JACK AND THE BEANSTALKS

Once there was a young man named Jack. He lived with his mother on a small farm
at the foot of the Foggy Mountains. Jack and his mother were very poor. Their only way
of making money was selling the milk from their cow, Bess. One morning, Jack’s mother
woke him up early. It was still dark outside. She was crying.
Jack’s mom: “Jack, wake up! Go to the market today and sell our cow, Bess.”
“But why” – asked Jack, yawning.
Jack’s mom: “We need money to fix our house. There are holes in the roof, the windows
are broken. For heaven’s sake, we have no front door. Winter is coming soon. If we don’t
fix the house, the cold will kill us!”
Jack packed his bag and fetched Bess from the barn. As he was walking out the gate,
he heard his mother shout: “She is worth at least five gold coins! Don’t sell her for less!”
When Jack was half way to the market, he met an old man.
The old man: “Good morning, my boy! Where are you going today?”
Jack: “Good morning, sir! I’m going to the market to sell my cow. Her name is Bess.”
The old man: “She is a beautiful cow. I will buy Bess and I will give you a very good
deal!”
Jack: “How much will you pay for her? I won’t take less than five gold coins!”
The man whispered: “I don’t have five gold coins. But I have these five black beans!
These beans are magic beans! They are worth more than gold! If you take these beans,
you will be richer than the richest man in the world.”
Jack thought about his mother. He thought about how happy she would be if they were
rich. They could fix the roof, the windows, and the front door. Maybe they could buy a
new cow!
Jack: “Okay! You’ve got a deal. Give me the beans!”
Jack was very excited. He ran home and showed his mother the beans. But instead of
being happy, she was furious.
Jack's mom: “You foolish boy! You traded our only cow for a handful of beans?!”
She took the beans and threw them out the window. Then she sat down beside the fire
and cried. Jack was devastated. He shut himself in his bedroom. He felt so stupid. They
no longer had a cow, and now they were poorer than before. What a disaster! And it was
his fault!
 The next morning when Jack opened the curtains, he saw something very strange. In
the same place where his mother had thrown the beans, there was a giant, green
beanstalk. It stretched from the ground, up, up, up… all the way to the clouds.
Jack whispered: “The beans really are magic! The old man was telling the truth!"
Jack's mother was still asleep, so Jack decided to climb the beanstalk to look for the
riches the old man had described.
Jack thought: "Just five gold coins, that's all I need to make my mother happy."
Jack climbed up, up, up, higher and higher into the clouds. When he reached the top,
he was very hungry. He saw a castle in the distance.
Jack thought: "Maybe I can find something to eat in that castle…"
Jack walked up to the door of the castle and knocked twice. Knock knock! A giantess
opened the door. She was as big as a house, but she had a warm smile and gentle eyes.
Jack: "Excuse me, Mrs. Giant. Could you please give me something to eat? I am so
hungry!"
The giantess: "Oh you poor boy!"
She could see that Jack was very thin.
The giantess: "Of course! Come in! Come in!"
The kind giantess gave Jack some vegetable stew. He was enjoying it so much that he
didn't notice when the kitchen table started to shake. Stomp... Stomp... Stomp… Loud
footsteps echoed down the hallway.
The giantess whispered: "Oh dear! That is my husband! He is home from work! He
doesn't like humans! Quick! Hide!"
Jack hid in the pantry. The giant stomped into the kitchen and sniffed the air.
The giant: "FEE FI FO FUM! ... Hello my beautiful wife! Wait! Do I smell a human
man? YUCK! WHERE IS HE?"
The giantess: "Good evening, my darling husband. There is nobody here, you smell the
vegetable stew, nothing more."
The giant: "Good, I hate humans."
He sat down at the table in the kitchen. The giant took out a small sack of gold coins
out of his pocket and counted them.
One... two... three... four... five gold coins. Jack watched from inside the pantry.
Jack thought: "Five gold coins! If I had that money, I could fix our house!"
When the two giants left the room, Jack stole the five gold coins and slipped them into
his bag.
Jack thought: "This is all I need!"
But then Jack remembered that his family no longer had a cow. Without a cow, they
would surely starve. He decided to stay and look for other treasures. He followed the
giant into the living room and hid under the couch. The giant went to the cupboard and
pulled out a golden hen.
The giant: “Hello, my beautiful hen! Lay, please!", and the hen laid a golden egg.
Jack watched from under the couch.
Jack whispered: "A hen that lays golden eggs! If I had that hen, I could buy FIFTY
cows!"
When the giant left the room, Jack crawled out from under the couch. He went to the
cupboard, took the hen, and put it in his bag.
Jack thought: "This is all I need… "
But then Jack thought about what the old man had promised. Jack imagined being
richer than the richest man in the world. He decided to see what other treasures he could
find. He followed the giant into the bedroom and hid under the bed. There was a golden
harp standing in a corner of the room.
The giant: "Hello, my beautiful harp. Play, please!"
The harp began playing music with no one touching the strings.
Jack whispered: Wow! A magic harp! That harp would make me rich and famous!"
When the giant fell asleep, Jack crawled out from under the bed. He took the magic
harp and put it in his bag. But this time Jack was less lucky.
The magic harp screamed: “Help me, master! A human is stealing me!”
The giant woke up and saw Jack with the magic harp, the golden hen, and his gold
coins.
The giant chased Jack: "STOP, THIEF!” — out of the bedroom, down the hallway,
through the kitchen, and out the front door.
 But Jack was smaller and faster than the giant. Jack reached the beanstalk first and slid
down. He arrived at the ground with all his treasures. The giant reached the top of the
beanstalk and looked down. He was afraid of heights. He slowly climbed down.
The giantess shouted from the castle: "BE CAREFUL, MY HUSBAND! HUMANS
CAN BE DANGEROUS!"
Jack saw the giant coming down the beanstalk. So he ran into his house and grabbed
an axe. He chopped the beanstalk. Whack! Whack! Whack! Suddenly, the beanstalk
snapped. The giant came tumbling down from the sky. He fell down, down, down, and
landed far away, on the other side of the Foggy Mountains.
Thud!
For a moment everything was silent. Then Jack heard a strange sound from far away.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!"
It was the giant. The beanstalk had fallen, and now he had no way to get back up to his
castle in the clouds. The giant yelled so loudly that the clouds shook and turned gray.
Then somewhere up in the sky, Jack heard Mrs. Giant start to cry. Her tears fell through
the clouds in tiny drops and soaked the earth.
After that, Jack and his mother lived a very comfortable life. The golden hen made
Jack a millionaire. The magic harp made him famous. Jack married a rich and famous
woman and together they had ten children. But Jack was never truly happy. Every time
the wind blew, Jack heard the giant calling for his wife. And every time it rained, he felt
the giant-wife's tears falling on him. Jack felt sad and guilty.
One day, when Jack was very old, he decided that he didn't want to be sad anymore.
He opened a box on his mantelpiece and pulled out one last shriveled magic bean. If he
could find the giant, he could grow another beanstalk. Then the giant could climb back up
to his castle in the clouds. If he could find the giant, he could also apologize for being so
greedy. Jack packed his bag and walked into the Misty Mountains.
Did Jack find the giant?
Did he grow a new beanstalk with the last magic bean?
Nobody knows.
But people say, if you listen closely during a thunderstorm, you can hear the rumbling
sound of two giants dancing together in the clouds.