Jack and the Beanstalk (The Original Fairy Tale Explained) (2024)

Jack and the Beanstalk is an old British fairy tale with roots that date back over 5,000 years (study). It’s an archetypal story about a boy who steals treasure from a giant. It’s also the story of a tower so tall it reaches heaven (similar to the tower of Babel, Jacob’s Ladder, and Yggdrasil).

There are a few different versions. In 1734, Benjamin Tabart wrote down the folktale, but he sanitized it to make it less morally dubious. For example, he added a fairy who told Jack that the giant killed his father, setting him on a quest to avenge his father’s death and reclaim his birthright. This transforms Jack from a scoundrel into a gallant hero. Stephen King prefers this version and references it in his fairy tale book, Fairy Tale.

Most folklorists and writers (including JRR Tolkien) preferred the original fairy tale that was still being told in hushed voices on dark nights. It’s darker, and Jack is less heroic, but it’s also a poignant story that has survived for thousands of years. Joseph Jacobs wrote that version down in 1890, and it’s now considered to be the classic version. That’s the version I prefer.

This is a retelling in my own words. I’ll explain everything at the end.

The Fairy Tale

Chapter 1: The Magic Beans

Once upon a time, there was a poor widow who had a son named Jack and a cow named Milky-White. They only just barely survived by selling the cow’s milk at the market. That is, until the cow stopped giving milk.

“What shall we do, what shall we do?” said the widow, wringing her hands.

“Don’t worry, mother. I’ll find work somewhere,” said Jack.

“You’ve tried that before, and nobody hired you,” said his mother. “No, we must sell Milky-White. She’s worth five gold coins. That’s just enough money to start a shop.”

Jack nodded. “I can do that, mother.”

“Promise me,” his mother pressed, “that you won’t settle for any less than five gold coins.”

“I promise, Mother,” said Jack, and he set off for the market.

Jack had been going to the market almost every day to sell milk. He knew all the people who travelled these roads. And yet, today, he came across a strange man he’d never seen before.

“A fair day to you, stranger!” said Jack.

“Mm, and where you off to, Jack?” said the man.

This made Jack uneasy. How did this stranger know his name? But he pushed those thoughts aside and said, “Our cow stopped making milk, so I’m going to the market to sell her.”

“Mm, but you’re just a lad,” said the man. “Do you even know how many beans make five?”

“Two in each hand and one in your mouth,” said Jack, grinning.

“Right you are,” said the man, and he pulled two beans out of each pocket, then took one from his mouth. It was a marvellous trick. The man smiled and said, “How about I trade you these five beans for that cow of yours.”

“Bah!” scoffed Jack. “I’m young, but I wasn’t born yesterday!”

“Ah, you must not recognize these beans,” said the man. “If you plant them before bed, by morning they’ll reach the sky.”

“Oh,” said Jack. There was something odd about this man. Perhaps there was something odd about these beans of his, too.

“Yes, it’s true,” the stranger said. “And if they don’t work, you can have your cow back.”

“All right,” Jack said, taking the beans and giving the man the cow’s halter.

Chapter 2: The Beanstalk

Jack hurried on home, excited to plant the beans, arriving so far ahead of schedule that he startled his mother.

“Jack!” she said. “How are you back so soon? And I see that Milky-White is gone! How much did you get for her?”

“You’ll never guess,” said Jack, beaming.

“Oh! Good boy! Five coins? We’re saved!”

Jack smiled wider.

“Ten? Fifteen? No, it can’t be twenty, can it?”

“Better!” said Jack. “I traded her for five magic beans. If we plant them before—”

“You fool!” cried Jack’s mother, “You’re as dense as a rock and half as smart! You’ve left us with nothing! You’ve ruined us! Take that! Take that! Take that!” And she hit him again and again until he was as purple and swollen as a pile of rotten plums. Then she threw his beans out the window and sent Jack off to bed with nothing to eat or drink.

Jack cried for a very long time, but he did eventually fall asleep. His gnawing hunger woke him up sometime later when it was very dark. His mother was surely sleeping, so he went outside to see if he could find his beans.

Lo, a giant beanstalk had grown from the earth where the beans had fallen. It went up and up forever, disappearing into the clouds. The strange man had spoken true!

The beanstalk twisted around upon itself, plaited like a braid, such that Jack could climb it without much difficulty. He climbed hand over hand, higher and higher, until the drop was dizzying, and a fall would surely kill him. He stopped looking down and kept climbing.

He climbed for over an hour, going over a mile into the sky until he crossed into the clouds. He climbed through the thick mist until he came out on the other side. There was a forest there and a road leading to a castle nestled between two distant mountains.

Chapter 3: The Tall Lady

Jack set off for the castle. It took him an hour to reach the gate, and by then, the red sun was just beginning to rise over the cloudy horizon. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

The gate opened with a creak, startling him. “Good morrow, young master,” said a lady’s voice. He turned and saw a beautiful woman peering out. She was nearly twice as tall as his mother, thin and fair, with golden hair that fell down to her ankles.

“The same to you, my lady,” said Jack as politely as he could. “If it isn’t too much trouble, do you have any spare food for me to eat? I’m so very hungry.”

“It’s breakfast you want, eh?” said the tall woman. “Well, it’s breakfast you’ll be if you don’t hurry away from here. My husband is an ogre and he likes nothing better than to spread young boys like jam across his toast.”

Jack thought that was a funny thing to say. He did not believe her for a second. “Oh! Please, my lady,” he pleaded. “I’ve had nothing to eat since yesterday morning, and I’ve come such a very long way to get here. I don’t know if I’ve the strength the strength to make it back. If you cannot feed me, you may as well feed me to the ogre. I will be dead either way.”

The woman saw how thin Jack was, and she took pity on him. She led him into the kitchen and tore off a large piece of bread for him to eat. When he had finished, she gave him cheese and milk. When Jack was nearly done, he felt the ground begin to tremble, softly at first, but it quickly grew stronger. Thump, thump, thump!

“Come! Fast!” the lady hissed. She ran to the oven and opened the door, beckoning Jack inside. “My husband is coming! You must hide!”

Chapter 4: The Ogre’s Gold

Jack ran for the oven, and she bundled him inside, closing the oven door just as the ogre stepped inside. The dining room door was large, but the giant still had to stoop to get inside. He was half again taller than his wife and nearly twice as broad. He carried three calves strung up by the heels. He laid them down on the table, and then he noticed something. He began to sniff the hair.

Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead
I’ll have his bones to grind my bread.

The tall lady rushed over to him with a steaming bowl of stew. “No, no, no,” she said. “I think you’re smelling this delicious stew I made for you. I made it with the last of the meat from the young child you found last week. Now come, eat up! You must be hungry!”

The giant ate many bowls of stew, and by then, the lady had cooked the calves. He ate those, too. And then he went over to a big chest in the corner. He brought it over to the table and opened it up. It was full of gleaming gold coins. He counted them, piece by piece until he nodded off to sleep.

When the giant was soundly snoring, the tall lady opened up the oven and shooed Jack out of the castle. But as he passed the ogre’s table, he quietly snatched up a handful of gold coins. He ran down the path until he arrived back at the black forest. He found the beanstalk, and he climbed back down. He made good time and arrived back home by dinner.

His mother had seen Jack climbing down, and she rushed over to give him a great big hug. “I’m so sorry, Jack,” she said. “I shouldn’t have screamed at you, and I certainly shouldn’t have hit you. Can you ever forgive me?”

Jack unfastened his coin purse and handed it to her. “Look, mother.” There were seventeen gold pieces inside. “You see? I was right about the beans after all!”

Chapter 4: The Golden Eggs

The seventeen gold coins seemed enough to last forever, so they forgot their plans of starting a shop, and Jack and his mother grew plump and happy. But there were not enough coins to last forever.

When they had spent their last coin, Jack told his mother not to worry. He waited until the dead of night, and then he climbed the beanstalk once more, and he followed the path back to the castle, and he knocked upon the great gate. The tall women opened the gate, just like before.

“Good morrow, my lady!” said Jack. “Would you be so kind as to give me something to eat?”

The lady saw how plump Jack was, and she had little pity for him. “I recognize you,” she said. “You’re the lad who showed up on the same night seventeen of our gold coins went missing. I see how you’ve grown fat on it. Get away, you thief!”

“Ah,” said Jack, thinking fast. “You see, that isn’t what happened at all. But I’m so very hungry and thirsty. Let me explain everything over breakfast.”

The tall lady was curious to see what Jack would say, so she fixed him some eggs for breakfast. But he had scarcely started eating when the ground began to tremble. Thump, thump, thump! And so the tall lady bundled Jack back into the oven.

The giant hunched down and came in through the door, and he laid an ox upon the table. As before, he noticed something in the air and began to sniff at it. “Fee-fi-fo-fum,” he growled. But again, as before, his wife brushed his suspicions aside, and soon the giant settled down to eat.

When the giant finished his breakfast, he brought out a hen that laid a golden egg. The giant took the egg in his great hand, held it close, and fell asleep.

When the giant began to snore, the tall lady opened up the oven and shooed Jack out of the house, this time watching him carefully. Jack left through the door but then climbed in through the window. He grabbed the goose and climbed back out the window, but the hen gave a cluck, and the giant woke with a start. Jack ran as fast as he could for the forest, back down the beanstalk, and back to his mother. The ogre did not follow. Perhaps it had not seen him.

Jack told his mother about the hen, and at first, she did not believe him, but it laid a golden egg the next morning and another every morning after that. It gave them all the gold they would ever need. It was enough for them to live like a lord and lady. But Jack soon grew restless. He wanted more.

Chapter 5: The Singing Harp

Jack waited for nightfall, then climbed back up the beanstalk, determined to try his luck once more. He climbed and climbed and climbed until he got to the top. He had grown heavy and soft, and the climb took a great long time. He went back through the forest and made his way to the castle, but this time, he knew better than to knock at the gate. Instead, he hid in the bush until the tall lady came out to fetch some water.

When she had her back to him, he slipped in through the open door, and we bundled himself into the oven. It was a tight fit, and the oven door wouldn’t quite close all the way, but by then, the tall lady had come back inside, and it was too late for him to escape.

Soon, Jack felt the thump of the ogre’s footsteps. Thump, thump, thump!

“Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman!” the ogre bellowed. “I smell him, wife, I smell him!”

The tall woman said, “No, you’re mistaken, it must—” but then she looked over at the oven, and she saw how the oven door wasn’t quite closed, and she surely knew that Jack was there. But she didn’t say anything more, and by now, her husband had learned not to trust his nose.

The ogre sat down at the table and ate his breakfast, just like before. When he had finished, he fetched a golden harp and began to play it. “Sing!” he commanded, and the harp obeyed. They made a beautiful song together. They sounded like angels.

Soon, the ogre stopped playing. A little while later, the harp stopped its singing. Jack waited until the house began to shake with the thunder of the ogre’s snoring, and then he crept out from the oven, quiet as a mouse. He snatched the harp and ran for the window, but the harp cried out to its master, and the giant awoke at once.

Jack leapt through the window, and the giant dove after him, but his great body would not fit. Jack raced down the path as fast as his feet would take him, but the giant came sprinting out the door, chasing along behind him. All the while, the harp sang out, “Master! Master! Save me!”

Chapter 6: The End

The ogre took great loping strides, but he was heavy, and he wasn’t quite fast enough. Soon, Jack was darting between the trees in the forest, and the ogre was not nimble enough to keep up. Jack made it to the beanstalk with time to spare and began the long climb down.

But with the harp held in one arm, the climb was slow. Before Jack had made it halfway to the bottom, the beanstalk shook, and Jack looked up to see the ogre climbing down after him. Jack picked up his pace, and he shouted for his mother, “Mother! Mother! Bring the axe! We must chop down the beanstalk!”

His mother fetched the axe, but she froze with fright when she saw the ogre climbing down. Jack leapt to the ground and swung the axe into beanstalk once, then again, and again. The ogre felt the stalk begin to shiver, and he started climbing down even faster. But he wasn’t fast enough. The beanstalk collapsed under his great weight, and he came falling down from the clouds.

The ogre landed in the field where Milky-White had grazed. His bones broke, and his skull shattered. Jack showed his mother the harp, and she was delighted by its beauty. “Oh, Jack!” she said. “It’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen!”

Jack and his mother dug a great big grave and rolled his body into it. Nothing grew there for a great long time. The harp now only sang sad songs, but they were just as beautiful as the songs it would sing with the ogre.

Interpretation

Jack the Scoundrel Hero

Jack is the name of the trickster from old English “jack tales,” which was a popular type of folktale. Jack is usually rash, ignoble, and lucky. He isn’t supposed to be clever or gallant. There are different stories for that.

You could view Jack as a scoundrel and a thief. He doesn’t listen to his mother, is never satisfied, and keeps tempting fate. He also sneaks into the giant’s house, manipulates his wife, robs him, and then kills him.

I don’t think that’s the right way to view the story, though. This tale dates back thousands of years. Back then, morality didn’t even extend to the entire human race, let alone ogres and giants. Jack had no cultural or familial loyalty to the giant, so it was probably seen as morally acceptable for Jack to rob and kill him. And besides, the ogre and his wife were in the habit of eating children.

Some storytellers turn Jack into a righteous hero. For example, in Benjamin Tabart’s version from 1734, the giant kills Jack’s father at the beginning of the story, and a fairy tells him how to get his revenge and reclaim his birthright.

I don’t think that’s the right way to view the story, either. Benjamin Tabart’s version was popular with children for a time, but it deviated so far from the original that it lost its resonance.

The version by Joseph Jacobs, which I’ve followed here, is the one that harkens back to the story of old, and it’s the one that endures today. The ogre is an evil being. The ogre’s wife is kind enough to Jack, but she also cooks up children for her husband to eat. It’s risky for Jack to enter their home and rob them, but it isn’t quite immoral.

Some folklorists, like Maria Tatar, argue that Jack embodies the British colonialist spirit. He’s going into a foreign land full of evil savages and stealing their gold. In a way, it’s not so different from Hernán Cortés stealing gold from the Aztecs who practiced human sacrifice.

I think this is a story of a foolhardy teenage boy. He isn’t noble, but he’s brave, and he gets lucky.

Notes & History

Milky-White gave no milk.This might have a symbolic meaning. Some folklorists believe that the cow drying up represents the end of Jack’s weaning period—the end of his dependence upon his mother. It means that Jack is now responsible for providing for his family. His mother plans to run a shop, but Jack disobeys her, risking his life to become the provider.

The stranger with the beans is never explained. In Tabart’s version, he invents a fairy that orchestrates a vengeful scheme. I like how in the original version, he remains mysterious.

Gogmagog: In Tabart’s sanitized version of the fairy tale, the giant is Gogmagog, a famous giant from British mythology. It’s likely that the name Gogmagog is a combination of Gog and Magog from the Bible. They’re the hostile nations from Revelations. It’s a sinister name.

Fee-fi-fo-fum is probably rooted in ancient Gaelic (Fiadh–fiú–fogh–feum). It means “Food, good to eat, sufficient for my hunger.” In 1596, the poet Thomas Nashe wrote that “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman” was an obscure old poem of unknown origins. It may have been a Celtic chant disparaging English invaders. Jack is an English invader of a different sort, but an English invader nonetheless.

Jack goes into the oven of an ogress who is known for cooking children, yet she doesn’t cook him. This is an example of Jack being foolish and getting lucky. For some reason, the ogress likes him.

Similar Fairy Tales

If you like the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, there are some others you might like:

• Sleeping Beautyis a classic French fairy tale originally written by Charles Perrault in 1697. You might know the Disney version. This one isn’t quite the same.
• Puss in Bootsis a classic Italian fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in 1550. Again, it isn’t quite the same as the Disney adaptation.
• The Little Mermaidis a Danish fairy tale originally written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837. Unlike the Disney version, it’s dark, sad, and hauntingly beautiful.
• The Emperor’s New Clothesis a Danish fairy tale originally written by Hans Christian Andersen. It’s as famous as it deserves to be.