Jack and his mother were very poor. All they had left was an old cow. "Take her to market and sell her," said his mother, "so we can buy food."
On the way, Jack met a strange man. "I'll trade you five magic beans for your cow," the man said. Jack thought magic beans sounded wonderful, so he made the trade.
When Jack got home, his mother was furious. "Beans? We needed money for food!" She threw the beans out the window, and Jack went to bed hungry.
In the morning, Jack looked outside. A giant beanstalk had grown up past the clouds! Jack began to climb. Up and up he went, until he reached a land in the sky with an enormous castle.
Inside lived a giant who stomped about shouting, "Fee-fi-fo-fum!" Jack hid in a cupboard and watched. The giant had a hen that laid golden eggs. When the giant fell asleep, snoring like thunder, Jack grabbed the hen and climbed down.
Jack went back once more and saw a golden harp that played music by itself. But as he took it, the harp cried out, "Master! Master!" The giant woke and chased Jack to the beanstalk.
Jack climbed down faster than ever. "Mother, bring the axe!" he shouted. Chop, chop, chop! The beanstalk crashed to the ground, and the giant had to scramble back up to the clouds before it fell.
With the hen's golden eggs and the harp's sweet music, Jack and his mother were never hungry again.