June 2022

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

A very good morning to the honourable judges. I am going to present a story

entitled “Jack and the Beanstalk”.
Once upon a time, there was a poor woman who lived in a little house with her
son, Jack.
One day, Jack was sent to sell their old cow at the market.
One his way, he met a stranger who offered to give Jack five magic beans in
exchange for his cow. Jack agreed to the deal and was excited to show his mother
the magic beans.
His mother was very angry when Jack returned home with nothing more than
beans and she threw the beans out the window.
The next morning, Jack woke up and saw that the beans his mother had
thrown had grown into a huge beanstalk. The beans really were magic!
Jack climbed up the stalk all the way up to the clouds.
There, he found a huge stone castle. He went inside the castle, and suddenly,
a huge woman’s voice boomed, “What are you doing here?”
Jack told the woman that he was lost and hungry. The woman looked at him
kindly and gave him a bowl of milk, but she warned, “If you hear my husband
coming, you must hide!”
Just as Jack finished his milk, he heard a thunderous sound. Boom, boom…
The Giant was home!
The Giant entered the kitchen. His wife quickly gave the Giant his dinner as
Jack scrambled to hide behind a big bowl.
After finishing his dinner, the Giant placed a sad little hen and a beautiful
golden harp on the kitchen table. He demanded the harp to play music and it
responded by playing the most beautiful music Jack had ever heard.
Then Jack watched as the Giant reached inside the tiny cage and removed a
golden egg.
“How mean!” thought Jack. “The Giant is making the poor little hen to lay
golden eggs and makes the harp play all night and day.”
He knew he had to save them.
When the Giant fell asleep, Jack crept out and grabbed the hen.
Then, he turned to pick up the harp, but the hen’s squawking woke the Giant.
Jack was forced to scurry down the beanstalk with only the hen.
 When he returned home, he showed the hen to his mother.
“You see, mother. It was good that I traded our old cow for the magic beans! I
saved this hen from the Giant!’
The hen was very grateful to Jack, so she provided Jack and his mother with
a golden egg every day.
Jack didn’t want to see the Giant again, but he knew he had to rescue the
magic harp.
He gathered up all his courage and climbed up the beanstalk.
He hid behind a large kitchen pot and waited for the Giant to come to dinner.
Sure enough, when the Giant finished eating, he placed the magic harp on the
table and told it to sing.
When the Giant fell asleep, Jack snatched the harp and ran for the beanstalk.
But the Giant awoke and followed the sound of the magic harp’s music to find Jack
climbing down the beanstalk.
Soon the beanstalk shook under the weight of the Giant climbing down.
“Quick!” shouted Jack to his mother when he finished climbing. “Bring me an
axe. I must chop down the beanstalk!”
He did just that, and with a mighty crash, Boom……. The beanstalk and the
Giant fell to the ground. The hen and the harp were safe forever.
And so Jack, his mother, the hen and the harp lived happily ever after.
The moral value behind the story is, “Always take advantage of the
opportunities that life provides you.” With that, I thank you.