`I wonder where it ends,' said Jack to his mother `I think I will climb up and see.'

So Jack called his mother, and they both gazed in silent wonder at the Beanstalk, which was not only of great height, but was thick enough to bear Jack's weight. However, after his late mistake about the cow, he thought he had better consult his mother first. `It would be easy to climb it,' thought Jack.Īnd, having thought of the experiment, he at once resolved to carry it out, for Jack was a good climber. What was his amazement to find that the beans had grown up in the night, and climbed up and up till they covered the high cliff that sheltered the cottage, and disappeared above it! The stalks had twined and twisted themselves together till they formed quite a ladder. That day they had very little dinner, and went sadly to bed, knowing that for the next day there would be none and Jack, unable to sleep from grief and vexation, got up at day-dawn and went out into the garden. Mother says that they are just common scarlet-runners, and nothing else but I may as well sow them.' So he took a piece of stick, and made some holes in the ground, and put in the beans. `At least,' he thought, `I will sow the wonderful beans.

He was very sorry, and mother and son went to bed very sadly that night their last hope seemed gone.Īt daybreak Jack rose and went out into the garden. When he brought them home to his mother instead of the money she expected for her nice cow, she was very vexed and shed many tears, scolding Jack for his folly. Jack stopped to look at them, and the butcher told the boy that they were of great value, and persuaded the silly lad to sell the cow for these beans. Jack liked going to market to sell the cow very much but as he was on the way, he met a butcher who had some beautiful beans in his hand. The widow saw that there was no means of keeping Jack and herself from starvation but by selling her cow so one morning she said to her son, `I am too weak to go myself, Jack, so you must take the cow to market for me, and sell her.' Jack did no work as yet, and by degrees they grew dreadfully poor. There had been a hard winter, and after it the poor woman had suffered from fever and ague. Jack was a giddy, thoughtless boy, but very kind-hearted and affectionate. ONCE upon a time there was a poor widow who lived in a little cottage with her only son Jack. Today’s story is Jack and the Beanstalk, an English tale found in Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book. I’m Susan Poulter, a Librarian at the Main Library. Hello, and welcome to Family Folktales from the Nashville Public Library. This story can be found in Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book.

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