"Lay!"
said the giant a third time; and she laid a third golden egg.
"That will do for to-day," said he, and stretched himself out to go to
sleep. As soon as he began to snore, Jack crept out of the oven, went
on tiptoe to the table, and, snatching up the little brown hen, made
a dash for the door. Then the hen began to cackle, and the giant began
to wake up; but before he was quite awake, Jack had escaped from the
castle, and, climbing as fast as he could down the beanstalk, got safe
home to his mother's cottage.
The little brown hen laid so many golden eggs that Jack and his mother
had now more money than they could spend. But Jack was always thinking
about the beanstalk; and one day he crept out of the window again, and
climbed up, and up, and up, and up, until he reached the top.
This time, you may be sure, he was careful not to be seen; so he crept
round to the back of the castle, and when the giant's wife went out
he slipped into the kitchen and hid himself in the oven. In came the
giant, roaring louder than ever:
"Fee, fi, fo, fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman;
Be he alive; or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread!"
But the giantess was quite sure that she had seen no little boys
that morning; and after grumbling a great deal, the giant sat down
to breakfast.
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