|In the days of King Alfred a poor woman lived in a country village in
England. She had an only son, Jack, who was a good-natured, idle boy.
She was too easy with him. She never set him at work, and soon there was
nothing left them but their cow. Then the mother began to weep and to
think that she had brought up her boy very ill.
“Cruel boy!” she said. “You have at last made me a beggar. I have not
money enough to buy a bit of bread. We cannot starve. We must sell the
cow, and then what shall we do?”
At first Jack felt very badly and wished he had done better. But soon
he began to think what fun it would be to sell the cow. He begged his
mother to let him go with the cow to the nearest village. She was not
very willing. She did not believe Jack knew enough to sell a cow, but at
last she gave him leave.
Off went Jack with the cow. He had not gone far when he met a Butcher.
“Where are you going with your cow?” asked the Butcher.
“I am going to sell it,” said Jack. The Butcher held his hat in his hand
and shook it. Jack looked into the hat and saw some odd-looking beans.
The Butcher saw him eye them. He knew how silly Jack was, so he said to
him:--
“Well, if you wish to sell your cow, sell her to me. I will give you all
these beans for her.”
Jack thought this a fine bargain. He gave the Butcher the cow and took
the beans. He ran all the way home and could hardly wait to reach the
house. He called out to his mother to see what he had got for the cow.
When the poor woman saw only a few beans, she burst into tears. She was
so vexed that she threw the beans out of the window. She did not even
cook them for supper. They had nothing else to eat, and they went to bed
hungry.
Jack awoke early the next morning and thought it very dark. He went
to the window and could hardly see out of it, for it was covered with
something green. He ran downstairs and into the garden. There he saw a
strange sight.
The beans had taken root and shot up toward the clouds. The stalks were
as thick as trees, and were wound about each other. It was like a green
ladder, and Jack at once wished to climb to the top.
He ran in to tell his mother, but she begged him not to climb the
bean-stalk. She did not know what would happen. She was afraid to have
him go. Who ever saw such bean-stalks before?
But Jack had set his heart on climbing, and he told his mother not to
be afraid. He would soon see what it all meant. So up he climbed. He
climbed for hours. He went higher and higher, and at last, quite tired
out, he reached the top.