There lives a poor widow who has one son named Jack, and a cow named Milky-white. And all they have is the milk the cow gives every morning which they carry to the market and sell. But one morning Milky-white gives no milk and they don’t know what to do.
“What shall we do, what shall we do?” says the widow. She is unhappy and wants to cry.
“Cheer up, mother, I’ll go and get work somewhere,” says Jack.
“We tried that. Nobody wants you,” says his mother; “we must sell Milky-white.”
“All right, mother,” says Jack; “it’s market-day today, and I’ll soon sell Milky-white, and then we’ll see what we can do.”
So he takes the cow, and he goes. He meets a funny-looking old man who says to him: “Good morning, Jack.”
“Good morning to you,” says Jack, and he doesn’t know how the man knows his name.
“Well, Jack, and where are you going?” says the man.
“I’m going to the market to sell our cow.”
“Oh, you look the proper sort of boy to sell cows,” says the man; “I wonder if you know how many beans make five.”
“Two in each hand and one in your mouth,” says Jack.
“Right you are,” says the man, “and here are the beans,” he takes out of his pocket a number of strange-looking beans. “As you are so sharp,” says he, “I don’t mind doing a swop with you-your cow for these beans.”
“What!” says Jack; “the beans?”
“Ah! you don’t know what these beans are,” says the man; “if you plant them at night, by morning they grow right up to the sky.”
“Really?” says Jack; “it can’t be true.”
“Yes, that is so, and if it isn’t true you can have your cow back.”
“Right,” says Jack, and gives him Milky-white and takes the beans.
Then Jack goes back home, and as it isn’t very far it isn’t dusk by the time he gets to his door.
“Are you back, Jack?” says his mother; “I see you haven’t got Milky-white, so you sold her. How much do you get for her?”
“You’ll never guess, mother,” says Jack.
“Good boy! Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it can’t be twenty.”
“I tell you, you can’t guess, what do you say to these beans; they’re magical, plant them at night and-”
“What!” says Jack’s mother, “are you such a fool, such an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best cow, for beans. Take that! Take that! Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of the window. And now go to bed. You will not eat, and you will not drink this night.”
So Jack goes upstairs to his little room in the attic. He is sad and sorry, to be sure. He is sorry because his mother screamed at him and because he is hungry.
At last he goes to sleep.
When he wakes up, the room looks so funny. The sun is shining into it, and all the rest is quite dark. So Jack jumps up and dresses himself and goes to the window. And what do you think he sees? the beans his mother threw out of the window are now a big beanstalk. It goes up and up and up till it reaches the sky. So the man said the truth after all!
The beanstalk grows up quite close to Jack’s window, so he opens it and jumps on to the beanstalk which is like a big ladder. So Jack climbs and he climbs and he climbs and he climbs and he climbs and he climbs and he climbs till at last he reaches the sky. And when he gets there he finds a long broad road going straight. So he walks along and he walks along and he walks along till he comes to a great big tall house, and on the doorstep there is a great big tall woman.
“Good morning, mum,” says Jack, quite polite. “Could you be so kind as to give me some breakfast.” For he didn’t have anything to eat, you know, the night before and is as hungry as a hunter.
“It’s breakfast you want, is it?” says the great big tall woman, “you will be breakfast if you don’t move off from here. My man is an ogre and there’s nothing he likes more than boys on toast. Go or he’ll soon be coming.”
“Oh! please mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I have nothing to eat since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum,” says Jack. “I may as well be cooked, as die of hunger.”
Well, the ogre’s wife isn’t such a bad sort, after all. So she takes Jack into the kitchen, and gives him a junk of bread and cheese and a jug of milk. But suddenly thump! thump! thump! the whole house begins to shake with the noise of someone coming.
