Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack lived with his mother in a small house. They were very poor. All they had was a cow named Milky-White.

One day, Milky-White stopped giving milk. "We'll have to sell her," said Jack's mother sadly.

On the way to market, Jack met a strange old man. "I'll trade you these magic beans for your cow," said the man, holding out five strange, shimmering beans.

Jack's mother was furious. "Beans?! You traded our cow for BEANS?!" She threw them out the window and sent Jack to bed without supper.

But the next morning, Jack looked out the window and gasped. Where the beans had fallen, an enormous beanstalk had grown — so tall it disappeared into the clouds.

Jack climbed. Up and up and up, past the birds, past the clouds, until he reached a land above the sky. There stood an enormous castle.

Inside lived a giant. A real, actual, terrifying giant. And the giant had three treasures: a bag of gold coins, a hen that laid golden eggs, and a golden harp that played music by itself.

Jack crept into the castle while the giant slept. "Fee-fi-fo-fum!" the giant rumbled in his sleep. Jack grabbed the bag of gold and ran.

He climbed back up the next day and took the golden hen. And the next day, he went for the harp. But the harp cried out, "Master! Master!" and the giant woke up.

Jack ran. The giant chased. Jack slid down the beanstalk faster than he'd ever moved. When he reached the bottom, he grabbed an axe and chopped the beanstalk down. The giant fell and was never seen again.

Jack and his mother lived comfortably ever after, with the golden hen laying a golden egg every morning. And Jack never traded the cow for beans again.