Is jack and the beanstalk a fable

A Summary and Analysis of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ – Interesting Literature

Literature

By Dr Oliver Tearle

What is the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ all about? And what is the moral of this story? It’s one of the best-known and best-loved fairy tales in Britain, and also – as we will see – one of the oldest.

‘Jack and the Beanstalk’: plot summary

First, a very short summary of the plot of the Jack and the beanstalk tale (or a refresher for those who are some way out of the nursery). Jack is a young and rather reckless boy who lives with his widowed mother. They become increasingly poor – thanks partly to Jack’s own carelessness – until the day comes when all they have left is a cow, which Jack’s mother tells him to take to the market to sell for money. Unfortunately, while on his way into town, Jack meets a bean dealer who says he will pay Jack a hat full of magic beans for the cow.

Jack, delighted to have been made an offer on the cow before he’s even reached the market, lives up to his reckless reputation once again and agrees to the deal. He returns home with no cow and no money and only a hat full of beans to show for the journey; his mother, needless to say, is less than happy with this outcome, and hurls the beans out into the garden in her anger. They both retire to bed without having eaten, as they have no food left.

However, when Jack wakes the next morning, he finds that the magic beans scattered across the garden have grown into a giant beanstalk outside his window. He promptly climbs it – as you do – and finds a whole new land at the top. Wandering among this land, Jack comes upon a huge castle and sneaks his way inside. The giant, who owns the castle, returns home and smells Jack, proclaiming: ‘Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of an English man: Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.’ Jack steals a sack of gold from the giant’s castle before swiftly making his escape back down the beanstalk.

However, this is a fairy tale, which wouldn’t be complete without obeying the ‘rule of three’. So, Jack duly climbs the beanstalk twice more and steals from the giant twice more. The giant wakes when Jack is leaving the castle the third time, and chases Jack back down the beanstalk.

The quick-thinking Jack calls for his mother to throw down an axe for him; before the giant reaches the ground, Jack chops down the beanstalk, causing the giant to fall to his death. Jack and his mother live happily ever after, and are never poor or hungry again, thanks to Jack’s burgling skills. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

‘Jack and the Beanstalk’: analysis

‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, like a great number of fairy tales, has a curious and complicated history. The story’s earliest incarnation of in print was as ‘The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean’ in 1734; it underwent some tidying up (with a large dose of moralising added for good measure) in 1807 in Benjamin Tabart’s ‘The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk’, although the elements we most associate with the story were given the definitive treatment in an 1890 version.

All this would suggest that the tale of Jack and the beanstalk is relatively recent, especially when so many other classic fairy tales have medieval prototypes in world literature.

But in fact, researchers at the universities in Durham and Lisbon believe that the essential story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ dates back over 5,000 years, or two whole millennia before Homer. This prototype of Jack’s beanstalk antics is classified by folklorists as ATU 328 The Boy Who Stole Ogre’s Treasure. Like ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’, this story appears to be thousands, rather than hundreds, of years old.

As we implied above, there is something immoral in the story’s essential message: steal from others to get yourself out of poverty, and you will triumph. The killing of the giant is self-defence, admittedly, but we can see why Victorians might have been a little queasy around the central thrust of the story.

So in some versions of the tale, such as the one the Opies include in The Classic Fairy Tales

, a back-story is included, which informs us that the giant actually stole his riches from Jack’s father, whom he killed out of jealousy and greed. The giant’s wealth, then, is ill-gotten, and Jack, in stealing from him, is in fact only reclaiming what is rightfully his. This addition makes the tale more palatable to younger readers whose parents want to use the fairy tale for moral instruction as well as entertainment, and, after all, Jack is still far from perfect. His lack of foresight and rashness lead to his selling the cow for such a low price.

‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ has endured because it contains so many of the classic ingredients of the fairy tale: the plucky young hero who’s down on his luck, the evil villain, the happy ending. And it’s been around for a long time: if those scholars are correct in their analysis, the original for the story has been around for almost twice as long as Homer’s Iliad. That’s some literary pedigree.

The author of this article, Dr Oliver Tearle, is a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University. He is the author of, among others, The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History and The Great War, The Waste Land and the Modernist Long Poem.

Image: via Wikimedia Commons.

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Tags: Analysis, Children's Literature, Classics, Fairy Tales, Jack and the Beanstalk, Literary Criticism, Literature, Summary

Jack and the Beanstalk Origins – Fairy Tale Central

“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the—”

Oh wait—wrong Jack.

Or is it?

“Jack and the Beanstalk” is considered one of many “Jack” tales: stories told about the same trickster-like archetype. According to The Center For Children’s Books, the character “is lucky, both a trickster and an unlikely hero, sometimes clever, often naïve, but always successful.” Considered a staple of Cornish and English folklore, other “Jack” tales include “Jack the Giant Killer,” “Little Jack Horner,” and even “Jack Frost.” (Are they the same person? Well that would make for some interesting retellings!)

While “Jack and the Beanstalk” has a long oral history, the first written version comes from a 1734 publication, Round About our Coal Fire, or “Christmas Entertainments,” where the story is titled “The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean. ” Yes, Jack has a last name–at least in this version! And if you’re wondering, the giant’s name is “Gogmagog” (a figure who is, by the way, not relegated solely to Jack’s story; rather, he’s a legendary giant in Welsh folklore). Occasionally, another legendary giant, “Blunderbore,” (who makes an appearance in “Jack the Giant Killer”) stands in as an antagonist in other versions of the tale.

Surprisingly, we don’t see many other written versions of “Jack and the Beanstalk” until 1807. However, the most popular version that most of us are familiar with was published in 1890 in Joseph Jacobs’s English Fairy Tales. Jacobs’s story is based on the oral versions of the story he heard as a child, and as such some scholars believe his version to be the most accurate of the versions published in the nineteenth century (as opposed to, say, the highly moralistic 1807 version from Benjamin Tabart).

But “Jack and the Beanstalk’s” history goes far, far beyond the written word–it has been told orally for hundreds of years! And its origins may reach back even farther than you’d likely expect. According to a recent article from the BBC, researchers at Durham University have classified “Jack and the Beanstalk” as a “Boy Who Stole Ogre’s Treasure” tale, a classification which has origins that could be “traced back to when Eastern and Western Indo-European languages split more than 5,000 years ago.” Some of these researchers surmise that these tales not only predate languages such as Italian, German, and French, but also Classical mythology!

Evidently, we humans have always relished stories about unlikely heroes!

Sources & further reading:

The Folklore Tradition of the Jack Tales: https://web.archive.org/web/20140410004237/http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/Projects/storytelling/jsthomps/tales.htm

E-copy of “Christmas Entertainments”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Round_about_our_Coal_Fire,_or,_Christmas_Entertainments,_4th_edn,_1734.pdf

BBC News Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35358487

SurlaLune’s history of “Jack and the Beanstalk:” http://www.

surlalunefairytales.com/jackbeanstalk/history.html90,000 Jack and the Beanstalk is an English fairy tale. The story of the boy Jack.

A tale about a poor widow's son, Jack, who traded his family's only breadwinner, a cow, for magic beans. With the help of them and their ingenuity, Jack and his mother got rich.

Once upon a time there lived a poor widow. She had an only son named Jack and a cow named Belyanka. The cow gave milk every morning, and the mother and son sold it in the bazaar - this is how they lived. But suddenly Belyanka stopped milking, and they simply did not know what to do. nine0003

— How can we be? What to do? the mother repeated in despair.

— Cheer up, mother! Jack said. - I'll get someone to work with.

— Yes, you already tried to get hired, but no one hires you, — answered the mother. “No, apparently, we will have to sell our Belyanka and open a shop with this money.

“Well, okay, Mom,” Jack agreed. - Today is just a market day, and I will quickly sell Belyanka. And then we'll decide what to do.

And Jack took the cow to the market. But he did not have time to go far when he met a funny, funny old man, and he said to him:0003

- Good morning, Jack!

— Good morning to you too! - Jack answered, and was surprised to himself: how does the old man know his name.

— Well, Jack, where are you going? asked the old man.

- To the market, to sell a cow.

— Yes, yes! Who should trade cows if not you! the old man laughed. “Tell me, how many beans do I have?”

- Exactly two in each hand and one in your mouth! - answered Jack, apparently, not a small mistake.

- That's right! said the old man. “Look, here are those beans!” And the old man showed Jack some strange beans. “Since you’re so bright,” the old man continued, “I’m not averse to trading with you—I’m giving these beans for your cow!” nine0003

— Go on your way! Jack got angry. “That would be better!”

"Uh, you don't know what beans are," said the old man. “Plant them in the evening, and by morning they will grow to the sky.

— Yes, well? Truth? Jack was surprised.

- The real truth! And if not, take your cow back.

- Coming! - Jack agreed, gave the old man Belyanka, and put the beans in his pocket.

Jack turned back home, and since he did not have time to go far from home, it was not dark yet, and he was already at his door. nine0003

- Are you back yet, Jack? mother was surprised. - I see Belyanka is not with you, so you sold her? How much did they give you for it?

— You'll never guess, Mom! Jack answered.

— Yes, well? Oh my good! Five pounds? Ten? Fifteen? Well, twenty something will not give!

- I said - you can't guess! What can you say about these beans? They are magical. Plant them in the evening and...

— What?! cried Jack's mother. “Are you really such a simpleton that you gave my Belyanka, the most milking cow in the whole area, for a handful of some bad beans?” It is for you! It is for you! It is for you! And your precious beans will fly out the window. So that! Now live to sleep! And don’t ask for food, you won’t get it anyway - not a piece, not a sip! nine0003

And then Jack went up to his attic, to his little room, sad, very sad: he angered his mother, and he himself was left without supper. Finally, he did fall asleep.

And when he woke up, the room seemed very strange to him. The sun illuminated only one corner, and everything around remained dark, dark. Jack jumped out of bed, dressed and went to the window. And what did he see? What a strange tree! And these are his beans, which his mother threw out of the window into the garden the day before, sprouted and turned into a huge bean tree. It stretched all the way up, up and up to the sky. It turns out that the old man was telling the truth! nine0003

The beanstalk grew just outside Jack's window and went up like a real staircase. So Jack had only to open the window and jump onto the tree. And so he did. Jack climbed the beanstalk and climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed until he finally reached the sky. There he saw a long and wide road, as straight as an arrow. I went along this road and kept walking and walking and walking until I came to a huge, huge tall house. And at the threshold of this house stood a huge, enormous, tall woman. nine0003

— Good morning, ma'am! Jack said very politely. “Be so kind as to give me breakfast, please!”

After all, the day before Jack had been left without supper, you know, and now he was as hungry as a wolf.

— Would you like to have breakfast? - said a huge, enormous, tall woman. “You yourself will get another for breakfast if you don’t get out of here!” My husband is a giant and a cannibal, and he loves nothing more than boys fried in breadcrumbs.

— Oh, madame, I beg you, give me something to eat! Jack didn't hesitate. “I haven’t had a crumb in my mouth since yesterday morning. And it doesn't matter if they fry me or I'll die of hunger. nine0003

Well, the ogre's wife was not a bad woman after all. So she took Jack to the kitchen and gave him a piece of bread and cheese and a jug of fresh milk. But before Jack had time to finish with half of all this, when suddenly - top! Top! Top! - the whole house even shook from someone's steps.

- Oh my God! Yes, that's my old man! gasped the giantess. - What to do? Hurry, hurry, jump over here!

And just as she pushed Jack into the oven, the ogre himself entered the house.

Well, he was really great! Three calves dangled from his belt. He untied them, threw them on the table and said:

— Come on, wife, fry me a couple for breakfast! Wow! What does it smell like?

Fi-fi-fo-foot,
I smell the spirit of the British here.
Whether he is dead or alive,
Will go to my breakfast.

— What are you, hubby! his wife told him. - You've got it. Or maybe it smells like that lamb that you liked so much yesterday at dinner. Come on, wash your face and change, and in the meantime I will prepare breakfast. nine0003

The ogre came out and Jack was about to get out of the oven and run away, but the woman wouldn't let him.

“Wait until he falls asleep,” she said. He always likes to take a nap after breakfast.

And so the giant had breakfast, then went to a huge chest, took out two sacks of gold from it and sat down to count the coins. He counted and counted, finally began to nod off and began to snore so that the whole house began to shake again.

Then Jack slowly got out of the oven, tiptoed past the sleeping ogre, grabbed one bag of gold and God bless! — straight to the beanstalk. He dropped the bag down into his garden, and he began to descend the stem, lower and lower, until at last he found himself at home. nine0003

Jack told his mother about everything, showed her a bag of gold and said:

— Well, Mom, did I tell the truth about these beans? You see, they are really magical!

“I don’t know what these beans are,” answered the mother, “but as for the cannibal, I think it’s the one who killed your father and ruined us!”

And I must tell you that when Jack was only three months old, a terrible ogre appeared in their area. He grabbed anyone, but especially did not spare the kind and generous people. And Jack's father, although he was not rich himself, always helped the poor and the losers. nine0003

“Oh, Jack,” the mother finished, “to think that the cannibal could eat you too!” Don't you dare climb that stem ever again!

Jack promised, and they lived with their mother in full contentment with the money that was in the bag.

But in the end, the bag was empty, and Jack, forgetting his promise, decided to try his luck at the top of the beanstalk one more time. One fine morning he got up early and climbed the beanstalk. He climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, until he finally found himself on a familiar road and reached along it to a huge, enormous tall house. Like last time, a huge, enormous, tall woman was standing at the threshold. nine0003

“Good morning, ma'am,” Jack told her as if nothing had happened. “Be so kind as to give me something to eat, please!”

- Get out of here, little boy! the giantess replied. “Or my husband will eat you at breakfast.” Uh, no, wait a minute, aren't you the youngster who came here recently? You know, on that very day my husband missed one sack of gold.

— These are miracles, ma'am! Jack says. “It’s true, I could tell you something about it, but I’m so hungry that until I eat at least a piece, I won’t be able to utter a word. nine0003

The giantess was so curious that she let Jack into the house and gave him something to eat. And Jack deliberately began to chew slowly, slowly. But suddenly - top! Top! Top! they heard the steps of the giant, and the kind woman again hid Jack in the furnace.

Everything happened just like last time. The ogre came in and said: “Fi-fi-fo-foot…” and so on, had breakfast with three roasted bulls, and then ordered his wife:

- Wife, bring me a chicken - the one that lays the golden eggs!

The giantess brought it, and he said to the hen: “Come on!” And the hen laid a golden egg. Then the cannibal began to nod and began to snore so that the whole house shook. nine0003

Then Jack slowly got out of the oven, grabbed the golden hen and was out the door in no time. But then the hen cackled and woke up the ogre. And just as Jack was running out of the house, he heard the giant's voice behind him:

— Wife, leave the golden hen alone! And the wife answered:

- Why are you, my dear!

That's all Jack could hear. He rushed with all his might to the beanstalk and almost flew down it.

Jack returned home, showed his mother the miracle chicken and shouted: "Go!" And the hen laid a golden egg. nine0003

Since then, every time Jack told her, "Rush!" The hen laid a golden egg.

Mother scolded Jack for disobeying her and going to the cannibal again, but she still liked the chicken.

And Jack, a restless guy, after a while decided to try his luck again at the top of the beanstalk. One fine morning he got up early and climbed the beanstalk.

He climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed until he reached the very top. True, this time he acted more carefully and did not go straight to the cannibal's house, but crept up slowly and hid in the bushes. I waited until the giantess came out with a bucket for water, and darted into the house! I climbed into the copper cauldron and waited. He didn’t wait long, suddenly he hears the familiar “top! Top! Top!", and now the ogre and his wife enter the room. nine0003

- Fi-fi-fo-foot, I smell the spirit of the British here! shouted the cannibal. “I can smell it, wife!”

— Can you really hear it, hubby? says the giantess. “Well, then, this is the tomboy who stole your gold and the goose with golden eggs. He's probably in the oven.

And both rushed to the stove. Good thing Jack wasn't hiding there!

- Always you with your fi-fi-fo-foot! grumbled the ogre's wife, and began preparing breakfast for her husband.

The ogre sat down at the table, but still could not calm down and kept mumbling:

— Still, I can swear that… — He jumped up from the table, ransacked the pantry, and chests, and cupboards…

He searched all the corners, only he didn’t think to look into the copper cauldron. Finally finished breakfast and shouted:

- Hey, wife, bring me a golden harp! The wife brought the harp and put it on the table.

- Sing! the giant ordered the harp.

And the golden harp sang so well that you will hear it! And she sang and sang until the ogre fell asleep and snored like thunder. nine0003

It was then that Jack lightly lifted the lid of the cauldron. He got out of it quietly, quietly, like a mouse, and crawled on all fours to the very table. He climbed onto the table, grabbed the harp, and rushed to the door.

But the harp called loudly:

— Master! Master!

The ogre woke up and immediately saw Jack running away with his harp.

Jack ran headlong, and the giant followed him. It cost him nothing to catch Jack, but Jack was the first to run, and therefore he managed to dodge the giant. And besides, he knew the road well. When he reached the bean tree, the ogre was only twenty paces away. And suddenly Jack was gone. Cannibal here, there - no Jack! Finally, he thought to look at the beanstalk and sees: Jack is trying with his last strength, crawling down. The giant was afraid to go down the shaky stalk, but then the harp called again:0003

- Master! Master!

And the giant just hung on the beanstalk, and the beanstalk trembled all under its weight.

Jack descends lower and lower, and the giant follows him. But now Jack is right above the house. Then he screams:

- Mom! Mother! Bring the ax! Bring the ax!

Mother ran out with an ax in her hands, rushed to the beanstalk, and froze in horror: huge legs of a giant stuck out of the clouds.

But then Jack jumped down to the ground, grabbed an ax and hacked at the beanstalk so hard that he almost cut it in half. nine0003

The ogre felt the stalk swaying and shaking and stopped to see what had happened. Here Jack strikes with an ax again and completely cuts the beanstalk. The stalk swayed and collapsed, and the ogre fell to the ground and twisted his neck.

Jack gave his mother a golden harp, and they began to live without grieve. And they did not remember about the giant.

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🔥 93

😁 89

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Jack and the beanstalk, English folk tale

Long ago there was a poor widow who had an only son, Jack, and a cow named White. The cow gave milk, and the mother sold it at the market - from this they lived. But one day Belyanka stopped giving milk. - How are we going to live on? - Mother lamented every minute. - I'll try to find some work, - said Jack. - Yes, you already tried, but no one takes you, - mother answered angrily. - No, we'll probably have to sell our cow and open a shop with this money. - Well, so be it, - Jack agreed. - Today is just a market day, and I will quickly sell Belyanka. nine0003

Jack took the reins and led the cow to the market. But I did not have time to go half way, as I met a wonderful old man.

- Good morning, Jack! - the old man said hello. - Good morning to you too! - answered Jack, and thought to himself: "How does the old man know my name?". - Where are you going? - the old man asked Jack. - To the market, to sell a cow. - Looks like you're only good for this! the old man laughed. - Tell me, how many beans do you need to make five? - Exactly two in each hand and one in your mouth! - answered Jack. - Guessed! - exclaimed the old man. - Look, here they are the same beans! - and the old man pulled out a handful of some unusual beans from his pocket. - Let's change with you - you have beans, I have a cow! - Pass by! - Jack was angry. - Yes, you don’t know what kind of beans, - said the old man. - Plant them in the evening, and by morning they will grow to the very sky. - Really?! - surprised Jack. - So it will be! And if not, take your cow back. - Okay! - Jack agreed: he gave the old man a cow, and put the beans in his pocket. Jack turned back and trudged home. - Finally, you're back, Jack! - the mother was delighted when she saw her son. - I see that the cow is not with you, so you sold it. How much did they pay you for it? - You'll never guess! Jack replied. - Look at these beans? They are magical. If you plant them in the evening, then ... - How ?! cried Jack's mother. - You gave my beloved Belyanka for a handful of some beans? Why is God punishing me? Give me those beans! - With these words, the mother grabbed the beans and threw them out the window. - Go to sleep! You won't get dinner tonight! Jack went upstairs to his little room and went to bed without having dinner. Soon he fell asleep. nine0003

The next morning, when Jack woke up and went to the window, he saw that the beans that his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden that evening had sprouted. The huge stalk stretched and stretched up until it had grown to the very clouds. So, the old man told the truth, and these beans are actually magical!

The beanstalk grew right next to the window. Jack opened it, jumped onto the stalk and climbed up like a tightrope. And he kept climbing, climbing, climbing, climbing until he reached the very sky. There he saw a long and wide road. Jack stepped onto this road and followed it. He walked for a long time and came to a high, high house. And at the threshold of this house stood a tall, tall woman. nine0003

Jack greeted her very politely, and then added: - Be so kind as to give me something to eat, please! After all, Jack went to bed without supper and was now very hungry. - Did you want to eat? asked the tall, tall woman. - Get out of here as soon as possible if you don't want to be eaten yourself! My husband is a cannibal, and his favorite dish is boys roasted on a spit. Get out while you're safe, otherwise he'll be back home soon. - Ma'am, please give me something to eat! - continued to repeat his Jack. - I haven't had a piece in my mouth since yesterday morning, and I'm so hungry that I don't care if they fry me or I'll die of hunger. The ogre's wife was actually a kind woman. She took Jack to the kitchen and gave him bread and cheese and milk. But before Jack had time to eat a piece, when suddenly the whole house shook from someone's steps. - Oh, God! It's my husband back! gasped the tall, tall woman. - Come on, get in here as soon as possible! And as soon as she managed to push Jack into the oven, the ogre himself entered. It was so huge that it seemed as if a whole mountain had fallen into the house. nine0003

Three calves hung from his belt. The cannibal untied them, gave them to his wife and said: - Come on, fry this for me for breakfast! - Then he sniffed the air and asked: - What does it smell like here? - Does it smell like something here? - the ogre's wife was surprised. - You thought. It probably still smells like the boy I made you for dinner yesterday. Better go and wash and change, and in the meantime I'll take care of your breakfast. The ogre left the room. Jack wanted to get out of the oven and run away, but the ogre's wife stopped him. - Don't stick your head out, otherwise he can replace you, - she said. - After breakfast my husband usually goes to rest. When he falls asleep, you can leave. The ogre ate, then went to a huge chest, took out two bags of gold from it and sat down at the table to count the money. Finally, sleep overcame him, the ogre began to snore, so much so that the whole house shuddered. nine0003

Jack slowly got out of the oven, approached silently to the ogre, grabbed one bag of gold and rushed headlong to the beanstalk. He threw the bag down, and he began to go down the stem. He was in a hurry, afraid that the cannibal would not wake up. Finally, Jack was at his house. He told his mother everything that had happened to him, handed her a bag of gold and said: - So I was right about the beans? As you can see, they are really magical! Jack and his mother lived for some time on the money that was in the bag. But one day the bag was empty, and Jack decided to climb back to the top of the beanstalk. nine0003

One day he woke up early in the morning and started climbing the stem. He climbed and climbed until he found himself on an already familiar road. Walking along it, I reached a high-high house. Like last time, a tall, tall woman stood at the threshold. Jack greeted her and, as if nothing had happened, asked: - Give me something to eat, please! - Get out of here as soon as possible! - answered the ogre's wife. - Otherwise, my husband will return and eat you. But Jack repeated his request so insistently that the ogre's wife, who was actually a kind woman, had no choice but to let the boy into the house and give him food. Jack deliberately chewed slowly. He wanted to wait for the ogre to come home. Finally, the footsteps of the cannibal were heard, and the cannibal again hid Jack in the oven. Then everything was the same as last time: the ogre came in and asked: "What does it smell like here?" and after breakfast, he ordered his wife: - Bring me a chicken that lays golden eggs! The giantess brought it, and the ogre ordered the chicken to lay, and she laid a golden egg. Then the cannibal began to snore. Then Jack slowly got out of the oven, grabbed the golden hen and ran away. But then the hen cackled and woke up the ogre. - Hey, wife, what are you doing with my golden hen! he cried. Jack heard these words when he was already far from the cannibal's house. He darted towards the beanstalk and flew down it. Arriving home, Jack showed his mother a chicken and ordered: - Run! And the chicken immediately laid a golden egg. Every time Jack told her to lay, the hen would lay a golden egg. But that wasn't enough for Jack. He decided to try his luck again in the cannibal's house. One day he got up early and climbed the beanstalk. nine0003

I got to the cannibal's house by the already familiar road, quietly made my way inside and hid in a copper cauldron. Jack did not wait long; suddenly he hears familiar steps - the cannibal enters the house with his wife. - Again I smell the smell of this malicious boy! - shouted the ogre. - Well, if this is the scoundrel who stole your gold and a chicken with golden eggs, - says the ogre's wife, - then he is probably sitting in the stove! And both rushed to the stove. But Jack was not there, because he hid this time in a different place. No matter how much they searched for the boy, they did not find it. At last the ogre sat down at the breakfast table. But he kept repeating: “And yet it seems to me that ...” and, leaving the table, he searched all the nooks and crannies again, only he did not guess to look into the copper cauldron. After breakfast, the ogre shouted: “Wife , bring here my golden harp! The wife brought the harp and placed it in front of her husband. - Sing! - the giant commanded the harp. And the golden harp played so well that you would listen. She played and played until the ogre finally began to snore. nine0003

Here Jack slightly lifted the lid of the cauldron, got out of it slowly and walked on tiptoe to the table. Then he climbed onto the table, grabbed the golden harp and rushed to the door. At that moment, the harp called loudly: - Master! Master! The giant shuddered, woke up and saw that Jack had stolen his harp. Jack ran with all his might, but the ogre could not catch him, because the boy was the first to the door and also knew the way well.