Once upon a time, there lived a poor young man by the name of Jack who lived with his mother. For their income, they relied on the milk that their one and only cow provided. But alas, the day came when the cow grew old and stopped providing them with milk to sell.
Since the cow was the only source of income for the family, there was nothing left for them to do but to sell the cow that had served them so well. Young Jack reluctantly took the cow to the market. En route, Jack met a man who offered to purchase the cow for a singe magic bean.
Jack quickly became convinced by the words of the man. A deal was struck and Jack agreed to give the salesman his one and only cow in exchange for the bean. When Jack got home, his mother was furious. In a fit of anger, she threw the bean out of the window and spent the night crying as she worried about what the family would do now that the cow was gone.
In the morning, however, the family of two were startled, shocked and surprised to see that the bean had grown into a gigantic beanstalk that reached into the sky and pierced through the clouds.
Jack, being the curious young man that he was, decided to climb up the stalk. When he reached the top, Jack found a huge castle that belonged to a giant. He slipped in and managed to avoid being detected by the bloodthirsty giant.
When the giant fell asleep, Jack stole a bag of golden coins, a goose that laid golden eggs and a harp that talked and could play music all on its own. The harp, however, did not want to be stolen and shouted loudly, waking the giant from his slumber.
When the giant realised what was happening, he chased Jack down his beanstalk. Jack quickly made his way down to beanstalk and managed to reach the bottom as the giant began his descent.
Young Jack quickly grabbed an ax and chopped down the beanstalk. When the beanstalk toppled, the giant fell to his death.
From that day on, Jack and his mother lived comfortably off the gold coins and the goose’s golden eggs. Moreover, they spent each day being serenaded by the beautiful sounds of the magical harp.
It was a happily ever after, indeed.
The Mercantile 