Jack and the Beanstalk

ONCE upon a time there was a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, and a cow named Milky-White. And all they had to live on was the milk the cow gave every morning. They carried the milk to the market and sold. But one morning Milky-White gave no milk, and they didn't know what to do.

"What shall we do, what shall we do?" cried the widow.

"Cheer up, Mother! 1 I'll go and get work somewhere," said Jack.

"We tried that before, and nobody wanted a boy like you," said his mother, "we must sell Milky-White and with the money start a shop, or something." 2

"All right, Mother," said Jack, "it's market-day today. I'll soon sell Milky-White, and then we'll see what we can do."

So he drove the cow to the market. He hadn't gone far when he met a funny-looking old man, who said to him, "Good morning, Jack."

"Good morning to you," said Jack and wondered how the man knew his name.

"Well, Jack, and where are you going?" asked the man. "I'm going to the market to sell our cow." When he heard where Jack was going, the old man offered him some strange-looking coloured beans in exchange for the cow. 3

"Take them," he said, "and you'll never be sorry about it. They are not ordinary beans. They are magic beans. If you plant them in the evening, by morning they will grow right up to the sky."

"Really?" said Jack. "You don't say so!" 4 "Yes, that is so, and if that doesn't happen, you can have your cow back."

So Jack agreed, put the strange-looking coloured beans in his pocket and started back for home. It was dark when he reached home.

"Back already, Jack?" asked his mother. "I see you haven't got Milky-White, so you've sold her. How much did you get for her?"

"You'll never guess, Mother," said Jack.

"How much? Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it couldn't be twenty." 5

"I told you couldn't guess. What do you say about these beans? They're magic; plant them in the evening and—"

"What?!" cried Jack's mother. "Have you been such a fool as to give away my Milky-White for a few beans? Take that! 6 Take that! Take that! And as for your magic beans, here they go out of the window."

The mother was so angry that she threw the beans out of the window. Then she said, "And now go to bed without supper!"

So Jack went upstairs to his little room.

When he woke up next morning, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark. So Jack jumped up and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think he saw? The beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden had grown up into a great beanstalk which went up and up and up till it reached the sky. So the man had spoken the truth after all.

The beanstalk grew quite close by Jack's window, so all he had to do was to open it and put his feet on to the beanstalk, for it went up and up just like a big ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he reached the sky. And when he got there, he found a long wide straight road. So he walked along and he walked along and he walked along the road till he came to a great big tall house, and on the doorstep there was a great big tall woman.

 

  

 

"Good morning," said Jack. "Would you be so kind as to give me some breakfast?" 7 For he hadn't had anything to eat the night before, you know, he was as hungry as a hunter. "It's breakfast you want, isn't it?" asked the great big tall woman. "It's breakfast you'll be if you don't move off from here. My man is an ogre, he kills and eats people, and there's nothing he likes better than broiled boys. You'd better go away 8 for he'll soon be back home."

"Oh! please, give me something to eat. I've had nothing to eat since yesterday morning, really," said Jack. "I may as well be broiled as die of hunger." 9

Well, the ogre's wife was not such a bad woman. She took Jack into the kitchen, and gave him a piece of bread and cheese and a jug of milk. But Jack hadn't finished eating when the whole house began to shake with great thuds. Somebody was coming to the house.

"It's my old man," said the ogre's wife. "What shall I do? Come along quick and jump in here." And she quickly hid Jack in the oven just as the ogre came in.

He was a terribly big one. Three calves hung by the heels to his belt. 10 He threw them down on the table and said, "Here, wife, broil me two of these calves for breakfast. Ah! What's this I smell?

"Fee, fi, fo, fum,

I smell the blood of an Englishman.

Be he alive or be he dead

I'll grind his bones to make my bread." 11

"You are wrong, dear," said his wife, "there is no one here. Perhaps you can smell the scraps of that little boy; you liked so much for yesterday's dinner. Here, you go and have a wash and change your clothes, and by the time you come back your breakfast will be ready for you."

So the ogre went off, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven and run away when the woman told him not to. "Wait till he's asleep," said she, "he always sleeps for a while after breakfast."

Well, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he went to a big chest and took out of it two bags of gold. He sat down, put the bags on the table and began to count the money. Soon his head began to nod, and he began to snore, and the whole house shook again.

Now Jack crept out on tiptoe from the oven, and as he was passing the ogre, he took one of the bags of gold, put it under his arm, and ran off along the road till he came to the beanstalk. Then he threw down the bag of gold, which, of course, fell into his mother's garden, and then he climbed down and climbed down till at last he got home. Jack told his mother all that had happened to him and showed her the gold.

"Well, Mother," he said, "wasn't I right about the beans? They are really magic, you see."

Jack and his mother lived on the gold for some time, but at last it was all spent, and Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more 12 at the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he got up early, and got on to the beanstalk. 13 He climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he came out on to the long wide straight road again. He walked along it till he came to the great big tall house he had been to before. And there was the great big tall woman standing on the doorstep.

"Good morning," said Jack, "would you be so good as to give me something to eat?"

"Go away, my boy," said the big tall woman, "or else 14 my man will eat you up for breakfast. But aren't you the boy who came here once before? Do you know that very day my man missed one of his bags of gold?" 15

"That's strange," said Jack, "I could tell you 16 something about that, but I'm so hungry I can't talk till I've had something to eat." 17

Well, the big tall woman was so curious that she took him in and gave him something to eat. But he had scarcely begun to eat when they heard the great thuds of the ogre's feet, and his wife quickly hid Jack away in the oven. All happened as it did before. The ogre came in as he did before, said, "Fee, fi, fo, fum," and had his breakfast of three broiled oxen. Then he said, "Wife, bring me the hen that lays the golden eggs."

So she brought it, and the ogre ordered the hen, "Lay," and it laid an egg all of gold. And then the ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook.

Then Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe, seized the hen that laid the golden eggs, and rushed off. But the hen gave a loud cackle and the ogre woke up, and just as Jack got out of the house he heard the ogre's voice, "Wife, wife, what have you done with my golden hen?"

And the wife said, "Nothing, my dear. I didn't touch it."

But that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off down the road to the beanstalk and climbed down safely. And when he got home, he showed his mother the wonderful hen, and said "Lay" to it; and the hen laid a golden egg every time he said "Lay".

It wasn't very long before Jack wanted to try his luck again at the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning, he got up early and got on to the beanstalk. He climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till he got to the top. But this time when he got near the ogre's house, he waited behind a bush till the ogre's wife came out with a pail to get some water. Then he slipped into the house and hid in the copper.

He hadn't been there long before he heard the great thuds of the ogre's feet, and the ogre and his wife came in. The ogre cried out:

"Fee, fi, fo, fum,

I smell the blood of an Englishman.

Be he alive or be he dead

I'll grind his bones to make my bread."

"If you can smell that bad little boy who stole your money and your magic hen, he is hiding in the oven," said the ogre's wife, and they both looked in the oven. But Jack wasn't there. He was in the copper.

 

 

 

 So the ogre sat down and ate a very large breakfast. When breakfast was over, he called out, "Wife, wife, bring me my golden harp."

So she brought his harp and put it on the table.

"Play!" ordered the ogre, and the harp started to play most beautifully, all by itself. 18 And it played on till the ogre fell asleep, and began to snore like thunder.

Then Jack crept out of the copper and seized the harp, but the harp cried out, "Master! Master!" The ogre woke up with a roar, saw Jack with the harp and rushed along the road after him.

Jack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre ran after him. When Jack got to the beanstalk, the ogre was not more than twenty yards away. Jack began to climb down, but the ogre was heavy and he was afraid of such a ladder, so he stood and waited. But just then the harp cried out, "Master! Master!" and the ogre began to climb down the beanstalk, which shook with his weight. 19

Jack climbed down, and the ogre climbed after him. By this time Jack had climbed down and climbed down and climbed down till he was very near the ground. So he called out, "Mother! Mother! Bring me an axe! Bring me an axe!"

And his mother rushed out of the house with the axe in her hand. When she came to the beanstalk, she stood still with fright, for there she saw the ogre's legs just through the clouds.

But Jack jumped down, took the axe and gave a chop at the beanstalk. 20 The ogre felt the beanstalk shake, so he stopped to see what was the matter. 21

 Jack gave another chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two. Then the ogre fell down and broke his head, and the beanstalk came down after.

After that Jack showed his mother the golden harp. Then Jack and his mother began to show people the golden harp and they became rich. Later Jack married a beautiful princess, and they lived happily ever afterwards.

 

 

1 Cheer up, Mother! — He унывай, мама!

2 and with the money start a shop, or something — ад. и на вырученные деньги открыть лавку или заняться каким-нибудь другим делом

3 offered him some strange-looking coloured beans in exchange for the cow — предложил ему несколько необычных разноцветных бобов в обмен на корову

4 You don't say so! — зд. Не может быть!

5 no, it couldn't be twenty — нет, не может быть, чтобы двадцать

6 Take that! — Вот тебе!

7 Would you be so kind as to give me some breakfast? — зд. Будьте так любезны, дайте мне, пожалуйста, что-нибудь поесть на завтрак!

8 You'd better go away — Тебе бы лучше уйти

9 I may as well be broiled as die of hunger — И не все ли равно: поджарят меня или я с голоду умру.

10 Three calves hung by the heels to his belt.— зд. На поясе у него были привязаны три теленка.

11 Фи-фай-фо-фам,

Дух британца чую там.

Мертвый он или живой,—

Попадет на завтрак мой.

(Перевод М, Клягиной-Кондратьевой)

12 Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more — Джек решил еще раз попытать счастья

13 got on to the beanstalk — залез на бобовый стебель

14 or else — иначе; а то

15 ...that very day my man missed one of his bags of gold? — ... что в тот самый день у мужа моего пропал один из мешочков с золотом?

16 I could tell you — Я мог бы сказать вам

17 till I've had something to eat — пока я не поем чего-нибудь

18 started to play... all by itself — заиграла (сама по себе)

19 which shook with his weight — который закачался под его тяжестью

20 gave a chop at the beanstalk — ударил топором по бобовому стеблю

21 The ogre felt the beanstalk shake, so he stopped to see what was the matter.— Великан почувствовал, что бобовый стебель закачался сильнее, поэтому он остановился, чтобы посмотреть, в чем дело (что случилось).