Jack and the Beanstalk
Once upon a time, in a place far, far away, lived a boy named Jack.
He lived with his mother on a small farm.
They were very poor, and on most days, they had barely enough food to feed themselves.
They had a cow, whose milk they could sell to make money for buying important things.
But one winter, the cow stopped giving milk.
This would make things even harder for the family.
So, Jack’s mother asked him to take the cow to the market and sell it.
This made Jack very sad, but he knew they had no other option.
As Jack was heading out, his mother reminded him not to sell the cow for cheap.
On his way to the market, Jack met a man who asked him about the cow.
Jack told him that he needed to sell her.
“She is a beautiful cow”, said the man. “I will give you a great deal for her”.
Jack was excited to hear that. “How much will you pay for her?”, he asked.
“I have these five magic beans. I can trade them for the cow”, said the man.
Jack was baffled to hear such a silly offer, “Five beans for the Cow??. That can’t be fair!”
“Not just any beans, Magic beans!
They are worth more than gold and they will make you richer than you can imagine!”, said the man.
Jack was tempted and agreed to the trade.
On getting home, Jack told his mother about the magic beans.
The mother was furious!
“You traded our cow for some beans! How could you? We really needed the money.”, shouted the mother.
Out of anger, the mother took the beans from Jack and threw them out in the garden.
Jack felt embarrassed.
He went up to his bedroom and shut himself in. Soon after, he fell asleep.
The next morning, Jack woke up and looked outside his window.
Something incredible had happened.
The magic beans had grown into a gigantic beanstalk, reaching all the way up into the sky!
Jack couldn’t believe his eyes.
Excited to see where it led, Jack decided to climb up the beanstalk.
He climbed and climbed, higher and higher.
Climbing beyond the clouds, he reached a beautiful magical land that had a huge castle.
Curious, Jack walked up to the Castle.
The door was open, so he went inside.
The castle was full of treasures and magical things. Jack was in awe!
Just then, a golden harp started singing, “Welcome to the castle, young man”
Jack was amazed to see a singing harp.
But he also noticed that it was not melodious and was quite out of tune.
Jack asked the harp if she was okay. The harp replied,
“Mmm, my strings need to be tuned. But my master has gigantic hands, with fingers too big to be able to fix my strings.”
Kind and skillful boy that Jack was, he offered to fix the harp.
In no time, he tuned the harp up to a perfect condition.
Just then, a giant entered the castle, shouting, ‘Fee-fi-fo-fum!’.
Jack got scared and hid under a bed.
The harp started singing, melodious this time, and welcomed her master, the giant.
Upon hearing his harp sing melodiously, the Giant was filled with happiness. He had really missed the sweet music of his harp.
The harp told him how a little boy had fixed her, but was now hiding out of fear.
The Giant saw Jack hiding under the bed and told him to come out.
Trembling with fear, Jack pleaded, “Please let me go. My mother is very poor and she really needs me”.
Instead of being angry, the giant smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid little boy, you can leave whenever you want”
Relieved, Jack was about to take off, but the Giant continued, “You have made me very happy by fixing my harp. I have a gift for you and your poor mother”
The Giant then proceeded to give Jack a golden hen and said, “This is no ordinary hen. Everyday, she lays an egg made of pure gold!”
Jack was beyond elated!
He took the hen, thanked the Giant and climbed down the beanstalk.
Jack’s mother embraced him with love.
Upon learning of Jack’s quest, his mother was very proud of him.
Jack and his mother now used the golden eggs to buy everything they needed.
Soon, they were no longer poor, and they lived happily ever after.
The end.