Jack And The Beanstalk - Bedtime Story

Hey Sound Sleepers! Here is a classic everyone knows and loves. I just had to read it for you.

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Transcript

Jack the Beanstalk There lived a poor widow who had a little boy named.

It was not easy for her to get a living,

And she was quite dependent on a cow that she owned.

The cow gave a great deal of milk,

Some of which the woman and the little boy drank,

And some of which they sold.

But at such times as the cow went dry,

They fared very badly.

On one such occasion,

The woman said sorrowfully,

With tears in her eyes,

I don't know what will become of us.

Cheer up,

Mother,

Jack said.

I will go and get work.

You are too small,

His mother told him.

No one would hire you.

Oh well,

I must take our cow to the market and sell her.

So she tied a rope to the cow's horns and led her away.

But she had not gone far when she met a queer-looking old man who stopped and said,

Good morning,

Madam.

Good morning to you,

Was her response.

Where are you off to this morning?

The old man asked.

I am going to market to sell my cow,

The woman answered.

If that is the case,

The old man said,

I will save you the trouble of going any farther,

For I will buy your cow right here,

And how much will you give me for her?

The woman inquired.

Then the old man took a little bag from his pocket and opened it for her to look inside.

All she saw was a handful of beans.

I will give you these beans in exchange for your cow.

Seven,

The old man told her.

I would rather not make such a bargain as that,

The woman said.

Those beans would not be enough for one meal.

Oh,

They are not for you to eat,

The old man exclaimed.

You must plant them.

They are magic beans that will bring you good luck,

And they are worth much more than your cow.

The woman looked again,

And she saw that the beans were very curious and of many pretty colors.

So,

At last,

She consented to take them and let the old man have the cow.

But on her way home,

The more she thought about what she had done,

The more foolish she thought she had been.

When she was back in her cottage kitchen,

She poured the beans out into her hand and threw them into the fire.

I can't bear the sight of them,

She said,

And now we shall soon starve.

She thought all the beans were burned,

But one of them had rolled out across the floor.

The next day,

As she was sweeping,

She swept the little bean along without noticing it,

And she might have swept it into the fireplace had not her little boy Jack seen it.

He picked it up and said,

I'm going to plant this bean,

Mother.

So he took the bean out,

Dug a little hole near a corner of the cottage,

Dropped in the bean,

And covered it with earth.

The next morning,

He found that its first leaves had pushed their way up out of the ground.

On the second morning,

It was as tall as he was.

On the third morning,

It was as high as the house.

And the morning after that,

It was as high as the church steeple.

It kept growing so fast that its top was soon clear out of sight.

Then Jack said,

I'm going to climb this beanstalk,

And he climbed and climbed and climbed until at last he reached the sky.

There he found a strange country,

Without a tree,

Shrub,

House,

Or living creature anywhere in sight.

He sat down on a stone to rest and said,

If this is all there is up here,

I may as well go back home.

But while he was resting,

He saw a beautiful lady coming toward him,

A path that led away over a hill.

As soon as she arrived where Jack was,

She spoke to him,

And she rose and took off his hat.

I am a fairy,

She said,

And I want to tell you something about your father.

Do you remember him?

No,

Jack answered,

And when I ask my mother about him,

She always begins to cry and will say nothing.

I thought as much,

The fairy said,

And you will understand why your mother never speaks of him when you hear my story.

He was a brave and generous knight,

And the fairies were his friends,

And made him many wonderful presents.

After a time,

A wicked giant came to your father's castle and killed him and carried off all the wonderful things that the fairies had given him.

At the same time,

The giant carried off your mother and you,

Who were then a little baby.

He shut you both up in one of his dungeons,

But at last he offered to release you and your mother on condition that she should never speak about her wrongs to anyone.

He agreed,

And he carried her to a place a great distance from where she had lived and been known before.

There he left her with just money enough to rent a little cottage and buy a cow.

That giant lives in the country where you are now,

And if you follow this path,

You will find his big castle over Yonder Hill.

All that he has is rightfully yours,

And perhaps you can contrive some way to regain possession of what he stole from your father.

The fairy went on her way,

And Jack,

After thinking things over,

Concluded to have a look at the giant's castle.

He walked along the path and found the castle in a valley beyond the hill.

On the doorstep sat a giant woman.

Night was at hand,

And Jack went to the giantess and said very politely,

Good evening,

Ma'am.

Would you be so kind as to give me some supper?

Is supper you want?

The big woman said,

It's supper you'll be if you don't move away from here.

My husband is a giant,

And he likes to eat little boys,

But I am very hungry,

Jack said,

And I've had no food at all this day,

Since early morning.

Well,

Well,

Then I don't wonder that you're hungry.

The giantess responded,

Come along to the kitchen,

And I'll see what I can find for you.

She took him into the kitchen and gave him a piece of cheese and a bowl of bread,

And he had not quite finished eating when he heard the steps of someone coming,

And the whole castle trembled with the heavy footfalls.

Gracious me!

The giant's wife exclaimed,

That's my husband!

Be quick,

Lad,

And jump into the oven,

Or he'll catch you!

She bundled Jack into the oven just as the giant came in.

The big fellow looked around the room and sniffed the air.

Fee-fi-fo-fum!

I smell fresh meat,

He said.

Yes,

His wife responded.

Today the crows brought a piece of raw flesh to the top of the house and dropped it on the roof.

Ha,

Ha,

Ha,

The giant growled.

I thought it was something nearer and fresher than that.

But he sat down at the table,

And Jack watched him through a crevice of the oven door,

Amazed to see what a quantity of food he ate.

After he finished supper,

The giant's wife cleared away the dishes and went off to bed.

I'm getting a bit sleepy myself,

The giant said.

But I must have a look at my money.

Then he opened a big chest and took out several bags of gold coins and returned to the table.

He sat down,

Emptied a bag,

And began to count the coins.

But before he finished,

He nodded off into a nap and was soon snoring with a noise like thunder.

Jack then climbed out of the oven,

And by getting on a chair beside the table,

He reached one of the bags of gold.

With that in his hands,

He ran as fast as he could to the beanstalk.

After pausing a few moments to tie the bag of gold to his belt,

He called out,

Hump it and bump it,

And down I go!

And in a little while,

He had descended to his mother's garden.

A light shone from the kitchen window,

And his mother was waiting for him in great anxiety.

When he came in,

She was overjoyed to have him back safely.

They had money enough now,

But Jack could not help thinking how many things the giant had that were rightfully theirs.

And before long,

He again climbed the beanstalk.

This time,

He carried some food so that he did not have to beg of the giant's wife.

Near the great castle,

He hid behind a rock and watched until he saw the giantess come out to the well with the pail.

While she was busy filling the pail with water,

He ran into the kitchen and hid in a closet.

Soon,

The woman brought in the water,

And by and by came the giant.

He began to sniff the instant he entered the kitchen.

Fee,

Fie,

Foe,

Fum,

I smell fresh meat!

He exclaimed.

Do you?

His wife said.

Supposing we look around,

Then?

If there's anybody hiding here,

It's likely to be in the oven.

So they went to the oven.

Luckily,

Jack was not there.

Well,

It's empty,

The giant's wife said,

And I thought it would be.

I'm tired of hearing your fee,

Fie,

Foe,

Fum.

The giant wanted to do more looking,

But his wife said,

No,

I won't have you messing up the house.

You would turn everything you could lay your hands on,

Topsy-turvy,

In your searching.

I know that from experience,

So sit down and eat your supper.

No,

I won't have you messing up the house.

You would turn everything you could lay your hands on,

Topsy-turvy,

In your searching.

I know that from experience,

So sit down,

Eat your supper.

That was what he did,

And afterward he called out,

Wife,

Bring me the little speckled hen that lays the golden eggs.

He brought the hen and put it on the table,

Saying,

If you don't need me anymore,

My dearie,

I will go to the next room to finish some sewing I have there.

No,

I don't need you,

The giant told her.

Go along.

Then he took the little hen and said,

Lay,

And the hen laid an egg of solid gold.

The giant held the egg in his hand and looked at it for a little while.

But pretty soon he fell asleep and snored,

So that the house shook.

Jack crept out of the closet then,

Climbed on a chair by the table,

Grabbed the little speckled hen and ran.

That frightened the hen,

And she gave a cackle,

Which woke the giant.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes,

And Jack,

Who was now at the door,

Heard him calling,

Wife,

What have you done with my hen that lays the golden egg?

She came hurrying to the kitchen from the next room and said,

Why do you ask,

My dear?

But Jack kept running,

And he got too far away to hear any more.

In a short time he came to the beanstalk.

Hump it and bump it and down I go,

He shouted,

And soon he was at the foot of the beanstalk and went into the house to his mother.

They took the best care of the hen,

And every day Jack told her to lay,

And she laid a golden egg.

After a time,

Jack went up the beanstalk again,

And he kept going up every few days,

Until he had carried off pretty much all of the giant's treasures.

Finally,

One night,

He tried to get the giant's bed quilt.

The quilt was made of silk of many colors,

And it was adorned with beautiful jewels,

And all along the edge were little silver bells that went twinkle,

Twinkle.

When Jack began to pull it off the bed,

The giant heard the bells and called out,

Who's round my house this dark,

Dismal night?

He shouted,

Jack stopped pulling and stayed as quiet as a mouse,

But no sooner was the giant asleep again than Jack got the bed quilt a little farther off,

And he kept on pulling at intervals until at last he had it all.

Then he ran away with it,

And how the bells did jingle,

The giant was roused from his sleep.

He jumped up and started in hot pursuit of the lad.

Jack kept on at his best speed and got to the beanstalk first.

Hump it and bump it and down I go,

He shouted,

And he was not long in getting to his mother's garden,

But the giant was climbing down the beanstalk after him,

And the beanstalk was shaking beneath the monster's weight.

Jack could hear the giant coming,

And when he looked up,

He saw the big fellow's legs just appearing through the clouds.

So he hurried to the woodshed and got a hatchet and began to chop at the beanstalk.

The giant felt the beanstalk quiver,

And he stopped to look down to find out what was the matter.

Just at that moment,

Jack gave a blow with his hatchet that brought the beanstalk,

Giant,

And all tumbling to the earth.

The fall killed the giant instantly.

Jack and his mother were rich people afterward,

To the end of their days.

Reviews

Awesome as always!

Great story.

Very nice

Gn yall!!✨🌙🌚

I have no idea whappened to poor Jack. zzzz You are the best storyteller on Insight Timer

Lovely. Don’t know what happens after first 5 mins though. Oh well, one of these nights I may hear the end. Thank you.

Grateful for your offerings, as i fall sound asleep and listen again to find out what happens. Thank you and sending good wishes. 👍

I had not heard this fairy tale in many years thanks for telling it