As recorded by Andrew Lang
Jack Sells the Cow
Once upon a time there was a poor widow who lived in a little cottage
with her only son Jack. Jack was a giddy, thoughtless boy, but very kind
hearted and affectionate. There had been a hard winter, and after it the
poor woman had suffered from fever and ague. Jack did no work as yet, and
by degrees they grew dreadfully poor.
The widow saw that there was no means of keeping Jack and herself from
starvation but by selling her cow; so one morning she said to her son, "I
am too weak to go myself, Jack, so you must take the cow to market for me,
and sell her."
Jack liked going to market to sell the cow very much; but as he was on
the way, he met a butcher who had some beautiful beans in his hand. Jack
stopped to look at them, and the butcher told the boy that they were of
great value and persuaded the silly lad to sell the cow for these beans.
When he brought them home to his mother instead of the money she
expected for her nice cow, she was very vexed and shed many tears,
scolding Jack for his folly. He was very sorry, and mother and son went to
bed very sadly that night; their last hope seemed gone.
At daybreak Jack rose and went out into the garden. "At least," he
thought, "I will sow the wonderful beans. Mother says that they are just
common scarlet runners, and nothing else; but I may as well sow them." So
he took a piece of stick, and made some holes in the ground, and put in
the beans.
That day they had very little dinner, and went sadly to bed, knowing
that for the next day there would be none, and Jack, unable to sleep from
grief and vexation, got up at day-dawn and went out into the garden.
What was his amazement to find that the beans had grown up in the
night, and climbed up and up until they covered the high cliff that
sheltered the cottage and disappeared above it! The stalks had twined and
twisted themselves together until they formed quite a ladder.
"It would be easy to climb it," thought Jack. And, having thought of
the experiment, he at once resolved to carry it out, for Jack was a good
climber. However, after his late mistake about the cow, he thought he had
better consult his mother first.
Wonderful Growth of the Beanstalk
So Jack called his mother, and they both gazed in silent wonder at the
beanstalk, which was not only of great height, but was thick enough to
bear Jack's weight. "I wonder where it ends," said Jack to his mother. "I
think I will climb up and see."
His mother wished him not to venture up this strange ladder, but Jack
coaxed her to give her consent to the attempt, for he was certain there
must be something wonderful in the beanstalk; so at last she yielded to
his wishes.
Jack instantly began to climb, and went up and up on the ladder-like
beanstalk until everything he had left behind him -- the cottage, the
village, and even the tall church tower -- looked quite little, and still
he could not see the top of the beanstalk.
Jack felt a little tired, and thought for a moment that he would go
back again; but he was a very persevering boy, and he knew that the way to
succeed in anything is not to give up. So after resting for a moment he
went on. After climbing higher and higher, until he grew afraid to look
down for fear he should be giddy, Jack at last reached the top of the
beanstalk, and found himself in a beautiful country, finely wooded, with
beautiful meadows covered with sheep. A crystal stream ran through the
pastures; not far from the place where he had got off the beanstalk stood
a fine, strong castle.
Jack wondered very much that he had never heard of or seen this castle
before; but when he reflected on the subject, he saw that it was as much
separated from the village by the perpendicular rock on which it stood as
if it were in another land.
While Jack was standing looking at the castle, a very strange looking
woman came out of the wood, and advanced towards him. She wore a pointed
cap of quilted red satin turned up with ermine. Her hair streamed loose
over her shoulders, and she walked with a staff. Jack took off his cap and
made her a bow.
"If you please, ma'am," said he, "is this your house?"
"No," said the old lady. "Listen, and I will tell you the story of that
castle:"
Once upon a time there was a noble knight, who lived in this
castle, which is on the borders of fairyland. He had a fair and beloved
wife and several lovely children; and as his neighbors, the little people,
were very friendly towards him, they bestowed on him many excellent and
precious gifts.
Rumor whispered of these treasures; and a monstrous giant, who
lived at no great distance, and who was a very wicked being, resolved to
obtain possession of them.
So he bribed a false servant to let him inside the castle,
when the knight was in bed and asleep, and he killed him as he lay. Then
he went to the part of the castle which was the nursery, and also killed
all the poor little ones he found there.
Happily for her, the lady was not to be found. She had gone
with her infant son, who was only two or three months old, to visit her
old nurse, who lived in the valley; and she had been detained all night
there by a storm.
The next morning, as soon as it was light, one of the servants
at the castle, who had managed to escape, came to tell the poor lady of
the sad fate of her husband and her pretty babes. She could scarcely
believe him at first, and was eager at once to go back and share the fate
of her dear ones. But the old nurse, with many tears, besought her to
remember that she had still a child, and that it was her duty to preserve
her life for the sake of the poor innocent.
The lady yielded to this reasoning, and consented to remain at
her nurse's house as the best place of concealment; for the servant told
her that the giant had vowed, if he could find her, he would kill both her
and her baby.
Years rolled on. The old nurse died, leaving her cottage and
the few articles of furniture it contained to her poor lady, who dwelt in
it, working as a peasant for her daily bread. Her spinning wheel and the
milk of a cow, which she had purchased with the little money she had with
her, sufficed for the scanty subsistence of herself and her little son.
There was a nice little garden attached to the cottage, in which they
cultivated peas, beans, and cabbages, and the lady was not ashamed to go
out at harvest time, and glean in the fields to supply her little son's
wants.
Jack, that poor lady is your mother. This castle was once your
father's, and must again be yours.
Jack uttered a cry of surprise. "My mother! Oh, madam, what ought I to
do? My poor father! My dear mother!"
"Your duty requires you to win it back for your mother. But the task is
a very difficult one, and full of peril, Jack. Have you courage to
undertake it?"
"I fear nothing when I am doing right," said Jack.
"Then," said the lady in the red cap, "you are one of those who slay
giants. You must get into the castle, and if possible possess yourself of
a hen that lays golden eggs, and a harp that talks. Remember, all the
giant possesses is really yours." As she ceased speaking, the lady of the
red hat suddenly disappeared, and of course Jack knew she was a fairy.
Jack determined at once to attempt the adventure; so he advanced, and
blew the horn which hung at the castle portal. The door was opened in a
minute or two by a frightful giantess, with one great eye in the middle of
her forehead. As soon as Jack saw her he turned to run away, but she
caught him, and dragged him into the castle.
"Ho, ho!" she laughed terribly. "You didn't expect to see me
here, that is clear! No, I shan't let you go again. I am weary of my life.
I am so overworked, and I don't see why I should not have a page as well
as other ladies. And you shall be my boy. You shall clean the knives, and
black the boots, and make the fires, and help me generally when the
giant is out. When he is at home I must hide you, for he has eaten up all
my pages hitherto, and you would be a dainty morsel, my little lad."
While she spoke she dragged Jack right into the castle. The poor boy
was very much frightened, as I am sure you and I would have been in his
place. But he remembered that fear disgraces a man, so he struggled to be
brave and make the best of things.
"I am quite ready to help you, and do all I can to serve you, madam,"
he said, "only I beg you will be good enough to hide me from your husband,
for I should not like to be eaten at all."
"That's a good boy," said the giantess, nodding her head; "it is lucky
for you that you did not scream out when you saw me, as the other boys who
have been here did, for if you had done so my husband would have awakened
and have eaten you, as he did them, for breakfast. Come here, child; go
into my wardrobe. He never ventures to open that. You will
be safe there."
And she opened a huge wardrobe which stood in the great hall, and shut
him into it. But the keyhole was so large that it admitted plenty of air,
and he could see everything that took place through it. By and by he heard
a heavy tramp on the stairs, like the lumbering along of a great cannon,
and then a voice like thunder cried out.
Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,
I smell the breath of an Englishman.
Let him be alive or let him be dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread.
"Wife," cried the giant, "there is a man in the castle. Let me have him
for breakfast."
"You are grown old and stupid," cried the lady in her loud tones. "It
is only a nice fresh steak off an elephant that I have cooked for you
which you smell. There, sit down and make a good breakfast."
And she placed a huge dish before him of savory steaming meat, which
greatly pleased him and made him forget his idea of an Englishman being in
the castle. When he had breakfasted he went out for a walk; and then the
giantess opened the door, and made Jack come out to help her. He helped
her all day. She fed him well, and when evening came put him back in the
wardrobe.
The Hen That Lays Golden Eggs
The giant came in to supper. Jack watched him through the keyhole, and
was amazed to see him pick a wolf's bone and put half a fowl at a time
into his capacious mouth.
When the supper was ended he bade his wife bring him his hen that laid
the golden eggs.
"It lays as well as it did when it belonged to that paltry knight," he
said. "Indeed, I think the eggs are heavier than ever."
The giantess went away, and soon returned with a little brown hen,
which she placed on the table before her husband. "And now, my dear," she
said, "I am going for a walk, if you don't want me any longer."
"Go," said the giant. "I shall be glad to have a nap by and by."
Then he took up the brown hen and said to her, "Lay!" And she instantly
laid a golden egg.
"Lay!" said the giant again. And she laid another.
"Lay!" he repeated the third time. And again a golden egg lay on the
table.
Now Jack was sure this hen was that of which the fairy had spoken.
By and by the giant put the hen down on the floor, and soon after went
fast asleep, snoring so loud that it sounded like thunder.
Directly Jack perceived that the giant was fast asleep, he pushed open
the door of the wardrobe and crept out. Very softly he stole across the
room, and, picking up the hen, made haste to quit the apartment. He knew
the way to the kitchen, the door of which he found was left ajar. He
opened it, shut and locked it after him, and flew back to the beanstalk,
which he descended as fast as his feet would move.
When his mother saw him enter the house she wept for joy, for she had
feared that the fairies had carried him away, or that the giant had found
him. But Jack put the brown hen down before her, and told her how he had
been in the giant's castle, and all his adventures. She was very glad to
see the hen, which would make them rich once more.
The Money Bags
Jack made another journey up the beanstalk to the giant's castle one
day while his mother had gone to market. But first he dyed his hair and
disguised himself. The old woman did not know him again and dragged him in
as she had done before to help her to do the work; but she heard her
husband coming, and hid him in the wardrobe, not thinking that it was the
same boy who had stolen the hen. She bade him stay quite still there, or
the giant would eat him.
Then the giant came in saying:
Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,
I smell the breath of an Englishman.
Let him be alive or let him be dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread.
"Nonsense!" said the wife, "it is only a roasted bullock that I thought
would be a tit-bit for your supper; sit down and I will bring it up at
once."
The giant sat down, and soon his wife brought up a roasted bullock on a
large dish, and they began their supper. Jack was amazed to see them pick
the bones of the bullock as if it had been a lark.
As soon as they had finished their meal, the giantess rose and said:,
"Now, my dear, with your leave I am going up to my room to finish the
story I am reading. If you want me call for me."
"First," answered the giant, "bring me my money bags, that I may count
my golden pieces before I sleep."
The giantess obeyed. She went and soon returned with two large bags
over her shoulders, which she put down by her husband.
"There," she said; "that is all that is left of the knight's money.
When you have spent it you must go and take another baron's castle."
"That he shan't, if I can help it," thought Jack.
The giant, when his wife was gone, took out heaps and heaps of golden
pieces, and counted them, and put them in piles, until he was tired of the
amusement. Then he swept them all back into their bags, and leaning back
in his chair fell fast asleep, snoring so loud that no other sound was
audible.
Jack stole softly out of the wardrobe, and taking up the bags of money
(which were his very own, because the giant had stolen them from his
father), he ran off, and with great difficulty descending the beanstalk,
laid the bags of gold on his mother's table. She had just returned from
town, and was crying at not finding Jack.
"There, mother, I have brought you the gold that my father lost."
"Oh, Jack! You are a very good boy, but I wish you would not risk your
precious life in the giant's castle. Tell me how you came to go there
again." And Jack told her all about it.
Jack's mother was very glad to get the money, but she did not like him
to run any risk for her. But after a time Jack made up his mind to go
again to the giant's castle.
So he climbed the beanstalk once more, and blew the horn at the giant's
gate. The giantess soon opened the door. She was very stupid, and did not
know him again, but she stopped a minute before she took him in. She
feared another robbery; but Jack's fresh face looked so innocent that she
could not resist him, and so she bade him come in, and again hid him away
in the wardrobe.
By and by the giant came home, and as soon as he had crossed the
threshold he roared out:
Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,
I smell the breath of an Englishman.
Let him be alive or let him be dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread.
"You stupid old giant," said his wife, "you only smell a nice sheep,
which I have grilled for your dinner."
And the giant sat down, and his wife brought up a whole sheep for his
dinner. When he had eaten it all up, he said, "Now bring me my harp, and I
will have a little music while you take your walk."
The giantess obeyed, and returned with a beautiful harp. The framework
was all sparkling with diamonds and rubies, and the strings were all of
gold.
"This is one of the nicest things I took from the knight," said the
giant. "I am very fond of music, and my harp is a faithful servant."
So he drew the harp towards him, and said, "Play!" And the harp played
a very soft, sad air.
"Play something merrier!" said the giant. And the harp played a merry
tune.
"Now play me a lullaby," roared the giant, and the harp played a sweet
lullaby, to the sound of which its master fell asleep.
Then Jack stole softly out of the wardrobe, and went into the huge
kitchen to see if the giantess had gone out. He found no one there, so he
went to the door and opened it softly, for he thought he could not do so
with the harp in his hand.
Then he entered the giant's room and seized the harp and ran away with
it; but as he jumped over the threshold the harp called out, "Master!
Master!" And the giant woke up. With a tremendous roar he sprang from his
seat, and in two strides had reached the door.
But Jack was very nimble. He fled like lightning with the harp, talking
to it as he went (for he saw it was a fairy), and telling it he was the
son of its old master, the knight.
Still the giant came on so fast that he was quite close to poor Jack,
and had stretched out his great hand to catch him. But, luckily, just at
the moment he stepped upon a loose stone, stumbled, and fell flat on the
ground, where he lay at his full length.
This accident gave Jack time to get on the beanstalk and hasten down
it; but just as he reached their own garden he beheld the giant descending
after him.
"Mother! mother!" cried Jack, "make haste and give me the ax." His
mother ran to him with a hatchet in her hand, and Jack with one tremendous
blow cut through all the stems except one.
"Now, mother, stand out of the way!" said he. Jack's mother shrank
back, and it was well she did so, for just as the giant took hold of the
last branch of the beanstalk, Jack cut the stem quite through and darted
from the spot.
Down came the giant with a terrible crash, and as he fell on his head,
he broke his neck, and lay dead at the feet of the woman he had so much
injured.
Before Jack and his mother had recovered from their alarm and
agitation, a beautiful lady stood before them. "Jack," said she, "you have
acted like a brave knight's son, and deserve to have your inheritance
restored to you. Dig a grave and bury the giant, and then go and kill the
giantess."
"But," said Jack, "I could not kill anyone unless I were fighting with
him; and I could not draw my sword upon a woman. Moreover, the giantess
was very kind to me."
The fairy smiled on Jack. "I am very much pleased with your generous
feeling," she said. "Nevertheless, return to the castle, and act as you
will find needful."
Jack asked the fairy if she would show him the way to the castle, as
the beanstalk was now down. She told him that she would drive him there in
her chariot, which was drawn by two peacocks. Jack thanked her, and sat
down in the chariot with her. The fairy drove him a long distance round,
until they reached a village which lay at the bottom of the hill. Here
they found a number of miserable-looking men assembled. The fairy stopped
her carriage and addressed them.
"My friends," said she, "the cruel giant who oppressed you and ate up
all your flocks and herds is dead, and this young gentleman was the means
of your being delivered from him, and is the son of your kind old master,
the knight."
The men gave a loud cheer at these words, and pressed forward to say
that they would serve Jack as faithfully as they had served his father.
The fairy bade them follow her to the castle, and they marched thither in
a body, and Jack blew the horn and demanded admittance.
The old giantess saw them coming from the turret loop hole. She was
very much frightened, for she guessed that something had happened to her
husband; and as she came downstairs very fast she caught her foot in her
dress, and fell from the top to the bottom and broke her neck.
When the people outside found that the door was not opened to them,
they took crowbars and forced the portal. Nobody was to be seen, but on
leaving the hall they found the body of the giantess at the foot of the
stairs.
Thus Jack took possession of the castle. The fairy went and brought his
mother to him, with the hen and the harp. He had the giantess buried, and
endeavored as much as lay in his power to do right to those whom the giant
had robbed. Before her departure for fairyland, the fairy explained to
Jack that she had sent the butcher to meet him with the beans, in order to
try what sort of lad he was.
"If you had looked at the gigantic beanstalk and only stupidly wondered
about it," she said, "I should have left you where misfortune had placed
you, only restoring her cow to your mother. But you showed an inquiring
mind, and great courage and enterprise, therefore you deserve to rise; and
when you mounted the beanstalk you climbed the Ladder of Fortune."
She then took her leave of Jack and his mother.
Source: Andrew Lang, The Red Fairy Book (London: Longmans,
Green, and Company, 1895), pp. 133-145.
First published 1890.