Once upon a time there lived a poor widow, and she had only one son, Jack, and a cow, Belyanka. The cow gave milk every morning, and mother and son sold it at the market - that’s what they lived on. But one day Belyanka didn’t give milk, and they simply didn’t know what to do.
- What should we do? What should I do? - the mother repeated, wringing her hands.
- Don't be sad, mom! - said Jack. - I'll hire someone to work for me.
“You’ve already tried to get hired, but no one will hire you,” answered the mother. “No, apparently we’ll have to sell our Belyanka and use the proceeds to open a shop or do some other business.”
“Well, okay, Mom,” Jack agreed. “Today is market day, and I will quickly sell Belyanka.” And then we’ll decide what to do.
And so Jack took the reins in his hands and led the cow to the market. But he didn’t have time to go far when he met some wonderful old man.
- Good morning, Jack! - said the old man.
- Good morning to you too! - Jack answered, and he himself is surprised: how does the old man know his name?
- Well, Jack, where are you going? - asked the old man.
- To the market, to sell a cow.
- Yes, yes! Who should trade cows if not you! — the old man laughed. - Tell me, how many beans do you need to make five?
- Exactly two in each hand and one in your mouth! - Jack answered: he was a good guy.
- Right! - said the old man. - Look, here they are, these same beans! - and the old man pulled out a handful of some strange beans from his pocket. “And since you’re so smart,” the old man continued, “I wouldn’t mind trading with you—beans for you, cow for me!”
- Go on your way! - Jack got angry. - It will be better that way!
“Uh, you don’t know what kind of beans these are,” said the old man. “Plant them in the evening, and by morning they will grow to the very sky.”
- Well? Is it true? - Jack was surprised.
- The true truth! And if not, you take your cow back.
- OK! - Jack agreed: he gave Belyanka to the old man, and put the beans in his pocket.
Jack turned back and came home early - it was not yet dark.
- How! Are you back already, Jack? - the mother was surprised. - I see Belyanka is not with you, does that mean you sold her? How much did they give you for it?
- You'll never guess, Mom! - Jack answered.
- Well? Oh my goodness! Five pounds? Ten? Fifteen? Well, they wouldn’t give it twenty!
- I told you - you won’t guess! What can you say about these beans? They are magical. Plant them in the evening and...
- What?! - Jack's mother cried. “Are you really such a fool, such a blockhead, such an ass that you gave up my Belyanka, the milkiest cow in the whole area, and a sleek, well-fed one at that, for a handful of some bad beans?” Here you go! Here you go! Here you go! And your precious beans - there they are, out the window!.. Well, now you can sleep quickly! And don’t ask for food - you still won’t get a sip or a bite!
And so Jack went up to his attic, to his little room, sad, very sad: he felt sorry for his mother, and he himself was left without dinner.
Finally he fell asleep.
And when I woke up, I barely recognized my room. The sun illuminated only one corner, and everything around was dark and dark.
Jack jumped out of bed, got dressed and went to the window. And what did he see? Yes, something like a big tree. And it was his beans that sprouted. Jack's mother threw them out of the window into the garden in the evening, they sprouted, and the huge stem stretched and stretched up and up until it reached the sky. It turns out that the old man was telling the truth!
A beanstalk grew right next to Jack's window. So Jack opened the window, jumped onto the stem and climbed up as if on a ladder. And he climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, until finally he reached the very sky. There he saw a long and wide road, straight as an arrow. I walked along this road, and kept walking, and walking, and walking, until I came to a huge, huge, tall house. And at the threshold of this house stood a huge, huge, tall woman.
- Good morning, madam! - Jack said very politely. - Be so kind as to give me something for breakfast, please!
After all, Jack went to bed without dinner and was now hungry as a wolf.
- Would you like to have breakfast? - said a huge, huge, tall woman. - Yes, you yourself will end up as someone else’s breakfast if you don’t get out of here! My husband is a cannibal, and his favorite food is boys fried in breadcrumbs. You better leave while you're still alive, otherwise he'll be back soon.
- Oh, madam, I beg you, give me something to eat! - Jack did not let up. “I haven’t had a crumb in my mouth since yesterday morning.” I'm telling the real truth. And does it matter whether they fry me or I die of hunger?
I must say that the cannibal was not a bad woman. She took Jack into the kitchen and gave him a piece of bread with cheese and a jug of milk. But before Jack had even eaten half of his breakfast, suddenly - top! top! top! — the whole house shook from someone’s steps.
- Oh my God! Yes, this is my old man! - the cannibal gasped. - What to do? Hurry up and jump here!
And only she managed to push Jack into the oven when the cannibal giant himself entered.
Well, he was great - a mountain! Three calves, tied by the legs, dangled from his belt. The ogre untied them, threw them on the table and said:
- Come on, wife, fry me a couple for breakfast! Wow! What does it smell like here? Fi-fi-fo-fam, I can smell the spirit of the British there. Dead or alive, it will end up on my breakfast.
- What are you talking about, hubby? - his wife told him. - You imagined it. Or maybe it still smells like the little boy we had for lunch yesterday - remember, you liked him. Better go wash up and change clothes, and in the meantime I’ll prepare breakfast.
The cannibal came out, and Jack was about to get out of the oven and run away, but the cannibal did not let him in.
“Wait until he falls asleep,” she said. — After breakfast he always goes to bed.
And so the cannibal had breakfast, then went to a huge chest, took out two bags of gold from it and sat down to count the coins. He counted and counted, and finally began to nod off and began to snore, so much so that the whole house began to shake again.
Then Jack slowly crawled out of the oven, tiptoed past the cannibal, grabbed one bag of gold and, God bless his feet! - rushed to the beanstalk. He threw the bag down, straight into the garden, and he began to climb down the stem lower and lower, until he finally found himself at his house.
Jack told his mother about everything that had happened to him, handed her a bag of gold and said:
- Well, mom, did I tell the truth about my beans? See, they really are magical!
And so Jack and his mother began to live on the money that was in the bag. But eventually the bag was empty, and Jack decided to try his luck one more time at the top of the beanstalk. One fine morning he got up early and climbed the beanstalk and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed, until finally he found himself on a familiar road and reached a huge, huge, tall house along it. Just like last time, a huge, huge, tall woman stood at the threshold.
“Good morning, madam,” Jack told her as if nothing had happened. - Be so kind as to give me something to eat, please!
- Get out of here quickly, boy! - answered the giantess. - Otherwise my husband will eat you for breakfast. Eh, no, wait a minute, aren’t you the same boy who came here recently? You know, on that very day my husband’s bag of gold disappeared.
- These are miracles, madam! - says Jack. “True, I could tell you something about this, but I’m so hungry that until I eat at least a bite, I won’t be able to say a word.”
Then the giantess was so curious that she let Jack in and gave him something to eat. And Jack deliberately began to chew as slowly as possible. But suddenly - top! top! top! - the giant’s steps were heard, and the giantess again hid Jack in the oven.
Then everything was like the last time: the cannibal came in, said: “Fi-fi-fo-fam...” and so on, had breakfast with three roasted bulls, and then ordered his wife:
- Wife, bring me a chicken - the one that lays golden eggs!
The giantess brought it, and the cannibal said to the chicken: “Run!” - and she laid a golden egg. Then the cannibal began to nod off and began to snore so that the whole house shook.
Then Jack slowly crawled out of the oven, grabbed the golden chicken and instantly ran away. But then the chicken clucked and woke up the cannibal. And just as Jack was running out of the house, the giant’s voice was heard:
- Wife, hey wife, don’t touch my golden chicken!
And his wife answered him:
- What did you imagine, hubby?
That's all Jack managed to hear. He rushed as fast as he could towards the beanstalk and literally fell down it.
Jack returned home, showed his mother the miracle chicken and shouted:
- Rush!
And the hen laid a golden egg. From then on, every time Jack told her to “go!”, the hen laid a golden egg.
That's it. But this was not enough for Jack, and soon he again decided to try his luck at the top of the beanstalk. One fine morning he got up early and climbed the beanstalk and climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed until he got to the very top. True, this time he was careful not to immediately enter the cannibals’ house, but crept up to it slowly and hid in the bushes. He waited until the giantess walked with a bucket into the water, and - he snuck into the house! He climbed into the copper cauldron and waited. He didn't wait long; suddenly he hears the familiar “top! top! top! And then the cannibal and his wife enter the room.
- Fi-fi-fo-fam, I can smell the spirit of the British there! - the cannibal shouted. - I feel it, I feel it, wife!
- Can you really hear it, hubby? - says the giantess. “Well, if it’s that brat who stole your gold and the hen with the golden eggs, he’s certainly sitting in the oven!”
And both rushed to the stove. It's a good thing Jack wasn't hiding in it!
- You are always with your “fi-fi-fo-fam!” - said the cannibal. - Yes, it smells like the boy you caught yesterday. I just fried it for you for breakfast. Well, I have a memory! Yes, and you are good too - after so many years you have not learned to distinguish a living spirit from a dead one!
Finally the cannibal sat down at the table to have breakfast. But every now and then he muttered:
“Yes, but still I can swear that...” and getting up from the table, he searched the pantry, the chests, and the supplies... He searched all the corners and crannies, but didn’t think of looking into the copper cauldron.
But then the cannibal had breakfast and shouted:
- Wife, wife, bring me my golden harp! His wife brought the harp and placed it on the table in front of him.
- Sing! - the giant ordered the harp.
And the golden harp began to sing, so well that you’ll be able to hear it! And she sang and sang until the cannibal fell asleep and began to snore: and he snored so loudly that it seemed as if thunder was roaring.
Here Jack lightly lifted the lid of the cauldron. He crawled out of it quietly, like a mouse, and crawled on all fours all the way to the table. He climbed onto the table, grabbed the golden harp and rushed to the door.
But the harp called loudly and loudly:
- Master! Master!
The ogre woke up and saw Jack running away with his harp.
Jack ran headlong, and the ogre followed him and, of course, would have caught him, but Jack was the first to rush to the door; besides, he knew the road well. So he jumped onto a beanstalk, and the cannibal is catching up. But suddenly Jack disappeared somewhere. The cannibal reached the end of the road, he saw Jack already below - he was in a hurry with his last strength. The giant was afraid to step on the shaky stem, stopped, stood, and Jack descended even lower. But then the harp called again:
- Master! Master!
The giant stepped on the beanstalk, and the stalk shook under his weight.
Here Jack descends lower and lower, and the ogre follows him. And when Jack got to the roof of his house, he shouted:
- Mom! Mother! Bring the axe, bring the axe! The mother ran out with an ax in her hands, rushed to the beanstalk, and froze in horror: after all, the giant above had already made a hole in the clouds with his knives. Finally Jack jumped to the ground, grabbed an ax and slashed at the beanstalk so hard that he nearly cut it in half.
The ogre felt the stem swaying violently and stopped. "What's happened?" - thinks. Then Jack hits the ax again - he completely cuts the beanstalk. The stem swayed and collapsed, and the ogre fell to the ground and broke his neck.
Jack showed his mother the golden harp, and then they began to show it for money, and also sell golden eggs. And when they got rich, Jack married the princess and lived happily ever after.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru