Mother's Nursery Tales. Katharine Pyle

that Jack and his mother never had any lack of anything, for whenever he wanted money he had only to say, “My little red hen, my pretty red hen, lay,” and the hen would lay a gold egg.

      Still Jack was not satisfied. He wanted to see what else was in the giant’s castle. So one day, without saying a word to his mother, he climbed the bean-stalk and hurried along the road to the giant’s castle. He did not want to meet the giant’s wife, for he thought maybe she had guessed that it was he who had taken the giant’s hen, and the moneybags, and so indeed she had, and what was more she had told the giant all about it, too.

      Jack crept up to the castle very carefully, and he saw no one. He opened the castle door a crack and peeped in, and still he saw no one. He pushed it open a little wider and then he ran in and across the kitchen and hid himself in the great oven.

      He had no more than done this before the giant’s wife came in. “Pfu!” said she. “What a draft!” and she closed the outside door. Then she set the giant’s breakfast on the table, still talking to herself. “The door must have blown open,” said she. “I’m sure I closed it when I went out.”

      Presently the giant came thumping and stumping into the house. The moment he entered the room he began to bawl—

      “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.”

      “What? What?” cried his wife, “I found the door open just now. Do you suppose that dratted boy is in the house again?”

      “If he is, I’ll soon put an end to him,” said the giant.

      The giant’s wife ran to the copper pot and lifted the lid, and looked inside it, but no one was there. Then she and the giant began to hunt about. They looked in the cupboards and behind the doors, and every place, but they never thought of looking in the oven.

      “He can’t be here after all,” said the wife, “or we would have found him. It must be something else you smell.”

      So the giant sat down and began to eat his breakfast, but as he ate he mumbled and grumbled to himself.

      After he had finished he said, “Wife, bring out my golden harp to sing for me.”

      His wife went into the treasure-room and came back carrying a golden harp. She set it on the table before the giant and at once it began to make music, and the music was so beautiful that it melted the heart to hear it. The giant’s wife sat down to listen, too, and presently the music put them both to sleep. Then Jack crept out of the oven and seized the harp and made off with it.

      At once the harp began to call, “Master! master! help! Someone is running off with me!”

      The giant started out of sleep and looked about him. When he found the harp gone he gave a roar like an angry bull. He ran to the door and there was Jack already more than half-way down the road. “Stop! stop!” cried the giant, but Jack had no idea of stopping. He ran until he reached the bean-stalk, and then he began climbing down it as fast as he could, still carrying the harp.

      The giant followed and when he came to the bean-stalk he looked down, and there was Jack far, far below him. The giant was not used to climbing. He did not know whether to follow or not. Then the harp cried again, “Help, master, help!” The giant hesitated no longer. He caught hold of the bean-stalk and began to climb down.

      By this time Jack had reached the ground. “Quick! quick, mother!” he cried. “Bring me an ax.”

      His mother came running with an ax. She did not know what he wanted it for, but she knew he was in a hurry.

      Jack seized the ax and began to chop the bean-stalk. The giant above felt the stalk tremble. “Wait! wait a bit!” he cried, “I want to talk to you!”

      But before he could say anything more the bean-stalk was chopped through and fell with a mighty crash, and as the giant fell with it that was the end of him.

      But Jack and his mother lived in peace and plenty forever after.