English Audio Request

Once upon a time, when giants still stomped the land, a widow lived with her son, Jack. The widow was too sick to work, and one day they ran out of money.
« Son, » Jack's mother said, « I'm too weak to take the cow to town. You must go and sell her. »
Now, Jack was brave and kindhearted. But he didn't always use his head. So his mother told him to think carefully before selling the cow. Jack promised he would.
He was halfway to town when a man stopped him.
« Jack, » said the man, « I'll give you five magic beans for your cow. »
Hmmmmm, Jack thought. How could this stranger know my name? And how could he know that I'm selling the cow? He must have magic powers. Then the beans could be matic, too.
He traded the cow for the beans and went home, very pleased with the deal.
His mother was not pleased.
« You were tricked, you silly boy! » she cried. « There are no such things as magic beans. »
Angrily, she threw the beans out the window.
« Now we have no cow and no money, » she said. « What shall we do? »
The next morning, something tickled Jack's nose and woke him up. Surprised, Jack saw that a huge leaf had poked in his window. He pushed it away and peeked outside. A thick beanstalk stretched up, up, up, its top hidden by clouds.
« They were magic beans, » he whispered.
Without waking his mother, Jack started climbing the beanstalk. His arms and legs began to ache, but he forgot about them when he saw the castle.
Jack knocked on the castle door. A giant woman opened it.
« Who's there? » she asked, peering around. « I don't see well, so speak up. »
Jack wasn't sure that he wanted her to see him, but he was very hungry.
« I'm down here, » he said. « Do you have any work I can do for food? »
The giantess picked up Jack by his collar and plopped him on a huge stone floor.
« Start scrubbing, » she ordered.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
« Argh! » said the woman. « It's my husband. Hide in the cupboard so he doesn't eat you. Scrub the floor later. »
The giant came, took one sniff and said, « Fee, fi, foe, fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread! »
« Don't be silly, » his wife said. « You smell breakfast. Eat while it's hot. »
After breakfast, the giant opened his bags of gold. He began counting the pieces, but fell asleep after 135,091.
Just a little gold would feed mother and me for a long time, Jack thought.
He snatched a small bag and climbed quickly down the beanstalk.
Jack's mother was delighted. But when she heard where Jack had gotten the gold, she hugged him tight.
« Those giants robbed us of that gold and two other treasures, » she said. « They killed your father. I grabbed you and escaped. Promise that you won't go back for more gold. »
Jack promised.
The next morning, he climbed the beanstalk again.
I promised not to go back for gold, the boy thought as he climbed. I didn't say I wouldn't go back for something else. After all, it was ours.
Jack banged on the castle on the castle door. The giantess squinted her eyes and peered down at him.
« Are you the thief who was here yesterday? » she demanded.
« I'm no thief, » Jack said. « I'm a hard worker, though, and I expect to be paid for it. »
The giantess picked up Jack by his collar and plopped him in front of a huge tub of dirty dishes.
« Start washing, » she ordered.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
« Argh! » said the giantess. « It's my husband. Hide in the cupboard so he doesn't eat you. Do the dishes later. »
The giant came in, took one sniff and said, « Fee, fi, foe, fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread! »
« Yeah, yeah, yeah, » interrupted his wife. « You smell breakfast. Eat while it's hot. »
The giant grumbled, but he ate.
Then he got a goose from a crate in the corner. He put the goose on the table and roared, « Lay! »
The goose honked twice, then waddled back to its crate. On the table was a golden egg.
The giant tossed it up and down like a ball. Then his eyes began to hurt from looking at the shiny gold, so he shut them.
As soon as the giant fell asleep, Jack grabbed the goose and quickly slid down the beanstalk.
His mother was waiting at the bottom of the beanstalk. She was very angry with Jack.
« I didn't exactly promise not to go up again, » Jack explained.
« You knew that you weren't supposed to, » said his mother. « Go to your room. »
Jack knew that he shouldn't. But the next morning before his mother woke, he climbed to the castle.
Instead of banging on the door, he crawled in a kitchen window when the giantess wasn't looking.
The giant's wife hid me in the cupboard, Jack thought. I'll hide somewhere else.
He climbed into washtub.
Soon he heard, Thud! Thud! Thud!
The giant came in, took one sniff and said, « Fee, fi, foe, fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread! »
« You certainly do, » interrupted his wife. « That little thief probably sneaked in again. He always hides in the cupboard. »
But Jack wasn't there.
The giant ate his breakfast. Then he got out a golden harp.
« Play! » he roared.
The harp sounded like sparkling steam pouring over pebbles. The lady of the Harp sang a song with no words. Jack was entranced.
The music put giant to sleep. Jack grabbed the harp, but he almost dropped it when it screamed, « Master! Master! »
The giant woke and thudded after Jack.
Jack half-scrambled, half-slid down the beanstalk.
« Mother! » he yelled. « Get the axe! »
Jack's mother saw the giant close behind Jack. She grabbed the axe and whacked the beanstalk.
« Jump, Jack, jump! » she hollered and whacked again.
Jack jumped to the ground. He snatched the axe and whacked the stalk until it snapped in two.
Kaboom!
The giant and the beanstalk hit the ground together. And that was the end of the giant.
Jack, his mother, the goose and the harp lived very happily together. Except for the time Jack went to town to buy a pig...
Ah, but that is another story.