Long time ago in a faraway land, lived a poor woman with her only son Jack. They were quite poor. One day the woman found that they had nothing left to eat and no money to buy food. The woman told Jack, who was already feeling hungry to take their cow to the market and sell her. “Make sure you get a good price for her" she added. Jack went to the field and tied a rope around the cow's neck and started walking down the road towards the town.
On his way towards the town Jack found a small old man walking besides him. He was looking at the cow very surprisingly. "That's a nice cow", said the strange man. "Yes she is", said Jack. "I am off to the market to sell her". Listening this, the old man said that "I'll buy her". But Jack refused the man and said that he will first go the market and get the best price he can. I'll give you a good price for her", said the old man. "How much?" asked Jack. "Seven magic beans", said the old man. "No way” said Jack. I'll give you the beans for the cow and life will be different for you, said the old man. "I am sorry my mother will be very unhappy, if I went back home with a handful of beans. I must sell her at the market, "said Jack; "You will not be successful, said the old man "But go if you think you’ll get a better price in the market"
Jack reached the market. The market was very busy and crowded that time so Jack stood in the middle shouting that his cow was for sale, but nobody looked at him or his cow.
At the end of the day everyone started packing up so Jack turned towards the cow and said "come let's go back home". Suddenly the old man appeared in front of him. "You still have the cow and I still have the magic beans", he said. Jack stopped and thought if the beans were magic they may well change things. “Ok I will take all the beans", he said. "Wise choice", said the old man, "and Good luck". "Thank you" replied Jack and headed for home. Now Jack was happy he wanted to thank the old man again so he turned back but there was no one behind.
Jack reached home. He gave the beans to her mother. "Beans!!", shouted his mother. "How will the beans feed us". "They are magic beans mother, "said Jack.” Magic beans, how stupid! Oh you silly boy", said his mother and threw the beans out of the window.
They went to bed without having anything. When Jack woke up the next morning, he saw a very strange thing. A huge green trunk was growing past the window, with enormous leaves. Jack called his mother and shouted, "It's the beans you threw last night". They both looked up and the bean- stalk served to be growing right into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. "I am going to climb it, "said jack. “OH! No, you don't know where it goes" said his mother.” "I will find out", said jack and he began climbing. Jack climbed so high that he went through the white clouds.
As, the bean- stalk finished a path stretched in front of Jack. At a distance he could see a castle. When he reached the castle, he stood in front of the huge gate and pulled the bell. A large woman came out of the gate. "How did you reach here?" she asked, "come in before my husband arrives". Jack was taken into the kitchen. The table and chair were like mountains to him. "Have some breakfast you must be hungry," said the woman. Jack ate a plate full of food. Loud steps, could be heard suddenly, "That's my husband", said the woman. You must hide or he will eat you". Jack went behind the gate. "Fee, Fo, Fi, Hum, I smell the blood of an English man. Be alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread", shouted the giant as he came into the kitchen. You are imagining things, "said his wife". "There is no English man here". Your breakfast is on the table.
"Jack watched the giant as he ate his breakfast & very often he would stop and sniff and then carry on eating. When he was full, he called his wife, bring my golden hen. The hen was tiny and sat on the table in front of him. "Lay golden hen, said the giant. The hen began to lay eggs and they were golden eggs. Jack was looking all the things from his hiding place. The giant soon began to snore and was fast asleep. Jack jumped and climbed the table, crept past the giant, picked up the hen and ran. He ran fast out of the castle and then down through the bean. His mother was relieved to see him. Soon the hen started laying golden eggs. Jack and the bean stalk became rich. But Jack began to get bored after a while.
One day he said to his mother, " I am going to climb the beanstalk again, "But why?"' She asked "I want to see what else is up there, said Jack and climbed the bean stalk again. This time when he reached the castle, he hid himself in the drawer. After a while he heard loud footsteps ""Fe, FO, if, fume, I smell the blood of an English man and this time I will find him." "I'll help you said his wife. The naughty boy took your favorite hen. They looked high and low but could not find Jack. Don't be upset, said the giant's wife, "eat your dinner and have rest". The giant finished his dinner and called his wife, "Bring my harp it can sing me to sleep. “His wife bought the harp and the giant stroked the string, the harp began to sing by itself. The giant smiled and yawned and soon went to sleep.
As soon as the giant was fast asleep, Jack jumped out of the drawer and grabbed the harp as he had not seen such a beautiful thing before. "Master-Master", shouted the harp "Help me". Jack started running the giant got up and ran after jack. Jack ran as fast as he could and came to the bean- stalk, he climbed down as fast as he could.
“Get me the axe mother" said Jack. His mother took one look up and ran to fetch the axe. When Jack was on the ground, his mother took the harp and handed him the axe. "Whack-Whack" went the axe cutting the bean stalk "Fee, FO, Fi, Hum", bellowed the giant, suddenly the whole thing began to fall over. The bean- stalk landed with the grant waking in huge hole. The giant tumbled down the hole never to be seen again. Jack and his mother lived happily forever with the golden hen and the singing harp.
Once upon a time there were two merchants, who were friends. Both of them were getting ready for business trips to sell their merchandise, so they had to decide whether to travel together. They agreed that, since each had about 500 carts, and they were going to the same place along the same road, it would be too crowded to go at the same time.
One decided that it would be much better to go first. He thought, "The road will not be rutted by the carts, the bullocks will be able to choose the best of all the grass, we will find the best fruits and vegetables to eat, my people will appreciate my leadership and, in the end, I will be able to bargain for the best prices."
The other merchant considered carefully and realized there were advantages to going second. He thought, "My friend's carts will level the ground so we won't have to do any road work, his bullocks will eat the old rough grass and new tender shoots will spring up for mine to eat. In the same way, they will pick the old fruits and vegetables and fresh ones will grow for us to enjoy. I won't have to waste my time bargaining when I can take the price already set and make my profit." So he agreed to let his friend go first. This friend was sure he'd fooled him and gotten the best of him - so he set out first on the journey.
The merchant who went first had a troublesome time of it. They came to a wilderness called the 'Waterless Desert', which the local people said was haunted by demons. When the caravan reached the middle of it, they met a large group coming from the opposite direction. They had carts that were mud smeared and dripping with water. They had lotuses and water lilies in their hands and in the carts. The head man, who had a know-it-all attitude, said to the merchant, "Why are you carrying these heavy loads of water? In a short time you will reach that oasis on the horizon with plenty of water to drink and dates to eat. Your bullocks are tired from pulling those heavy carts filled with extra water - so throw away the water and be kind to your overworked animals!"
Even though the local people had warned them, the merchant did not realize that these were not real people, but demons in disguise. They were even in danger of being eaten by them. Being confident that they were helpful people, he followed their advice and had all his water emptied onto the ground.
As they continued on their way they found no oasis or any water at all. Some realized they'd been fooled by beings that might have been demons, and started to grumble and accuse the merchant. At the end of the day all the people were tired out. The bullocks were too weak from lack of water to pull their heavy carts. All the people and animals lay down in a haphazard manner and fell into a deep sleep. Lo and behold, during the night the demons came in their true frightening forms and gobbled up all the weak defenseless beings. When they were done there were only bones lying scattered around - not one human or animal was left alive.
After several months, the second merchant began his journey along the same way. When he arrived at the wilderness, he assembled all his people and advised them -"This is called the 'Waterless Desert' and I have heard that it is haunted by demons and ghosts. Therefore we should be careful. Since there may be poison plants and foul water, don't drink any local water without asking me." In this way they started into the desert.
After getting about half-way through, in the same way as with the first caravan, they were met by the water-soaked demons in disguise. They told them the oasis was near and they should throw away their water. But the wise merchant saw through them right away. He knew it didn't make sense to have an oasis in a place called 'Waterless Desert'. And besides, these people had bulging red eyes and an aggressive and pushy attitude, so he suspected they might be demons. He told them to leave them alone saying, "We are business men who don't throw away good water before we know where the next is coming from."
Then, seeing that his own people had doubts, the merchant said to them, "Don't believe these people, who may be demons, until we actually find water. The oasis they point to may be just an illusion or a mirage. Have you ever heard of water in this 'Waterless Desert"? Do you feel any rain-wind or see any storm clouds?" They all said, "No”, and he continued, "If we believe these strangers and throw away our water, then later we may not have any to drink or cook with - then we will be weak and thirsty- it would be easy for demons to come and rob us, or even eat us up! Therefore, until we really find water, do not waste even a drop!"
The caravan continued on its way and, that evening, reached the place where the first caravan's people and bullocks had been killed and eaten by the demons. They found the carts and human and animal bones lying all around. They recognized that the fully loaded carts and the scattered bones belonged to the former caravan. The wise merchant told certain people to stand watch around the camp during the night.
The next morning the people ate breakfast, and fed their bullocks well. They added to their goods the most valuable things left from the first caravan. So they finished their journey very successfully, and returned home safely so that they and their families could enjoy their profits.
The moral is: "One must always be wise enough not to be fooled by tricky talk and false appearances."
