Jack and the Beanstalk Fairy Tale

Long ago, in a small English village, there lived a widow and her only son, Jack. They were very poor. All they owned was a single cow named Milky-White. Every day the cow gave milk, and mother and son sold the milk to live.

One morning Milky-White stopped giving milk. His mother was sad. "Jack, there is nothing else for it. Take the cow to market and sell her for a good price. With the money we can buy bread and flour."

So Jack set off with the cow. On the way he met a strange little old man with a long beard. "Good morning, Jack! Where are you taking that cow?" "To market, to sell her," said Jack, wondering how the old man knew his name.

The old man took five beans of different colours out of his pocket. "These five beans are magic. If you plant them in the evening, by morning they will grow right up to the sky. Let's trade your cow for them," he said. Without a second thought Jack agreed. He gave away the cow, took the beans and ran home.

When his mother saw the beans, she was furious. "You foolish boy! You gave away our only cow for five beans? What will we eat now?" She threw the beans out of the window and sat down to cry. That night Jack went to bed hungry.

When Jack woke up in the morning, his room was dark. He looked out of the window, and overnight the beans had sprouted into a gigantic beanstalk. It rose up through the clouds to an unbelievable height!

Without a moment's hesitation Jack began to climb. He climbed for a long time until at last he came out above the clouds. A long road stretched before him, and at the end of the road stood a great castle. A very tall woman was standing at the castle door.

"Hey, boy, run away quickly!" said the woman. "My husband is a giant. He doesn't like people. If he catches you, it will go badly for you." But when Jack said he was very tired and hungry, the kind woman let him into the kitchen and gave him bread and milk.

Suddenly the ground shook, and heavy footsteps could be heard: BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! The woman hid Jack in the oven. Into the kitchen came the giant, his head brushing the ceiling. When he had eaten, he called for the hen that laid golden eggs. When he said "Lay!", the hen laid a golden egg. Then he called for the golden harp. The harp began to play all by itself, so sweetly that the giant fell fast asleep.

Jack crept quietly out of the oven and thought, "The giant took these treasures from people long ago. They should be returned." He grabbed the hen and the harp and ran for the door. But suddenly the harp cried out, "Master! Master! I am being stolen!"

The giant woke up, roared with rage and ran after Jack. Jack reached the beanstalk and began to climb down as fast as he could. The giant climbed onto the beanstalk too and came down after him. The beanstalk swayed and creaked.

As he neared the ground, Jack shouted, "Mother! Bring the axe! Quickly!" His mother brought the axe, Jack jumped down and began to chop at the beanstalk. One, two, three! The beanstalk swayed. The frightened giant scrambled back up, and as soon as he reached the clouds he swore never to come down to earth again. And the beanstalk came crashing down.

From that day on, Jack and his mother lived happily. The hen laid a golden egg every day, and in the evenings the harp played beautiful tunes. Jack shared the gold with the poor people of the village and was never stingy with anyone. And he always remembered that in hard times, courage and quick wits will see you through.