Jack and the Beanstalk

Once upon a time, in a small cottage, lived a widow and her son, Jack. They were very poor. Their only possession was a white cow named Milky White. One sad day, the cow stopped giving milk, and Jack’s mother said, “We must sell her, Jack. Take her to the market and bring back a good price.”

Jack set off with the cow. Halfway to town, he met a funny-looking old man. “That’s a fine cow,” said the man. “I will give you five magic beans for her.” “Beans?” asked Jack. “We need money for food!” “These are no ordinary beans,” whispered the man. “Plant them tonight, and by morning, they will grow right up to the sky.”

Jack was a dreamer. He traded the cow for the beans and ran home. His mother was furious. “Beans! You sold our only cow for beans!” She snatched them from his hand and threw them out the window. “Go to bed without supper!” she cried.

Jack went to bed hungry and sad. But during the night, something strange happened. The beans took root in the garden. They grew and grew, twisting and turning, higher and higher, until they disappeared into the clouds.

When Jack woke up, his room was filled with green shadows. He looked outside and gasped. A giant beanstalk, thick as a tree trunk, stretched up to the sky! Being brave and curious, Jack began to climb. He climbed up and up, through the white fluffy clouds, until he reached a strange land at the top.

There, he saw a massive castle. He walked up to the door and snuck inside. Everything was huge! The chairs were as big as houses, and the table was like a mountain plateau.

Suddenly, the floor shook. Thump! Thump! Thump! A Giant entered the room. He was terrifyingly tall. He roared: “Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the scent of an Englishman! Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!”

Jack hid in a giant copper pot. The Giant sat down and ate his breakfast—three sheep and a barrel of milk. Then, he took out two bags of gold coins and counted them until he fell asleep. Snore! It sounded like thunder.

Jack crept out, grabbed one bag of gold, and ran back to the beanstalk. He climbed down and gave the gold to his mother. They were rich for a while, but the gold eventually ran out.

Jack climbed the beanstalk again. This time, he saw the Giant with a hen. “Lay!” commanded the Giant, and the hen laid a solid golden egg. When the Giant slept, Jack grabbed the hen and ran.

However, the third time Jack went up, he saw a golden harp. As the Giant slept, Jack reached for the harp. But the harp was magical and cried out, “Master! Master! He is stealing me!”

The Giant woke up with a roar! He saw Jack running away with the harp. “Come back here, you little thief!” Jack ran faster than he had ever run before. He jumped onto the beanstalk and began to slide down. The Giant followed him, shaking the stalk with his heavy weight.

“Mother! Mother!” Jack shouted as he neared the ground. “Bring me the axe! Hurry!”

His mother ran out with the axe. Jack jumped off the last few feet and grabbed the axe. Chop! Chop! Chop! He hacked at the thick trunk of the beanstalk.

The plant began to sway. The Giant, halfway down, felt the stalk wobbling dangerously. He looked down and saw Jack chopping. Realizing he would fall if he continued, the Giant scrambled back up into the clouds as fast as he could.

CRACK!

The beanstalk toppled over and fell to the ground with a mighty crash. The path to the sky was gone forever. The Giant was stuck in his castle in the clouds, and Jack and his mother lived happily and comfortably with the golden hen and the singing harp, never hungry again.

Moral of the Story: Be brave and adventurous, but know when to close the door on danger.