Once upon a time there was a

boy named Jack who lived with

his poor widowed mother. They
had sold almost everything they
owned to buy food. When their
last cow stopped giving milk,
Jack’s mother sent him to town
to sell it.

On the way to town Jack met a

strange fellow who told him
stories of magic beans. “Where
can I buy some of these magic
beans for my mother?” asked
Jack.
“I have the last five magic beans
and I will sell them to you
because you are a good boy,” the
strange man smiled at Jack.
“Well I have nothing but our old
cow and we need the money I
would get by selling her for
food.”
The man replied, “Trust me, my
boy, these beans will bring you
food and fortune and your
mother will be proud.”

Jack hesitated but finally traded

the cow for the beans. When
Jack returned home his mother
was furious and threw the beans
out the kitchen window crying.
Jack went to bed that night sad
and hungry.
He woke the next morning to
find a huge beanstalk growing in
the garden. “The beans really are
magic!” he cried. Jack saw that
stalk reached the clouds. He
remembered stories about the
clouds containing gold and
started climbing the stalk to see
what he could find.

He climbed and climbed. When

he got to the top he saw a huge
castle and headed for it. The
door was so big that Jack could
crawl beneath it. Once inside he
saw a giant man eating his
dinner. When the giant was
finished he called his servant to
bring him his bag of gold coins.
While counting his money the
giant became drowsy and fell
asleep.

Jack crept up to the giant and

stole his bag of gold. He
struggled down the beanstalk
with his money and when he got
to the bottom he called for his
mother. Jack’s mother was very
happy because this money was
the same money that the giant
had stolen from Jack’s father
many years ago. But she was
also afraid she knew how
dangerous the giant was and
made Jack promise he would
never go back.

While Jack did a promise, after a

while the money began to run
out. Jack began to wonder if he
would find anything else in the
castle. Once again, Jack decided
he would go back up the
beanstalk and back to the castle.
Once again he reached the castle
and climbed under the castle
door. And once again he found
the giant eating his dinner at his
table. When he was finished this
time however the giant called for
his magic hen. Jack was amazed
when he saw the hen lay an egg
of pure gold. While the giant
was watching the hen he again
became drowsy and fell asleep.
Jack crept silently to the table
and grabbed the hen.
When he returned home his
mother was very angry that Jack
had gone back to the castle. She
grabbed Jack’s axe intent on
cutting the beanstalk down. Jack
begged her not to and showed
her how the hen could lay
golden eggs. Jack’s mother put
the axe down and watched with
delight as the hen laid one
beautiful golden egg after
another.

After a while Jack’s curiosity got

the better of him and he once
again thought about what else he
could find in the castle. Once
again, Jack decided he would go
back up the beanstalk and back
to the castle. Once again he
reached the castle and climbed
under the castle door. And once
again he found the giant eating
dinner at his table.

When he was finished this time

however the giant called for his
magic harp. Jack watched as the
harp began to play beautiful
music all by itself. The music
was so beautiful that before long
the lazy giant was once again
fast asleep. Jack crept silently to
the table. But as soon as Jack
picked up the harp it began
playing very loudly in his
strange hands and the giant
awoke and started to chase Jack.
Jack ran and climbed down to
the bottom. The giant was also
climing down, Luckily his axe
was near and he chopped down
the beanstalk. Because of the
weight and Jack’s chopping the
beanstalk fell and The giant was
dropping down to earth. And
vanished.

THE END