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 so he 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. Upon further inspection, Jack found that the castle belonged to a giant.
The door had been left ajar just slightly, so Jack snuck inside and saw that everything was much bigger than he was. Suddenly, the floor beneath Jack’s feet began to shake and Jack heard a loud rumbling noise. His heart was beating loudly in his chest as he scurried quickly inside a cupboard to hide.
I smell the blood of an Englishman,” bellowed the giant menacingly. Jack shivered with fear. The terrifying giant sat down at the table. On the table was a hen and a golden harp. The glittering harp caught Jack’s eye and, although he was petrified, he watched with fascination.
The giant told the hen, "Lay" and the hen laid an egg of solid gold. Jack stood mesmerized. Then the giant said to the harp "Sing," and the harp sang the most beautiful and calming song Jack had ever heard. The song seemed to have cast a spell on the giant and he fell asleep.
When Jack was certain that the giant was fully asleep, he crept out from his hiding place and skillfully climbed up the table leg and onto the table top. He grabbed the hen and the harp and made a daring leap down to the ground. The hen nestled happily under Jack’s arm but the harp was alarmed to be grabbed by a stranger. As Jack headed towards the door, the harp cried, “Help, master!”
The harp’s shouting woke up the snoozing giant. He jumped up from his chair and spotted Jack. “Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!” he roared. Jack ran with all his might but the giant's long legs caught up quickly. Jack reached the beanstalk and started to climb back down it. It was not easy climbing down the beanstalk while holding on to a hen and a harp. The beanstalk shook. Jack looked upwards. The giant had got onto the beanstalk and was climbing down after him!
When Jack reached the bottom of the beanstalk, he stumbled onto the ground, utterly exhausted. “Help!” he shouted at the top of his voice. He knew that the giant wasn’t far behind him. Jack’s mother came rushing towards the beanstalk with an axe in her hands. Without hesitation, she sprinted to the base of the beanstalk and began chopping at it frantically.
The beanstalk began to wobble and a loud cry came from above them. The giant fell and crashed to the ground. He was never seen again. Jack hugged his mother. “Thank you,” he smiled, still out of breath and shaking all over. “I’m so glad to have you back, Jack,” she whispered, looking at him lovingly.
Jack’s mother was delighted to see the golden harp and the hen. The harp now seemed happy to call Jack his new master and the hen quickly started to lay golden eggs on Jack’s command. In fact, Jack was able to sell the golden eggs to buy Daisy back. They didn’t have to worry about having enough money again and they all lived happily ever after.