Jack from the beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk first appeared as The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean in 1734. Featured iIllustrations are by Arthur Rackham, 1918 edition of English Fairy Tales retold by Flora Annie Steel.
Enjoy sharing more great stories in our Favorite Fairy Tales and Short Stories for Children

Once upon a time there lived a poor widow and her son Jack. One day, Jack’s mother told him to sell their only cow. Jack went to the market and on the way he met a man who wanted to buy his cow. Jack asked, “What will you give me in return for my cow?” The man answered, “I will give you five magic beans!” Jack took the magic beans and gave the man the cow. But when he reached home, Jack’s mother was very angry. She said, “You fool! He took away your cow and gave you some beans!” She threw the beans out of the window. Jack was very sad and went to sleep without dinner.

The next day, when Jack woke up in the morning and looked out of the window, he saw that a huge beanstalk had grown from his magic beans! He climbed up the beanstalk and reached a kingdom in the sky. There lived a giant and his wife. Jack went inside the house and found the giant’s wife in the kitchen. Jack said, “Could you please give me something to eat? I am so hungry!” The kind wife gave him bread and some milk.

While he was eating, the giant came home. The giant was very big and looked very fearsome. Jack was terrified and went and hid inside. The giant cried, “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” The wife said, “There is no boy in here!” So, the giant ate his food and then went to his room. He took out his sacks of gold coins, counted them and kept them aside. Then he went to sleep. In the night, Jack crept out of his hiding place, took one sack of gold coins and climbed down the beanstalk. At home, he gave the coins to his mother. His mother was very happy and they lived well for sometime.

Climbed the beanstalk and went to the giant’s house again. Once again, Jack asked the giant’s wife for food, but while he was eating the giant returned. Jack leapt up in fright and went and hid under the bed. The giant cried, “Fee-fifo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” The wife said, “There is no boy in here!” The giant ate his food and went to his room. There, he took out a hen. He shouted, “Lay!” and the hen laid a golden egg. When the giant fell asleep, Jack took the hen and climbed down the beanstalk. Jack’s mother was very happy with him.

After some days, Jack once again climbed the beanstalk and went to the giant’s castle. For the third time, Jack met the giant’s wife and asked for some food. Once again, the giant’s wife gave him bread and milk. But while Jack was eating, the giant came home. “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” cried the giant. “Don’t be silly! There is no boy in here!” said his wife.

The giant had a magical harp that could play beautiful songs. While the giant slept, Jack took the harp and was about to leave. Suddenly, the magic harp cried, “Help master! A boy is stealing me!” The giant woke up and saw Jack with the harp. Furious, he ran after Jack. But Jack was too fast for him. He ran down the beanstalk and reached home. The giant followed him down. Jack quickly ran inside his house and fetched an axe. He began to chop the beanstalk. The giant fell and died.

Jack and his mother were now very rich and they lived happily ever after.

You might enjoy reading Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem inspired by this fairy tale, The Bean-Stalk.

The Story of Jack and the Beanstalk

Old English Fairy Tale - version written and illustrated by Leanne Guenther

Once upon a time, there lived a widow woman and her son, Jack, on their small farm in the country.

Every day, Jack would help his mother with the chores - chopping the wood, weeding the garden and milking the cow. But despite all their hard work, Jack and his mother were very poor with barely enough money to keep themselves fed.

"What shall we do, what shall we do?" said the widow, one spring day. "We don't have enough money to buy seed for the farm this year! We must sell our cow, Old Bess, and with the money buy enough seed to plant a good crop."

"All right, mother," said Jack, "it's market-day today. I'll go into town and sell Bessy."

So Jack took the cow's halter in his hand, walked through the garden gate and headed off toward town. He hadn't gone far when he met a funny-looking, old man who said to him, "Good morning, Jack."

"Good morning to you," said Jack, wondering how the little, old man knew his name.

"Where are you off to this fine morning?" asked the man.

"I'm going to market to sell our cow, Bessy."

"Well what a helpful son you are!" exclaimed the man, "I have a special deal for such a good boy like you. "

The little, old man looked around to make sure no one was watching and then opened his hand to show Jack what he held.

"Beans?" asked Jack, looking a little confused.

"Three magical bean seeds to be exact, young man. One, two, three! So magical are they, that if you plant them over-night, by morning they grow right up to the sky," promised the funny little man. "And because you're such a good boy, they're all yours in trade for that old milking cow."

"Really?" said Jack, "and you're quite sure they're magical?"

"I am indeed! And if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have your cow back."

"Well that sounds fair," said Jack, as he handed over Bessy's halter, pocketed the beans and headed back home to show his mother.

"Back already, Jack?" asked his mother; "I see you haven't got Old Bess -- you've sold her so quickly. How much did you get for her?"

Jack smiled and reached into his pocket, "Just look at these beans, mother; they're magical, plant them over-night and----"

"What!" cried Jack's mother. "Oh, silly boy! How could you give away our milking cow for three measly beans." And with that she did the worst thing Jack had ever seen her do - she burst into tears.

Jack ran upstairs to his little room in the attic, so sorry he was, and threw the beans angrily out the window thinking, "How could I have been so foolish - I've broken my mother's heart." After much tossing and turning, at last Jack dropped off to sleep.

When Jack woke up the next morning, his room looked strange. The sun was shining into part of it like it normally did, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped up and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think he saw? Why, the beans he had thrown out of the window into the garden had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up until it reached the sky.

Using the leaves and twisty vines like the rungs of a ladder, Jack climbed and climbed until at last, he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long, broad road winding its way through the clouds to a tall, square castle off in the distance.

Jack ran up the road toward the castle and just as he reached it, the door swung open to reveal a horrible lady giant, with one great eye in the middle of her forehead.

As soon as Jack saw her he turned to run away, but she caught him, and dragged him into the castle.

"Don't be in such a hurry, I'm sure a growing boy like you would like a nice, big breakfast," said the great, big, tall woman, "It's been so long since I got to make breakfast for a boy."

Well, the lady giant wasn't such a bad sort, after all -- even if she was a bit odd. She took Jack into the kitchen, and gave him a chunk of cheese and a glass of milk. But Jack had only taken a few bites when thump! thump! thump! the whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming.

"Goodness gracious me! It's my husband," said the giant woman, wringing her hands, "what on earth shall I do? There's nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast and I haven't any bread left. Oh dear, I never should have let you stay for breakfast. Here, come quick and jump in here." And she hurried Jack into a large copper pot sitting beside the stove just as her husband, the giant, came in.

He ducked inside the kitchen and said, "I'm ready for my breakfast -- I'm so hungry I could eat three cows. Ah, what's this I smell?

Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead
I'll have his bones to grind my bread.

"Nonsense, dear," said his wife, "we haven't had a boy for breakfast in years. Now you go and wash up and by the time you come back your breakfast'll be ready for you."

So the giant went off to tidy up -- Jack was about to make a run for it when the woman stopped him. "Wait until he's asleep," she said, "he always has a little snooze after breakfast."

Jack peeked out of the copper pot just as the giant returned to the kitchen carrying a basket filled with golden eggs and a sickly-looking, white hen. The giant poked the hen and growled, "Lay" and the hen laid an egg made of gold which the giant added to the basket.

After his breakfast, the giant went to the closet and pulled out a golden harp with the face of a sad, young girl. The giant poked the harp and growled, "Play" and the harp began to play a gentle tune while her lovely face sang a lullaby. Then the giant began to nod his head and to snore until the house shook.

When he was quite sure the giant was asleep, Jack crept out of the copper pot and began to tiptoe out of the kitchen. Just as he was about to leave, he heard the sound of the harp-girl weeping. Jack bit his lip, sighed and returned to the kitchen. He grabbed the sickly hen and the singing harp, and began to tiptoe back out. But this time the hen gave a cackle which woke the giant, and just as Jack got out of the house he heard him calling, "Wife, wife, what have you done with my white hen and my golden harp?"

Jack ran as fast as he could and the giant, realizing he had been tricked, came rushing after - away from the castle and down the broad, winding road. When he got to the beanstalk the giant was only twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear - confused, the giant peered through the clouds and saw Jack underneath climbing down for dear life. The giant stomped his foot and roared angrily.

Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead
I'll have his bones to grind my bread.

The giant swung himself down onto the beanstalk which shook with his weight. Jack slipped, slid and climbed down the beanstalk as quickly as he could, and after him climbed the giant.

As he neared the bottom, Jack called out, "Mother! Please! Hurry, bring me an axe, bring me an axe." And his mother came rushing out with Jack's wood chopping axe in her hand, but when she came to the enormous beanstalk she stood stock still with fright.

Jack jumped down, got hold of the axe and began to chop away at the beanstalk. Luckily, because of all the chores he'd done over the years, he'd become quite good at chopping and it didn't take long for him to chop through enough of the beanstalk that it began to teeter. The giant felt the beanstalk shake and quiver so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave one last big chop with the axe, and the beanstalk began to topple over. Then the giant fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came toppling after.

The singing harp thanked Jack for rescuing her from the giant - she had hated being locked up in the closet all day and night and wanted nothing more than to sit in the farmhouse window and sing to the birds and the butterflies in the sunshine.

With a bit of patience and his mother's help, it didn't take long for Jack to get the sickly hen back in good health and the grateful hen continued to lay a fresh golden egg every day.

Jack used the money from selling the golden eggs to buy back Old Bess, purchase seed for the spring crop and to fix up his mother's farm. He even had enough left over to invite every one of his neighbours over for a nice meal, complete with music from the singing harp.

And so Jack, his mother, Old Bess, the golden harp and the white hen lived happy ever after.

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90,000 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.

— 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 smart,” the old man continued, “I’m not averse to trading with you—I’m giving these beans for your cow!”

— 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.

- 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!

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!

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.

— 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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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 oven.

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.

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.

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.

- 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, rummaged through the pantry, and chests, and sideboards…

He searched all the corners, only he didn’t guess 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.

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.

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.