Jack and the Beanstalk
“Jack and the Beanstalk” is an English folk tale, first printed in 1734 — and that version was actually a satirical pamphlet! In 1807 Benjamin Tabart wrote a proper version, and Joseph Jacobs later included it in his English Fairy Tales — that's the “plant the beans, climb to the sky, steal the golden eggs” version children know today.
Jack lived in a small cottage with his mother. They were poor, and their old brown cow was all they had.
'Take our cow to the market and sell her, Jack,' said his mother. Jack took the rope and led the old cow down the road.
On the road, Jack met a kind old man with magic beans. Jack traded the cow for the beans and ran home happily.
His mother was angry and threw the beans out of the window. The next morning, a giant beanstalk had grown up into the sky!
Jack climbed the beanstalk all the way through the clouds. At the top he saw a tall stone castle.
Inside the castle, a big giant was fast asleep by the fire. Beside him stood a little hen that laid golden eggs.
Then Jack spotted a beautiful golden harp, and as he picked it up, the harp cried, "Help, master!" — and the giant woke up with a roar.
Jack scrambled down the beanstalk as fast as he could, grabbed his axe, and chopped the beanstalk down — it came crashing to the ground, and the giant was killed.
