Jack and the Beanstalk - A Modern Story

Jack and the Beanstalk
Retold by Glenn A. Hascall

Imagine having only a milk cow. That's how it was for Jack and his mother. They were able to get what they needed as long as the cow kept producing milk, but when in grew old, Jack's mother told him to sell the cow at the local market.

Jack met a stranger on the way to the market who said, "I will give you five magic beans for your cow."

Jack had always been told not to talk to strangers and he wasn't sure he wanted to talk to this man. Then a strange idea changed Jack's mind. He suddenly felt that a cow who could no longer produce milk might be worth less than five magic beans, so he accepted the beans and the man quickly left with the cow.

When he got home, his mother was very upset, 'Jack, we needed the money to buy a calf. Now we have less than nothing."

Of course, Jack felt sad and maybe just a bit angry.

Jack's mother saw no use for the 'magic' beans, so, as Jack slept she threw them out the kitchen window.

When Jack woke the next morning he was astonished to see a giant beanstalk that reached beyond the clouds above.

Jack realized that the beans must have truly been magic and, being a boy of uncommon curiosity, he climbed the beanstalk until he found himself at the very top of the clouds. He stepped off and fancied himself strolling on marshmallows as he walked towards an enormous castle.

There was a path that led to the castle and Jack followed it to a wonderfully large front gate. "I wonder who lives there?" he thought. Jack knocked several times on the gigantic door, but no one came to open it. He noticed that the door wasn\'t locked. With great effort, he was able to push it until it creaked open.

As Jack slipped into the courtyard he heard a woman ask, "What are you doing here?" The tallest woman Jack had ever seen was scowling at him.

"I am lost,' Jack muttered. 'However, I am very hungry."

The woman looked at Jack kindly: "Well, come in, quickly. I will give you something to eat, but be careful because my husband, the giant, doesn't like children. If you hear him coming, you must promise me that you will hide."

Jack was wide-eyed as he made his promise and then sat down to eat from the largest bowl he had ever seen.

"Fee fi fo fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!" the giant cried as the door hinges creaked.

Jack immediately looked for a good hiding spot.

"Why do I smell a child in this room?" the ogre asked suspiciously.

"Is that all you ever think about? Sit down and I\'ll make your dinner." The woman told her husband.

The giant ate his supper and counted and recounted all the gold in his treasure box. Then, the ogre fell asleep with his feet propped up on the table. It wasn't long before his snoring could be heard throughout the castle.

It was at that very moment that Jack made a decision that was to change his life forever. He grabbed as many gold coins as he possibly could. The giant continued sleeping while Jack gathered a special hen that only laid eggs made of pure gold. Then in a blink of an eye, Jack found a golden harp that played on its own.

All of these items would be more than enough to provide for he and his mother for years to come.

As Jack left the home, the singing harp awoke and sang loudly, 'A thief is trying to take me away!"

At that very moment, the giant awoke confused and very angry.

Jack ran as fast as he could and he found the beanstalk in the middle of the clouds and began to climb down the beanstalk as quickly as possible.

Mother had barely glimpsed the golden-egg-laying hen and the singing harp when the giant began climbing down the twisted beanstalk as the earth shook.

Jack didn't want to be caught with the harp, hen and gold so he grabbed an axe and began to chop down the beanstalk.

As Jack watched the giant fall from the tremendous beanstalk he suddenly woke with a start, 'What happened to the giant,' he said to himself.

A certain mooing told Jack that it had been a dream after all.

He looked out the window and saw the old cow and no reminders of a giant beanstalk.

In the end, Jack sold the cow and was able to purchase a new calf for his mother to milk with just enough left over to purchase some vegetable seeds.

Jack never found the man with five magic beans, but he often wondered what lay just above the clouds he would spot late in the afternoons.

Was it all just a dream or had he actually been through the top of the clouds? All Jack knew was there really are times when something too good to be true really is 'too good to be true'.

But sometimes late at night he is certain that the new calf is singing along with the golden harp of his dreams. Perhaps someday Jack really will reach beyond the clouds until then, it is hard work that seems most rewarding to Jack ' along with an occasional daydream.

THE END