Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to the honourable judges, grand time keeper, my

beloved teachers, parents and fellow friends. Today I will tell a story entitled ‘Jack and the
Beanstalk’.

There was once a poor widow who lived with her son, Jack, far out in the country. Jack
was good natured but lazy. When at last there was no money left to buy food, Jack’s
mother told him to take the dairy cow to market and sell her for a good price.
On his way to market, Jack met a strange man who asked him where he was going with
the cow. “I’m going to market to sell her,” he said. “I will give you these five magic beans
for the cow,” said the strange man. Jack thought this was a good bargain, so he traded
the cow for five beans.
Jack hurried home and said to his mother, “Look at the five beans I got for the cow!”
“You foolish, lazy boy!” cried his mother angrily. “Now we will go hungry.”
She threw all the beans out the window, and she and Jack went to bed without any
supper.
When Jack awoke early the next morning, he noticed an odd shadow across his
window. He ran outside to see that a huge beanstalk had sprung up during the night. It
grew so high he could not see the top.
Jack was curious and decided to climb up the beanstalk. He climbed for hours. When
he finally reached the top, he saw a great castle in the clouds. He rubbed his eyes to
make sure he was not seeing things.
As he got closer to the castle, Jack met a beautiful fairy. She told Jack that the giant
who lived in the castle had killed Jack’s father long ago and had stolen all his gold. The
tiny fairy said that he should take back what was rightfully his, and then she
disappeared.
When Jack reached the steps, he asked the giant’s huge wife for some supper.
“If you stay here, the giant will have you for supper,’ she said. But Jack was so hungry
that he did not care.
The woman gave in and fixed Jack a good supper. Soon, they heard the thump, thump
of heavy footsteps. Just as the giant entered the room, his wife hid Jack in the oven.
The giant sniffed the air and roared, “Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!”
“It’s just your supper,” said his wife.
The giant ate his huge supper in one huge swallow. Then he roared, “Fetch my gold
coins!”
The woman brought in bags of gold coins that had belonged to Jack’s father. The giant
fell fast asleep counting the money.
Jack took a bag of gold and ran back to the beanstalk. He threw the bag down to his
mother’s garden and climbed down as fast as he could. Jack’s mother was overcome
with joy when gold coins rained down. They could now take care of their needs for a
while. But then, one day, the gold ran out.
Jack disguised himself and went up the beanstalk again. He wanted more of his father’s
gold. When Jack returned to the castle, very tired and hungry, the giant’s wife did not
want to help him.
“The last boy I helped stole a bag of my husband’s gold,” she said.
But Jack was so polite that he finally let him in and gave him a drink of water.
Just then, the giant’s footsteps shook the floor. Jack barely had time to hide in the oven
before the giant entered the kitchen and roared angrily, “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood
of an Englishman!”
“Don’t be silly,” said the giant’s wife.
The giant ate his supper and then he told his wife to bring him his hen.
Jack heard the giant shout, “I, ay!” When he peeked through a hole in the oven, he saw
the hen lay a perfect golden egg. After he told the hen to lay three eggs, the giant fell
asleep.
Jack leaped out of the oven, snatched the hen, and ran. When Jack reached the
beanstalk, he began to climb down quickly. He took the wonderful hen to his mother.
The hen laid a golden egg on command every time. With the golden eggs, Jack and his
mother were able to fix up their cottage, and there was always plenty to eat.
After a while, however, Jack decided to climb back up the beanstalk. Jack sneaked
back into the castle and hid in a large pot.
The giant sniffed the air and said, “Fee-fi-fo-fum!” His wife went over to the oven and
looked in, but there was no boy inside.
After the giant ate his supper, he called for his magic harp. His wife quickly brought him
his beautiful harp of gold. The giant told the harp to play. It began to play the most
entrancing music Jack had ever heard.
It was not long before the giant was lulled to sleep by the music. When Jack heard the
giant snoring, he knew it was safe to climb out of the pot. He grabbed the giant’s harp
and started to run away with it.
“Master! Master!” the harp cried. The giant awoke with a start. Jack jumped off the table,
the harp in his arms, just as the giant made a grab for him. Jack tightly held onto the
harp and ran for his life.
Jack could hear the huge thump, thump of the giant’s footsteps closing in behind him.
He knew the giant took large steps, so his fear was great. But the angry giant had just
finished a filling supper, and that slowed him down enough for Jack to reach the
beanstalk ahead of the giant.
Jack clumsily climbed down the beanstalk with the harp, calling out to his mother as he
went, “Mother! Bring me the axe!”
The giant was halfway down the beanstalk when Jack reached the ground. Jack took
the axe form his mother. With one mighty chop, he cut the beanstalk in two. The giant
crashed to the ground and died.
Jack, his mother, the hen, and the harp lived happily ever after.