Once upon a time, there was a widow and her son Jack. They were very poor. They lived in a little old house.
"Mom, I am hungry. Can we eat something tonight?" asked Jack.
"Jack, we don't have any food left," his mother said. "Tomorrow let's sell the cow. She is too old to give milk. You can take her to the market. Sell her and buy some bread and meat."
"Yes, Mother," said Jack.
The next day, on the way to the market, Jack met a little old man.
"Sell me your cow," he said. "I will give you this bean."
"No! How can that bean feed me and my mother?" said Jack.
"This bean is a magic bean. It will grow a vine as high as the sky! Up there is a magical kingdom with many wonderful things," said the old man.
"Wow!" thought Jack. "There might be food and money above the clouds." So he sold the cow to the old man for the bean.
Jack was excited and hurried home.
"Jack, where are the bread and meat?" asked his mother.
"Look, Mother," said Jack. "I sold the cow for a magic bean!"
"What? You fool! What can this bean do for us? Now we will go hungry again tonight!" And she threw the bean into the backyard.
The next morning, Jack looked outside. "Mother, look! There is a huge beanstalk in our yard!"
"Oh! Take the ax and cut it down," his mother said.
But Jack believed the old man. He climbed up the beanstalk, all the way to the top.
When he reached the top, he couldn't believe his eyes. There was a huge castle in the clouds. Jack knocked on the door.
A maid answered the door. "Oh my, it's a little boy! What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see what was above the clouds," said Jack.
"Shh, be quiet!" the maid warned. "My master, the giant, eats little children! He's upstairs now. You must hide!"
"Did you say a giant lives here? Oh no!" said Jack.
"Yes! Quick, hide in the oven. My master will come downstairs soon!"
Just as the maid pushed Jack into the oven, the giant arrived. "Hmm, I smell a little boy!" said the giant.
"There is no one else here. You are imagining things!" said the maid.
"Hmm, okay." The giant seemed satisfied. "Bring me my goose then!" he ordered.
"Do you want your singing harp too?" asked the maid.
"Yes. Let the harp play some music while I count my golden eggs." The giant sat at the table, and the maid brought the goose and the harp.
"Now, my goose, lay golden eggs for me. Ha-ha!" laughed the giant.
Jack watched through a hole in the oven door. When he saw the goose lay a golden egg, he was amazed.
"Sniff, sniff! I still smell a child here," grumbled the giant. "Hmm!" And the giant began to search everywhere.
Just as the giant was about to open the oven door, the maid shooed the magic goose away. "Oh, master! The goose is flying away!"
The giant turned to look. "What? Come back, goose!" he cried.
"Hurry, little boy! Get out of here quickly!" the maid told Jack.
But suddenly, the singing harp shouted out, "Stop! Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Shh!" said Jack.
But the harp didn't listen. "Master, master! I found the child! He's here!" called the harp.
"Ah-ha!" the giant roared. "You will taste good for dinner!"
Quickly Jack escaped behind some jars. The giant rushed to catch Jack, but he could not find him because Jack was so little. "Oh, where are you, little boy? Come out!"
While the giant was searching for Jack, he slipped away and ran out of the castle as fast as he could.
"Oh, master! Look! He is running away," called the harp.
The giant chased after Jack. But just as he was running out the castle door, the maid slammed the door on the giant's foot. The giant tripped and fell down. "Ohh!"
When Jack reached the beanstalk, he saw the goose sitting on a cloud nearby. "There's the goose!" he said. Jack snatched it up and hurried down the beanstalk.
The giant ran to the beanstalk and started to climb down after Jack. But he was not as quick, so Jack reached the ground first.
"Mom, Mom, quick! Where is the ax?" he cried.
"Jack, where have you been? You left the ax right here," said his mom.
Jack grabbed the ax and started to cut down the beanstalk. The beanstalk swayed back and forth as he chopped.
"Oh no! The beanstalk is going to fall!" cried the giant. The giant held on as long as he could. But soon he lost his grip and fell all the way down and died.
"Jack, what's going on here?" asked his mom.
"Mom, I climbed up to the top of the beanstalk. Look what I found there. This goose lays golden eggs!"
"Really? That's hard to believe!"
"Just watch! Lay some eggs!" he told the goose.
When his mother saw the large golden eggs, she was very pleased. "Oh my goodness!"
After that, Jack and his mother were rich, and they were never hungry again.