There was once a boy called Jack who was brave and
quick-witted. He lived with his mother in a small cottage and their most
valuable possession was their cow, Milky-White. But the day came when
Milky-White gave them no milk and Jack's mother said she must be sold.
"Take her to
market," she told Jack, "and mind you get a good price for her."
So Jack set out to
market leading Milky-White by her halter. After a while he sat down to rest by
the side of the road. An old man came by and Jack told him where he was going.
"Don't bother to
go to the market,"
The old man said. "Sell your cow
to me. I will pay you well. Look at these beans. Only plant them, and overnight
you will find you have the finest bean plants in all the world. You'll be
better off with these beans than with an old cow or money. Now, how many is
five, Jack?"
"Two
in each hand and one in your mouth," replied Jack, as sharp as a needle.
"Right
you are, here are five beans," said the old man and he handed the beans to
Jack and took Milky-White's halter.
When
he reached home, his mother said, "Back so soon, Jack? Did you get a good
price for Milky-White?"
Jack told her how he
had exchanged the cow for five beans and before he could finish his account,
his mother started to shout and box his ears. "You lazy good-for-nothing
boy!" she screamed, "How could you hand over our cow for five old
beans? What will we live on now? We shall starve to death, you stupid
boy."
She flung the beans
through the open window and sent Jack to bed without his supper.
When Jack woke the
next morning there was a strange green light in his room. All he could see
from, the window was green leaves. A huge beanstalk had shot up overnight. It
grew higher than he could see. Quickly Jack got dressed and stepped out of the
window right onto the beanstalk and started to climb.
"The old man
said the beans would grow overnight," he thought. "They must indeed
be very special beans."
Higher and higher
Jack climbed until at last he reached the top and found himselfon a strange
road. Jack followed it until he came to a great castle where he could smell the
most delicious breakfast. Jack was hungry. It had been a long climb and he had
had nothing to eat since midday the day before. Just as he reached the door of
the castle he nearly tripped over the feet of an enormous woman.
"Here,
boy," she called. "What are you doing? Don't you know my husband
likes to eat boys for breakfast? It's lucky I have already fried up some bacon
and mushrooms for him today, or I'd pop you in the frying pan. He can eat you
tomorrow, though."
"Oh, please
don't let him eat me," pleaded Jack. "I only came to ask you for a
bite to eat. It smells so delicious."
Now the giant's wife
had a kind heart and did not really enjoy cooking boys for breakfast, so she
gave Jack a bacon sandwich. He was still eating it when the ground began to
shake with heavy footsteps, and a loud voice boomed: "Fee, Fi, Fo,
Fum."
"Quick,
hide!" cried the giant's wife and she pushed Jack into the oven.
"After breakfast, he'll fall asleep," she whispered. "That is
when you must creep away." She left the oven door open a crack so that
jack could see into the room. Again the terrible rumbling voice came:
"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."
A huge giant came
into the room. "Boys, boys, I smell boys," he shouted. "Wife,
have I got a boy for breakfast today?"
"No, dear,"
she said soothingly. "You have got bacon and mushrooms. You must still be
smelling the boy you ate last week." The giant sniffed the air
suspiciously but at last sat down. He wolfed his breakfast of bacon and mushrooms
drank a great bucketful of steaming tea and crunched up a massive slice of
toast. Then he fetched a couple of bags of gold from a cupboard and started
counting gold coins. Before long he dropped off to sleep.
"Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum,
I smell the blood of cm Englishman,
Be he alive or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread."
The giant's wife put
a plate of sizzling sausages before him, telling him he must be mistaken. After
breakfast the giant fetched a hen from a back room. Every time he said
"Lay!" the hen laid an egg of solid gold.
"I must steal
that hen, if I can," thought Jack, and he waited until the giant fell
asleep. Then he slipped out of the oven, snotched up the and rim for the top of
the beanstalk. Keeping the hen under one arm, he scrambled Jack and the
Beanstalk clown as fast as he could until he reached the bottom. Jack's mother
was waiting but she was not pleased when she saw the hen.
"Another of your
silly ideas, is it, bringing an old hen when you might have brought us some
gold? I don't know, what is to be done with you?"
Then jack set the hen
down carefully, and cornmanded "Lay!" just as the giant had done. To
his mother's surprise the hen laid an egg of solid gold.
Jack and his mother
now lived in great luxury. But in time Jack became a little bored and decided
to climb the beanstalk again.
This time he did not
risk talking to the giant's wife in case she recognized him. He slipped into
the kitchen when she was not looking, and hid himself in the log basket. He
watched the giant's wife prepare breakfast and then he heard the giant's roar:
"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."
"If it's that
cheeky boy who stole your gold and our magic hen, then help you catch
him," said the giant's wife. "Why don't we look in the oven? It's my
guess he'll be hiding there."
You
may be sure that jack was glad he was not in the oven. The giant and his wife
hunted high and low but never thought to look in the log basket. At last they
gave up and the giant sat down to breakfast.
After
he had eaten, the giant fetched a harp. When he commanded "Play!" the
harp played the most beautiful music. Soon the giant fell asleep, and jack
crept out of the log basket. Quickly he snatched up the harp and ran. But the
harp called out loudly, "Master, save me! Save me!" and the giant
woke. With a roar of rage he chased after Jack.
Jack raced down the road towards the
beanstalk with the giant's footsteps thundering behind him. When he reached the
top of the beanstalk he threw down the harp and started to slither down after
it.
The
giant followed, and now the whole beanstalk shook and shuddered with his
weight, and Jack feared for his life. At last he reached the ground, and
seizing an axe he chopped at the beanstalk with all his might. Snap!
"Look
out, mother!" he called as the giant came tumbling clown, head first. He
lay dead at their feet with the beanstalk on the ground beside them. The harp
was broken, but the hen continued to lay golden eggs for Jack and his mother
and they lived happily and in great comfort for a long,long time.
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