Jack and the Beanstalk

Once upon a time, there was a widow who lived with her son, Jack. They were so poor that they had to sell everything they owned. Soon all they had left was their cow, Daisy.

“I will take Daisy to market and get a good price for her,” said Jack.

On the way to town, Jack met an old man who exclaimed, “What a fine cow. Here are some magic beans in exchange for her.”

“What a great deal!” thought Jack, taking the beans.

He ran home to show his mother, but she was furious.

“Jack, what have you done?” she asked. “What use are a few beans? They won’t fill our tummies.”

She snatched the beans and threw them out of the window. Then she sent Jack to bed without any supper.

Next morning, when he opened his curtains, Jack saw something amazing. The magic beans had grown into a huge beanstalk. It was so tall he couldn’t see the top. Jack ran into the garden and began climbing the beanstalk. Up and up he went, through the clouds.

As he climbed, Jack found himself in a magical world. Far in the distance he could see a huge castle. He stepped off the beanstalk and walked up to the castle. Opening a huge, wooden door, Jack slipped inside.

He tiptoed into a hall where there were chairs as big as mountains. Jack came to a kitchen, where he found a loaf of bread as big as a car. Hungrily, Jack broke off a handful of the bread to eat. Cluck, cluck. Looking about him, Jack saw a brown hen in a cage high up on a table.

“Take care,” whispered the hen. “This is a giant’s castle. If he finds you, he will gobble you up for sure.”

“Who are you?” Jack asked, puzzled to find a talking hen.

“I am a magic hen. I lay golden eggs,” the hen replied. “If you help me to escape from this castle I will gladly lay golden eggs for you.”

Excited, Jack climbed up the leg of the table and crawled along the table top towards the hen’s cage. But just as he was opening the cage, the walls of the castle began to shake.

“Is that an earthquake?” asked Jack.

“That’s the giant,” cried the hen. “Hide!”

Jack leapt behind a pepper pot that stood on the table. Into the kitchen strode a massive giant who roared,

“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!”

The giant searched everywhere for the intruder. When he couldn’t find Jack, the giant became so angry that he banged his fist down on the table. The pepper pot flew up into the air spilling pepper everywhere. Jack flew up into the air with it. He landed back on the table, right in front of the giant. Jack had to think quickly. He kicked the heap of pepper on the table into the giant’s face. Wrinkling up his nose, the giant sneezed a hurricane-force sneeze that blew Jack and the hen out of the kitchen.

Struggling to his feet, Jack picked up the hen and sprinted toward the beanstalk. As he clambered down the beanstalk, the giant followed. When at last Jack reached the ground, he ran to the cottage and grabbed an axe. He chopped and chopped at the beanstalk. With a loud crack, it toppled over, and the giant tumbled to the ground, dead.

The magic hen was so glad to be free that it laid hundreds of golden eggs. Jack and his mother grew very rich and lived happily every after.