Jack and the Beanstalk

Once upon a time, a boy named Jack lived with his mother in a tiny cottage. They were very poor. Their only treasure was a gentle cow named Milky-White, who gave milk to drink and to sell. One year the fields were dry, and Milky-White stopped giving milk. Jack’s mother sighed and said, "We must sell the cow, Jack, or we will have nothing to eat. Go to market and get a good price."

So Jack set off, leading Milky-White by her rope. Along the lane he met a strange little man with twinkling eyes and a pouch at his belt. "Good morning," said the man. "Where are you taking that fine cow?"

"To market," said Jack. "We need money for food."

"Money?" said the man. He opened his hand and showed Jack five beans—plump, shiny, and all different colors. "These are magic beans. Plant them tonight, and by morning you’ll be astonished. I’ll trade you these five beans for your cow."

Jack thought the beans looked special indeed. "Are you sure they are magic?" he asked.

"As sure as I stand here," said the man with a bow. So Jack traded Milky-White for the beans and hurried home, proud and pleased.

But when his mother saw only beans and no money, her face turned pale. "You foolish boy!" she cried. "We cannot eat beans that don’t exist!" In her anger and worry, she tossed the beans out the window. "To bed, without supper!" she said.

That night Jack lay hungry and sorry. But when the sun rose, he rubbed his eyes and gasped. Outside the window grew a beanstalk so tall and thick it looked like a green ladder climbing into the clouds. The leaves were as big as plates, and the stem was rough as a rope.

"Mother!" Jack called. "The beans were magic after all!"

Curious and brave, Jack grabbed the beanstalk and began to climb. Up and up he went, higher than the trees, higher than the hills, until his cottage looked like a toy far below. At last he reached the top and stepped into a strange land of soft white clouds. Not far away stood a huge castle with a door as tall as a barn.

Jack knocked. The door opened, and a very large woman peered down at him. She was the giant’s wife. "What do you want, little lad?" she boomed.

"Please, ma’am," said Jack, trying to be polite, "I’m hungry. Could I have a bite to eat?"

The giant’s wife sighed. "I’d let you in, but my husband eats boys for breakfast. Still, you look so starved." She slipped him inside and set before him a hunk of bread and a jug of milk. Jack had just finished when the whole castle shook.

Thump! Thump! Thump! The giant was coming home.

The giant’s wife hurried Jack into the oven and shut the door, leaving it slightly open so he could breathe. In marched the giant, roaring, "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman! Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!"

"Nonsense," said his wife. "You smell the boy you ate last week. Sit down and eat your breakfast."

Grumbling, the giant ate a whole roasted sheep and a mountain of bread. Then he called, "Bring me my money!" His wife set a great leather bag on the table. The giant untied it, and out spilled bright gold coins. He counted them, one by one, until his eyes drooped and his head nodded. Soon he was snoring so loudly the dishes trembled.

As quietly as a mouse, Jack slipped from the oven, hoisted the bag of gold onto his back, and ran. He raced across the clouds, slid down the beanstalk, and tumbled into his mother’s arms.

When she saw the gold, his mother cried with joy and fear all at once. "Oh, Jack, what have you done?"

"We’ll be careful," said Jack. "We won’t be hungry now."

For a time, the gold kept them well. But coins do not last forever. When the last shining coin was gone, Jack looked up at the beanstalk again.

"I must climb back," he said. "I’ll be careful."

Again he climbed into the clouds and went to the castle door. The giant’s wife frowned when she saw him. "You again? If my husband finds you, he’ll eat you for sure."

"Please," said Jack. "Just a crust and a hidey-hole."

Her kind heart gave in. She hid Jack in the copper pot by the fire. Soon, thump! thump! thump! The giant thundered in.

"Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!"

"You and your smell!" snapped his wife. "Eat your dinner."

After swallowing enough food for twenty men, the giant said, "Bring me my hen!" His wife brought a small brown hen and set it on the table.

"Lay!" roared the giant. The hen ruffled her feathers and laid a bright golden egg. "Good hen," he said, and soon the giant’s eyes closed, and he began to snore.

Jack slipped from the pot, scooped up the hen, and ran as fast as his legs would go. Down the beanstalk he climbed, and the hen clucked softly in his arms.

"Lay," Jack whispered when he reached the cottage. The hen laid a golden egg. Jack and his mother were safe again, and they kept the hen hidden and cared for her well.

But after some time, Jack remembered one more thing he had seen: a golden harp resting on a table, its strings shining like sunlight. He wanted to see it again. So, for the third time, Jack climbed the beanstalk.

This time the giant’s wife would not open the door. "No more, little lad. Trouble follows you," she said, and she shut the door tight. So Jack crept in through a window and hid behind a kettle.

Thump! thump! thump! The giant came home early. "Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!" he roared. He searched under tables and behind barrels, but Jack kept very still.

"Bring me my harp!" the giant commanded at last. His wife set on the table a beautiful golden harp. "Sing!" he said, and the harp sang sweet songs that sounded like wind in the trees and water over stones. The giant’s heavy eyelids drooped. Soon he was snoring louder than ever.

Jack sprang from his hiding place, grabbed the harp, and ran. But the harp cried out in a clear voice, "Master! Master!" The giant woke with a start and saw Jack running away. With a shout, he leaped up and chased him.

Jack flew across the clouds and swung onto the beanstalk. Down he climbed, faster than he had ever climbed before. The harp clung to his shoulder, humming with fear. Above him the beanstalk shook as the giant climbed down after him.

"Mother!" Jack cried when he reached the ground. "Bring me the axe!"

His mother rushed out with the axe. Jack chopped the beanstalk with all his might. Chop! Chop! The beanstalk shivered and began to tip. As it fell, the giant lost his hold, tumbled down, and vanished far below. He was never seen or heard from again.

Jack and his mother stood trembling and then hugged each other tight. They kept the hen that laid golden eggs and the singing harp, and from then on they had all they needed. Some said the giant had stolen these treasures from Jack’s father long ago, so they were only returning home at last.

Jack grew kinder and wiser after his great adventure. He helped his mother, worked hard, and never forgot the sound of leaves rustling on a beanstalk that reached the sky.