Jack and the Beans Talk

The autumn mists were gathering as Jack huddled as close as he could to the small burning fire in his little cottage. His poor mum had asked Jack to run errands around the town in the hope of earning a few coins. Jack had wished all his life to be rich to be able to afford a better house for him and his mum to live in – a house that did not leak when it rained, a house that would keep them warm in the winter, a house that didn’t rattle during strong winds and storms!

The next morning Jack plodded downstairs ready for his breakfast.

“Jack – you need to find some work today and earn something so we can eat our lunch.  I gave you the last piece of bread for breakfast!  If you don’t earn something fast, we will have to starve…” sighed mum.“I am sure someone will need me to run errands!” Jack said looking at his mother, who was wearing the same old clothes.

“If only your father did not disappear all of a sudden…” his mother said with a bit of tears at the edge of her eyes. Jack vaguely remembered his father, but had heard this from his mum so many times.“Don’t worry Mum, I am sure I can find something to do. See you in a while” shouted Jack as he grabbed his bread and ran out onto the narrow street.

Jack wandered around his town from street to street knocking on houses in the hope of finding some errands he could run….  He eventually came upon an old rickety building – without much hope, Jack knocked on the rusty creaky door.  An old woman opened it slowly and said inquiringly “Yes”?

“Dear Lady, I was wondering if I could help you with anything?  Perhaps, clean up your garden – I think it could use a good mowing and weeding” asked Jack, hopefully. “That would be splendid” replied the old woman. “Thank you lady! I will clean it up in a jiffy” promised Jack excitedly.  Now his mom and he could have a warm cup of soup and some fresh bread thought Jack happily!

Jack was a hard and committed worker – he pulled out all the weeds carefully making sure not to pull out the flowers.  He raked dried leaves and pushed them into a neat pile at the end of the garden. He mowed the tall grass and cut the overgrown bushes.  At last, an exhausted Jack, stood back to admire his work.  Feeling happy he eagerly knocked on the door again.

The old woman peeped out of the door and to her surprise her garden looked completely transformed – she was indeed very happy.  “Well done, my boy” she exclaimed.  “My garden has never looked so good!”

“That would be 10 Pounds, lady” said Jack feeling he had earned his keep.

“Well – I don’t have any money, my boy!  But let me see what I can find” answered the lady and went inside.

Jack couldn’t believe his ears. 

What? No Money!  She should’ve told me that right at the beginning! I do all this hard work and I get nothing?  That is just unfair – Jack thought

Jack could hear the old woman rattling around her stuff, as he impatiently waited outside. Finally – the old woman appeared at the door.

“There you go boy – these would be useful to you” said the woman handing over a fistful of beans to Jack.  Jack was so disappointed.“What?  Just beans for all my hard work?   I don’t want beans” hollered Jack putting them away.

“Oh that’s not it” replied the old lady as she handed him a dusty mirror. “A saint gave this mirror to me. He told me there was something magical about this mirror. For many years I have tried to figure it out but I had no luck. I shall pass it on to you I am sure you will find it useful”.

“OK so what about the beans?” asked Jack.“Oh those - Plant them in your garden and you will find a surprise” answered the lady. Jack was very unhappy, but being a polite boy, he waved a sad bye and ran back home eager to plant his beans.

 “Hello Jack!” shouted mum, when she saw him. “Did you manage to get any money?” “ Well actually mum I didn’t get any mon…..” answered Jack until he was cut off by his furious mum “ What did you get?” “Beans mum, I got beans” replied Jack. Mum was furious. She snatched them off of Jack and threw them out of the window.

Cursing himself for taking up the old lady’s work, Jack went off to the woods to find some twigs and sticks for the fire.

When he came home…………….

 “Thanks to you we have no food” sighed mum sadly “All we have is a little bit of milk”. Jack quietly had the glass of milk and went to his room, tired from the day’s work.

 As Jack slept he dreamt of being rich with more food and he wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. Suddenly at midnight Jack heard something. He slowly rubbed his eyes and cautiously looked around. Jack thought it was a mouse making the noise, so he went back to bed. After a few minutes Jack heard something like stones tapping on the window. “Jack” a sound whispered. Jack sat up. The sound was coming from the window. After a couple of minutes, he again heard the whisper. Jack was curious and frightened at the same time. He crept towards the window covering himself in his blanket and hoping whoever was outside could not see him. When he reached the window, he raised his head and he saw who was knocking on the window and calling him - they were the beans! Jack pinched himself to make sure this was not one of his wild dreams!

“Jack, why did you leave us outside? It is cold here” said one of beans. “You beans talk!” said Jack in amazement. He opened the window and grabbed all of them inside the room. “We are the magic beans” said one the beans as Jack was trying to recover from this surprise. “Look Jack, no one should know about us, not even your Mum” said the beans. Jack promised not to tell anyone about the magic beans.

“Did you know there is a special mirror holding a secret” said one bean. “You mean this one?” asked Jack pulling out the mirror he had earned earlier. “Looks like it” said another bean inspecting it. “How can we get the secret out?”  asked Jack, who was getting excited about the adventure. “I don’t know but I do know someone who does” said the bean. “THE GIANT” the beans chorused. “We have to make ourselves grow. Up on the clouds there is a giant. He has a scroll of paper that says how we will get the magic out of the mirror. We will shrink you and make you invisible. The spell may wear off but if you are quick enough you should come out still invisible. Be aware he can sense humans in his house” explained a bean. “That sounds very exciting. I can be really, really quick” said Jack, thinking how quickly he ran the errands. “Hang on to us” called the bigger beans as they turned Jack small with magic. The smaller beans turned him invisible. The beans said a chant to go up:

We beans wish to grow;

Go high into the sky;

Don’t go low!

We are magic beans;

We are as green as can be!

Suddenly gold dust surrounded them as they started to rise. “Nearly there” shouted a bean as Jack could feel himself rising along with a beanstalk.

 Soon Jack was up the beanstalk he breathlessly walked onto a cloud and came upon a mansion. It had a gigantic door. Jack tried to push it open, but it did not move an inch. “Because of the spell, you are very small. You can go through the keyhole!” said one of the beans. Jack flew through the key hole and landed inside the mansion. This place is massive he thought and he was absolutely right. The chairs were huge. The room was gigantic and there was much more. As Jack tiptoed into the house……..

“ FEE FI FO FUM

I smell a tiny human in my house

If I find him what will I do

Grind his blood and bones to make my stew!

I am as strong as a streak of lightning

That is what makes me frightening!”

boomed a voice.

Shuddering, Jack followed the sound which led him to a huge room. His jaws fell open as he saw this hairy giant standing inside the room. Next to him was a table and on the table, Jack saw a small scroll of paper. He jumped onto the table and reached his hand out. But before he could reach it, the giant grabbed it and took it to another room. Jack followed the giant carefully. Jack quickly slipped through the door before the giant closed it and locked it tightly shut. The giant put the scroll on a table in the room.  The giant sat on his big chair drinking some drink. Jack did not know what the drink was. After finishing the drink, the lazy giant slept off. He started snoring which got louder and louder. Jack had to cover his ears so that it would not hurt them!

Once he was sure the giant was fast asleep, Jack climbed the table cautiously. He was about to grab the scroll, but he was so close to the giant now. He got sucked in the giant’s loud snoring and he went very close to the giant’s nose when the giant inhaled ‘Kurrrrrh!’. He almost dropped on the table when the giant exhaled ‘Pussss!’. As the giant’s snoring became louder, he got sucked inside his nose. ‘Achooo!’ sneezed the giant making Jack to fly in the air and barely missing the fire.

As Jack stood up wiping the giant’s slime off his body, he could feel the spell wearing off. As he turned towards the giant, he saw the scroll within his reach. He grabbed it and held it tight to his chest. He looked around to see how he could escape and started running to the window. But before he could escape the giant spotted him. “What do you think you are doing in MY house?” bellowed the giant licking his lips and rubbing his tummy. He started walking towards Jack stomping his feet. Before the giant could get hold of him Jack scurried away clutching the scroll.

“Beans!” called Jack in despair looking out of the window. He frantically waved his hands as the floor was shaking as the furious giant was trying to reach Jack. “Hang on Jack, cling onto me!” called a huge vine on the beanstalk. Jack leapt onto the vine. “The giant is after us!” cried Jack. “We will take care of that” replied the beanstalk.

They sang another chant:

Bring us down low;

Go fast not slow;

We are green;

We are magic beans!

They started shrinking back to the ground leaving the furious giant helpless, as he was waving his hands to grab Jack. But the beanstalk shrunk so fast that all that the giant could do was to watch and fume!

“Jack, you must keep this a secret you must not breathe a word to anyone about this adventure” said the wisest bean as Jack put them outside and laid a piece of cloth on them to keep them warm and cozy. Jack waved to them and ran inside. He could not wait for the day to break to reveal the secret of the mirror.

The next morning Jack woke up very early. He opened the old looking scroll. It said whoever opened it, had to sing a special song to get the secret out of the mirror:

This mirror is magic

Will the secret be happy or tragic?

What will you find? Will it be gold?

We are about to find what this mirror holds

Jack huddled near the fireplace and took out the mirror from his soft pocket. He placed it carefully on the floor, his hands trembling with excitement. He sang the special song and held his breath wondering what the secret could be! “Clang!” broke the mirror. Astonished by this, Jack fell back. As he gazed at the mirror in bewilderment, he saw a whirlwind of golden dust growing in size. Jack could see a sketch of a man appearing out of the dazzling dust.

 “Jack!” said the man as he walked towards Jack with his arms open. Jack was petrified. “Who are you?” he screamed, trying to get away from the mysterious man.

Hearing Jack’s scream, his mum woke up. She scurried towards Jack’s room.

As she entered the room, she could not believe what she saw. It was her long lost husband!

“Robert!” she cried as she ran to him and hugged him. “Jack, your dad is here!” she said as she pulled Jack in to the family hug. Jack was delighted to see his father, but could not control the tears of happiness.

 Jack’s father told them how a mean witch trapped him in a mirror when he would not tell her about the hidden treasure he had found. The witch gave the scroll that could release him from the mirror to the giant so no one could ever release him. But fortunately a saint who overpowered the witch gave the mirror to the old lady. Finally his brave son released him from the prison he was trapped in!

The very same day, Jack’s dad retrieved the hidden treasure. From then on they lived in a better house, ate better food and were never separated.

                                                                    The end