Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack lived with his mother in a small cottage. They were very poor; their only possession was a cow. When the cow stopped giving milk, his mother said, "Take the cow to market and sell her." On the way Jack met an old man. The man said, "I'll give you five magic beans for your cow." Jack took the beans and ran home. His mother was furious; she threw the beans out of the window and sent Jack to bed hungry.

In the morning, when Jack woke up, no light was coming through the window. Outside, an enormous beanstalk stretched up to the clouds. Jack climbed. He climbed and climbed... Above the clouds he found a road, and at the end of the road a castle. A giant woman opened the door. "My husband eats children, hide quickly!" she said, and she gave Jack some bread and hid him inside the oven.

The giant came in. "Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell a human!" he thundered. His wife said, "It's the smell of yesterday's soup." The giant ate his meal, then put his hen that laid golden eggs on the table: "Lay!" The hen laid a golden egg. When the giant fell asleep, Jack grabbed the hen and slid down the beanstalk.

After a while Jack climbed up again. This time he took the giant's bag of gold. On the third trip he grabbed the giant's golden harp that played by itself. But the harp spoke: "Master, a thief!" The giant woke up and went after Jack. Jack slid down the beanstalk, and the giant began climbing down after him. When Jack reached the ground he shouted: "Mother, bring the axe!" His mother threw him the axe, and Jack chopped the beanstalk. The stalk toppled, the giant fell to the ground and... never got up again.

Jack and his mother became rich with the golden hen. Every evening the harp played them a lullaby. But every morning Jack looked out of the window and thought about that beanstalk; who knows how many things there were above the sky.