To Jack’s amazement, there was a paved road floating above the clouds. He hopped off the beanstalk and followed the road as it curved and wound across the cloudy abyss. As Jack traveled down the road, he heard a beautiful singing voice grow louder and louder. He had never encountered such a lovely sound and wanted to find its source.
At the very end of the road, Jack found a massive castle. It was so big that Jack was the size of a mouse in comparison. He figured it must be the home of a humongous creature, and since Jack had always been more curious than fearful, he snuck under the enormous wooden door to have a look inside.
The castle was filled with the biggest objects Jack had ever seen. The furniture was so large, he could walk under the table and chairs without hitting his head. The fireplace was so big, his entire house could fit inside it.
Everywhere he looked he saw piles of gold coins the size of dinner plates. Jack wasn’t a thief by any means, but since there was so much gold and he and his mother had so little, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to take some home. So he filled a large bag with as much gold as it could hold and threw it over his shoulder.
Just as Jack was about to leave the castle, he heard the beautiful singing voice again. And Jack could have sworn he saw a golden woman standing on top of the enormous table. Once again, his curiosity got the best of him, and Jack went to take a closer look.
He climbed up a chair leg, stood on the seat, and then pulled himself up onto the top of the table. It wasn’t a golden woman he saw, but a magic golden harp with arms and a face. She sang a song while the strings attached to her back magically played along.
“Many years I’ve had to wait; my hero is rather late.
I sing songs of affection, but receive no protection.
Have my rescuers all died? Has anyone even tried?
Rescue is such a burden, only one thing is certain:
Princesses don’t benefit when their princes can’t commit.
Some damsels stay in distress, due to lack of interest.”
The harp gasped when she saw Jack walking toward her.
“A person!” she said. “Oh, thank the heavens! At last, someone has come to rescue me from the giant!”
“What giant?” Jack asked.
“The giant that lives in this castle, of course,” the harp said. “He’s a horrible and cruel creature! He forces me to sing terrible songs for him every day! Please, you must take me with you!”
Suddenly, thunderous footsteps came from above them that caused the whole castle to shake.
“Oh no,” the harp said. “He’s awake! You must hide or he’ll eat you alive!”
Jack scrambled down from the table and hid in the giant’s oven. A few moments later, a terrifying giant stomped down the gigantic staircase. He was so large, the enormous castle seemed too small for him.
“Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of a poor young man,” the giant growled. “Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!”
The giant looked all over the castle for Jack. He searched every cupboard and every drawer, but it never crossed his mind to check the oven. After a while, the giant grew tired of searching, so he sat down at the table.
“Sing me a song!” the giant demanded.
The harp began a song Jack could tell she didn’t want to perform.
“Pillage! Pillage! Pillage the village!
Crush all the houses with your feet!
Pillage! Pillage! Pillage the village!
Terrorize the people and steal their meat!”
As the harp sang, the giant’s eyelids fluttered shut. He rested his head on the table and fell asleep. His snores were like the sound of a hundred growling bears. Jack climbed out of the oven and headed for the door with his bag of gold coins.
“Please don’t leave me!” the harp said desperately. “I couldn’t bear living in this castle for one more day!”
Jack was hesitant to rescue the harp, but he knew it wouldn’t be very gentlemanlike to leave her there. He quietly climbed back up the leg of the chair and made his way onto the table.
The air coming from the giant’s nostrils was so powerful that it almost knocked Jack off his feet. The giant’s eyes started to flutter open, so the harp continued singing to soothe him back to sleep.
“Pillage! Pillage! Pillage the village!
Stomp on the farms with your boots!
Pillage! Pillage! Pillage the village!
Eat all the horses and steal all the loot!”
Jack scooped up the harp and carried her toward the edge of the table. They were right under the giant’s nose when he took a deep breath in his sleep. He caught a whiff of Jack, and his nose twitched until he awoke.
“Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of a POOR YOUNG MAN!” the giant roared.
He roared again when he saw Jack attempting to rescue his harp. Jack leaped off the table with the harp in his arms, and they landed directly on the giant’s foot.
“AAAAHHHH!” the giant yelled. He held his aching toes and hopped around the castle on one foot.
Jack held the harp in one arm and grabbed the bag of coins with the other. He ran to the door as fast as his legs would carry him. He crawled under the door and dashed down the paved road to the beanstalk.
Right when Jack made it back to the beanstalk, the giant emerged from the castle and ran down the path after him. Jack hurried down the beanstalk, but the giant followed, causing the beanstalk to sway among the clouds.
On the ground below, Jack’s mother heard the commotion and ran out of the cottage to see what was happening. She was so frightened to see the giant chasing her son that it took her a couple of moments to find her voice.
“Jack! What have you gotten yourself into?” she yelled up at her son.
“Mother, get me the axe! I need to chop the beanstalk down before the giant reaches the ground!” Jack said.
The widow ran inside the house and returned with the axe. Jack reached the ground and took the axe from his mother. In one enormous swing, Jack chopped the beanstalk in two. It teetered over and the giant went with it, falling to his death.
“Jack, do you have any idea how worried I was about you?” the widow yelled.
“I’m sorry I made you worry, Mother,” Jack said. “But I promise you’ll never have to worry about anything ever again. Look what I’ve brought home!”
Jack emptied the bag of gold coins he’d collected at the giant’s castle and showed them to his mother. The widow was so overjoyed, tears came to her eyes. She hugged her son tightly and kissed his cheek.
“My brave boy!” she said. “You’ve saved us! We’ll never go hungry again!”
Jack and the widow used the coins to build a new home and started a proper farm that grew more crops than they knew what to do with. They ate three meals a day, and the harp sang them beautiful songs every night before bed.
The old man’s promise turned out to be true: The magic beans gave Jack all of his heart’s greatest desires. But the true magic was inside Jack. Had he not been so certain about what he wanted out of life, the beans would have never known what to do.
Jack’s story taught a great lesson to everyone who heard it: When life hands you beans, grow a beanstalk!
The End