Jackie And The Beanstalk
Fairy Tales Stories
A different fairy tales stories retold.
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jackie. Jackie didn’t like to work in the fields. Instead, he wanted to just sit around and do nothing.
His mum had to work hard in the fields, and sometimes, she would get annoyed as Jackie simply did not help out with any chores!
“JACKIE! Do something! Our cows have grown up. Bring one of them to the market for five gold coins!” his mum demanded.
“I am tired, mum. I’ll do it some other time!” Replied Jackie.
This time, his mother didn’t back down. “You must go. If you don’t, you won’t eat tonight.” The reluctant Jackie had no choice but to saddle one of the milk cows and leave.
On the way to the market, the lazy Jackie stopped by under a tree to rest. An older man approached Jackie. “Hello! Good day; where are you going?” Asked the older man.
With a straw in his mouth, Jackie looked up. He glanced at the older man and continued lying on the ground as he was in no mood to entertain him. “I’m busy. I need to sell this cow!” Jackie replied.
“Why don’t you sell your cow to me?” The older man said, looking interested.
Jackie’s eyes widened, and he quickly sat up. “How much are you offering me?” he asked.
“Well, I’m out of gold.” The older man said. “But, I have five magic beans. These beans are worth more than five gold!” He continued.
“More than five gold?!” Jackie got excited. “The beans are more valuable than what I can get for this cow.” he thought. “Deal,” Jackie replied quickly as he handed the old man the lead rope and took the magic beans from him.
“Now I am done with my chores, I can go home and sleep.” he smiled.
When Jackie reached home, his mother was impressed by how fast he sold the cow. “How much did you sell it for?” his mother asked happily. The proud Jackie took out the beans and showed his mum. “An old man paid me these magic beans for our cow! It’s worth more than five gold!” Jackie exclaimed.
The astonished mum looked at Jackie. “Jackie, are you serious? Please tell me you are joking and stop messing around!”
Jackie’s smile diminished, and his mother figured out something was wrong.
“You sold our cow for five worthless beans?” His mother shrieked.
Jackie’s mother was so mad that she snatched the beans from his hand and threw them out of the window.
“No dinner for you tonight,” she screamed, feeling heartbroken about the lost money from selling the cow.
One morning, Jackie was jolted awake by a loud thump. He leapt out of bed to check what happened and was surprised to see a green giant stalk sprouting rapidly from the ground at an alarming rate and twisting its branches at great speed from the base.
The earth began to shake as the tree trunks emerged from their burrows in the ground. Jackie was speechless from shock. The beanstalk continued to expand at a rapid rate until it reached heights that were beyond the clouds.
“Mum! Did you see what happened?” Jackie cried out. At the same time, his mum, who saw what happened, rushed into his room.
“I told you the beans are worth more than five gold!” Jackie said with a smug smile. Jackie reached the tree and plucked one of the enormous beans that had blossomed there. “Thank goodness, now we can sell these beans and still have enough food!”
Jackie’s mum felt a twinge of delight but turned to Jackie and replied,
“You still need to bring them to the market and get back five gold coins!”
Jackie gave a sigh.
Soon, Jackie and his mom started selling the giant beans to make a living. Their life got better because the business was doing so well.
One day, something fell from the sky and landed near the base of the beanstalk. It was a lovely pearl about the size of an egg! Jackie was ecstatic and dashed home to show his mum. “Mum! I discovered this shiny stone near the beanstalk!”
Jackie’s mother liked stones with sparkles, and the pearl would make a stunning necklace. Since that day, Jackie has been curious about where the pearl came from. “Could it be from the beanstalk? Or is there something up in the beanstalk?” he wondered. Out of curiosity, he decided to investigate where the pearl came from. As he searched the area for clues, another pearl fell from the sky!
“There must be something beyond those clouds!” Jackie realised. He decided to climb the beanstalk to see what was up there. After what seemed like an eternity, he emerged from the clouds and saw what was beyond them.
He was taken aback to see a magnificent castle glistening in the sunlight. While he was still in amazement at what he saw, he heard: “My favourite pearl necklace broke! Now they are scattered all over the floor. What a mess!”
Jackie hastily scuffled and hid behind the wooden pillar when he heard the footsteps approaching him. One of the pearls was next to him, and he knew immediately that it was the same one he had found near the beanstalk. It looks like some of the pearls fell through the clouds to the ground below.
“There you are, my little gem…” A giant girl said. As she moved closer to the pillar behind Jackie’s hiding, she detected an unfamiliar smell. She went where the smell led her and asked, “Who are you?”
Jackie looked up, startled to see a huge eye staring at him from behind. “Why are you hiding behind my toy box?” The giant girl asked.
Jackie was shivering as if he had never seen a giant before. He finally got himself together enough to say, “Hi, I’m Jackie.” Then he tried to give the giant girl the pearl right beside him.
“Thank you for helping me; my dad will be mad at me if he cannot find the pearl necklace.” Said the giant girl. She went on, “My name is Jenny.”
“Let me help you,” Jackie said as he frantically searched the room for as many pearls as he could get his hands on. They eventually picked up everything that had been left on the floor. Jackie even helped Jenny giant string the pearls together.
Just then, they heard some thunderous footsteps coming closer. “Quickly hide. My dad is on his way into the house. If he finds you, he will eat you!” Jenny whispered as she lifted him up and put Jackie in the fruit basket.
“Hmm, I smell an English boy.” The giant roared.
“Good to see you, Dad. It sounds like you’re starving. The aroma is coming from the sausage that I cooked up for lunch. Follow me into the kitchen, won’t you?” Jenny said as she tried to lead her dad away from Jackie.
After lunch, the giant father brought out a cage that had a large number of geese. He began to tally the eggs that had been laid by the geese. “There are one, two, three eggs made of gold. The same as my sparkling pearl necklaces, which seem so gorgeous.” Jackie’s eyes widened as he peered out from behind the fruit basket and saw the geese which could lay golden eggs.
The giant soon began to feel drowsy as it was time for his nap. The greedy Jackie thought he would not need to work if he could have the goose. He decided to approach the geese’s cage.
When Jackie got close, the geese made a lot of noise. The noise woke the giant. Jenny saw and tried to distract her father’s attention with some fruits in the kitchen. Jackie took the opportunity to steal one goose from the cage.
While Jenny’s father was eating the fruits, Jenny came out and said softly. “I am glad you helped me with the pearl necklace, however, stealing from my dad is not right.” The conversation between Jenny and Jackie was overheard by Jenny’s father this time.
His temper flared up as he caught sight of his golden goose pet being held by Jackie. “You little thieve.” The giant bellowed. He wanted to catch Jackie but was stopped by Jenny.
“Go quickly. Take the goose and never return.” Jenny yelled.
Jackie grabbed the goose with one arm and ran towards the beanstalk as fast as he could. However, he felt terrible that Jenny might get into trouble with her father. Ultimately, he left the goose by the castle’s entrance and climbed down the beanstalk.
The giant got his goose back and did not chase Jackie further. He found the little hole Jackie used to climb to his house. To prevent anyone from sneaking into his house again, he used a pebble (a gigantic rock from a regular point of view) and blocked off the hole so that no one could sneak into his house.
Jackie was able to get home safely to his mom. When he felt his pocket, there was something. It was a golden egg. Jackie grinned. (Read More: Fairy Tales)
Fairy Tales Stories ~ Let’s Discuss
Learning and Discussion Corner
- Are you helping your parents with chores at home? What chores do you help them with?
- What do you think about Jackie’s action of taking Jenny’s father’s goose?
- If you were Jackie, would you take the golden goose when Jenny ask you to take and leave, or would you return it anyway?
- According to researchers, the story “Jack and the beanstalk” originated from “The Boy Who Stole Ogre’s Treasure” which had a history dated more than 5,000 years ago! (Source: Wikipedia)
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Cover designed By: StoryDino
Special Thanks To: My two boys for their suggestion on the design 🙂