There once was a boy named Jack. He lived in a small, rickety home at
the edge of the woods with his bitter Mother and their cow, Pearly. They
lived off of the money they made from the cow's milk. Then one dark and
dreadful day, Pearly went dry. His mother raved of how the cursed cow
needed to be taken to the market. "Perhaps slaughtered she will do us
some good." she said.
Young
Jack tied a rope around Pearly's neck and led her away to market. As he
left he heard his mother screech, "Do not come back with less than five
pounds! Remember if you disappoint me, you can sleep outside where the
wolves will feed on you!" Jack did not doubt that his Mother meant this.
On his way, Jack schemed, how can I convince someone this worthless animal is worth ten pounds? Five for Mother and five for me.
From
the trees came an old man in worn clothing. There was nothing strange
in that observation, Jack would have been more surprised if he were
dressed nicely. No, it was something else that sent chills through him.
It was his features that bothered Jack, he soon realized. He was
skeletal, hunched over, giving his weight to his walking stick. He was
bald and had a long white beard. One of his eyes was grey with
blindness. "Ah, Jack!" he called to the young boy in a raspy voice.
"Where are you off to?"
Never
having seen this man before Jack wondered how he could possibly know
his name. "I am to sell my cow, she is easily worth ten- I mean fifteen
pounds. Are you in need of a fine milking cow like Pearly?"
"I have no money." his voice creaked.
"Then be out of my sight, old man." Jack sneered as he yanked the rope that was tied around Pearly's neck.
As Jack took a few steps the stranger spoke softly, "I have something far more valuable than coins."
He stopped, "Tell me more."
Jack
made his way back to his home, he looked to the five beans that rested
in his palm like shimmering jewels, one red as a ruby, one purple as an
amethyst, one white as a pearl, one green as an emerald, and one golden
as a topaz. "Senile old man," he laughed. "to give over enchanted beans
for a dying cow."
He
found his Mother at the stove stirring a pot of sour smelling soup.
"Mother!" Jack said with a grin. "I made a deal you won't believe!"
"Ten? Did you make ten pounds?" She exclaimed, turning to look at her son.
"Much more Mother."
She came to him, the wooden spoon still in her hand, "Thirty pounds, Jack did you get me thirty pounds?"
"More Mother, much more."
She smiled and caressed his face, "How much, my boy?"
He showed her the glowing beans. She struck him in the face with the wooden spoon. "Where is the money?" She yelled.
He
felt his cheek turning red as a beet, "Mother, these beans are magical!
They will bring us great wealth beyond our wildest dreams!"
She ripped the beans from his hands, "These are pebbles, painted pebbles, you idiot!"
"No, Mother they're magic!"
"You
are as worthless as your Father was!" His mother threw the beans out
the window. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and dragged him up to the
attic. "You will have no supper!"
As she left she slammed and latched the attic door. Jack was alone in the dark.
"I'll
show her, tomorrow I'll find those beans and keep them for myself. I'll
run away and she can wither and be feed for the rats." He was still
scheming as he fell asleep.
Blinding
sunlight was shining through as Jack woke the next morning. He saw a
great gnarled and twisting beanstalk had broken off the east wall of the
house. It seemed to go up into the sky forever, and endless mass of
green, grey, and black.
"Jack!"
his Mother screeched, he heard the attic door unlatch. He ran and
leaped to the enormous beanstalk, climbing the leaves and vines,
avoiding the thorns. He saw his Mother standing on the crumbling floor,
cursing at him and demanding he come back.
He turned his head and stuck his tongue out at her.
Jack
climbed for what felt like a day. He began to wonder if this beanstalk
would ever end. He went past the grey clouds, finding a dirt road at the
top of the beanstalk. This road lead to an island in the sky. It was
dark and twisting. He followed it to a house, made of black wood and
bone, it was bigger than any house he had ever seen. "A castle!" he
exclaimed. He pushed on the door that must have been twenty feet tall.
Eventually it opened with a whining creak. He walked through and looked
up to see a woman in grey . A Giant! he thought.
She
bent down to look at him, he saw that up close she was pretty with
green eyes and red hair. "Hello there," she said in a whisper so he
would not be knocked down.
"Hello," Jack said. "Would you happen to have any food?"
"Oh,
child, you best be leaving, my husband likes to take children, suck
them dry of their blood, peel off their skin with his knife, and roast
them with garlic and onions."
Jack
thought she was just being selfish. After all, just one of her crumbs
would feed him for a day. "Oh, please ma'am. My father and mother are
both dead, and - and I have not had a single morsel of food this week."
he grinned inwardly at his flawless performance.
"Alright," she caved, giving him some bread and cheese and pouring some milk into one of her thimbles.
After
Jack ate there was a loud thud as someone came in and slammed the door.
"That's my husband!" she exclaimed, scooping Jack up and putting him
into her apron pocket. Jack could see only a little as the thinness of
the apron cast a shadow upon everything.
He
was ghastly, not just a giant, but an ogre. His nose and eyes too wide,
he grunted showing the four rotting teeth he had left. His face and
scalp were covered in boils and blisters. He made Jack think of a swamp
frog, only much more terrifying. "Wife, make my breakfast!" he thundered
as he threw down three dead calves onto the table. Jack saw his sleeves
were stained with blood.
"Yes, sir." she said.
He
inhaled deeply, "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, be
he alive, or be he dead, I'll have his bones to grind my bread."
"Husband, it must have been your meal from last night. Wash up and I'll have your breakfast soon."
The
ogre left the room and his wife opened the pocket to tell Jack, "Wait
until he takes a nap after breakfast and then you will be safe to go."
Once
the ogre had his fill he started to count his bags of gold coins. He
fell asleep, dropping one of the velvet bags onto the floor. That is
when she took Jack out of her pocket and placed him on the floor. "Now
be off, you will be safe if you do not come back!"
As
he dashed for the door Jack grabbed the fallen sack of gold, looking up
to see the ogre drool green drops onto his chest. While he was fleeing
the giant's property, he heard the cackle of a goose. He turned just in
time to see it lay a golden egg. His eyes widened with greed. "Can you
lay another one?" he asked. And so it did. He picked up the goose and
continued running to the beanstalk. He threw down the sack of coins and
clung to the bird as he climbed down. When he reached the ground he saw
his mother counting the gold coins.
"Jack, where did you get this gold?" She exclaimed, her eyes shining with greed.
"Mother, if you are happy about the coins you will love this goose I stole!"
"What does it do?" She asked skeptically, looking at what she thought was a plain goose.
He exclaimed, "It lays golden eggs on command!"
She hugged him, "I was wrong to doubt you, Jack."
A
few weeks went by and all of the gold coins were spent, debts had to be
paid. The goose was eaten by a wolf, blood and feathers everywhere. So
Jack climbed the giant, twisting beanstalk once more. Making his way
back to the large home he found that both the ogre and his wife were
gone. He saw the door was ajar and let himself in. As he looked for some
more golden things, he heard the giants walking in, so he hid under the
rug, under a chair where no one would step. He held back a scream as he
found other children's bones, piled up like logs on a fire.
"Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman, be he alive, or be he dead, I'll
have his bones to grind my bread." The ogre boomed, shaking the house.
"You
are mistaken, it is still the scent of the last child I cooked for you,
remember that fat boy with the dark hair? You need to relax." She dared
not tell him of Jack.
"Bring me my harp and I shall." he roared.
So
she did. And he commanded the harp to sing. As it sang she looked all
over for the young boy. The voice of the harp was haunting and
beautiful, "He traveled across sea and land, to hold and kiss her hand,
They were soon master and bride. And he boasted of her with pride."
The ogre shut his blood-red eyes and slipped into a dream, a wicked smile on his terrible face.
Jack sensed the coast was clear. He ran out from under the rug, snatched the harp and once again fled.
The harp screamed in a ear-splitting tone, "Foolish boy, you tried to steal. You will be smashed under my master's heel!"
Once
outside he ran as the ogre lunged after him. The island in the sky
rattled. The ogre lost track of Jack on the long, twisting road as the
clouds drifted upward. The ogre took his hands and swept the clouds
aside. He searched, growling and roaring. Finally he found the top of
the beanstalk. He knew this must have been the way the thieving boy
escaped.
Jack
was now close to reaching the ground. His Mother came when she head the
harp singing, "You climbed down the beanstalk to escape my master, when
he reaches the ground it will be a disaster."
"Mother, bring me an ax!"
She
looked up, saw the ogre and ran for the ax. She brought it to him at
once. He struck the beanstalk. And struck it again. From the gaping
holes black tar slowly flowed, as blood flowing from a wound, and a
pungent scent filled the air. "It's going to take too long Mother, what
shall I do?"
"Keep
trying!" she said as she ran back inside. She took her broom and lit
the bristles from the fireplace. She then ran back out and lit the stalk
on fire. It burned quickly, the horrible smell growing worse, and a
thick, black cloud of smoke rising all around them. The ogre saw the
black smoke and looked down to see the scorching beanstalk. Up or down, up or down?
he thought. The heat was causing the top of the beanstalk to wilt and
droop. He jumped, shaking the earth as he fell upon the small forest. He
perished as many trees impaled him, and his blood washed over the land.
Jack's mother held her boy, "Let's go sell the harp."
"What of the beanstalk, Mother?"
"It
will burn out, and if it takes the house with it, so be it. A singing
golden harp will buy us the life I always deserved, I mean we always deserved."
As
they walked forward, they heard the snapping of vines. They looked back
to see the beanstalk was falling. They ran. The beanstalk was falling
so quick. And sure enough, they could not escape. It fell on top of
them, crushing them to death. The beanstalk continued to burn until the
house, Jack, and his mother, were all but ash.
From the road came the man who traded the beans for Pearly. Gazing at the desolate scene he commanded, "Sing!"
The
harp did as it was told and lifted its voice mournfully, "I used to
live in an island in the sky, now I am below. I will bring to you more
wealth than you will ever know."
He
snatched the harp up. As he looked back to the enormous pile of ash he
laughed, "I can always count on the greedy to do my bidding." The old
man stuck out his withered hand and the five shimmering beans arose from
the ashes. He grinned as they once again rested in the palm of his
hand.
