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, till 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 endeavoured 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.