

Answer 13

He thought he had a mummy’s hand, and that the mummy’s ghost would be coming to get it.

Question 14

Why didn’t Jack want to be a fisherman?

Answer 14

He didn’t like to take things out of the water, and he didn’t want to eat octopus because it might be one of his friends.

Question 15

What happened to Figley during the full moon?

Answer 15

He turned into an octopus.

Question 16

What happened to Stovehouse, as he was looking for Figley to turn into an octopus, and fell overboard?

Answer 16

A shark was going after him until an octopus stopped him. Figley was never seen again.

Question 17

Why didn’t Jack want to be a barber?

Answer 17

It was a demanding job, and you had to satisfy customers, and do some doctoring.

Question 18

Why did Boris leave St. Petersburg?

Answer 18

He had a beard and if he stayed according to the law, he had to shave it off. Since he was poor, he only had a beard and a broom.

Question 19

What did Boris want to do with the money he got from plundering?

Answer 19

Buy a new broom to replace the one that the pirates made him throw away, because it was bad luck to have a broom on a ship.

Question 20

Why did they want him to shave off his beard?

Answer 20

A crab had crawled into it and then a guinea pig grabbed hold of it.

Question 21

What happened to Boris’ beard finally?

Answer 21

He cut it off, but Needles had an old wig that he turned into a beard (with hooks to hold it on, that fit over his ears) until Boris’ own beard grew back.

Question 22

What did Boris do to the guinea pig?

Answer 22

He kept it as a pet.

Question 23

Why didn’t Jack want to be a goldsmith?

Answer 23

There wasn’t enough gold around and he wasn’t an artist.

Question 24

What was Snipe doing on the island when the pirates heard him calling for help?

Answer 24

He and two pirates friends found gold in a cave that had never been searched. They were killed, and the gold was missing. Only a frog remained, and he wore it around his neck.

Question 25

What did Jack say about becoming an actor?

Answer 25

That it wasn’t something that just anyone could do, and that you had to know how to make people believe you’re someone else.

Question 26

What was Flotsam/Flora’s story?

Answer 26

Pirates had gone to the island to get fresh water; Flotsam was being raised by the island seagulls. They took her to Billy Chesstree’s grandma, who raised her while seagulls stayed with her always. Flora didn’t want to marry the rich boy, so she acted like a seagull, and eventually married Billy.

Question 27

Why didn’t Jack want to be a musician?

Answer 27

He had no ear for music, he said a person had to have the gift. (musical talent)

Question 28

How did Waddy’s life change when he met the crocodile?

Answer 28

Because Waddy hurt his ankle, he was sitting near a pond playing his flute while the pirates were investigating the island. An old crocodile came to listen to his music. Later when he came back in search of this crocodile, the crocodile saved his life. He finally decided to go home, have a family, and play his flute.

Question 29

What did Mrs. DelFresno suggest for a job for Jack?

Answer 29

At Mrs. DelFresno’s boardinghouse, Jack would tell tales three days a week followed by Mrs. Lamb playing the flute. They would serve tea and food, and charge a fee.

Question 30

What did Jack do when he was a pirate’?

Answer 30

He cooked soup.

Question 31

What did Jack call Nicole?

Answer 31

Miss. Nicole.

Question 32

Why did Jack not take the jobs?

Answer 32

Because it reminded him of bad things that happened to his shipmates.

Question 33

Why is Jack telling the tales?

Answer 33

Before Mrs. DelFresno discovers his talent, he is explaining to the guests at her boarding house the reasons why he isn’t taking any of the jobs Nina finds for him.

Question 34

What did Snipe want the crew to do after he offered them the gold?

Answer 34

He wanted them to take him to the port.

Question 35

When Leech rode a boat out to Cartagena what did he find out?

Answer 35

That a man had come into a trader’s shop and sold a gold frog pendant. Then this man bought a little yawl and told the dealer he was sailing south to see a friend.

Question 36

What is the girl’s name who helps Jack find a job?

Answer 36

Nina

Question 37

What instrument did Waddy play?

Answer 37

Flute

Question 38

What was Jack’s ship’s name?

Answer 38

Avarice

Question 39

True or False: The crocodile Waddy found did not lose any teeth.

Answer 39

False

Question 40

Who was the owner of the boardinghouse that Jack was staying in?

Answer 40

Mrs. DelFresno

Question 41

Who was the elderly lady who also lived with Jack?

Answer 41

Miss Withers