"Good morning, ma'am," said he, very politely.
"Good morning, Jack," said she; and Jack was more surprised than ever,
for he could not imagine how she had learned his name. But he soon
found that she knew a great deal more about him than his name; for she
told him how, when he was quite a little baby, his father, a gallant
knight, had been slain by the giant who lived in yonder castle, and
how his mother, in order to save Jack, had been obliged to promise
never to tell the secret.
"All that the giant has is yours," she said, and then disappeared
quite as suddenly as she came.
"She must be a fairy," thought Jack.
As he drew near to the castle, he saw the giant's wife standing at the
door.
"If you please, ma'am," said he, "would you kindly give me some
breakfast? I have had nothing to eat since yesterday."
Now, the giant's wife, although very big and very ugly, had a kind
heart, so she said: "Very well, little man, come in; but you must be
quick about it, for if my husband, the giant, finds you here, he will
eat you up, bones and all."
So in Jack went, and the giant's wife gave him a good breakfast, but
before he had half finished it there came a terrible knock at the
front door, which seemed to shake even the thick walls of the castle.
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