Book Image

Jack and the Giant Boy . . . . . . (continued – page 3)

His mother and sister came over to the garden, where Jack stood. He took one of the seeds – a corn kernel – and pushed it into the dirt with his finger, then covered it over with dirt and watered it. 

He didn’t explain what he was doing or why he needed help, because his family wouldn’t believe it without seeing the plant grow for themselves. He watered the dirt around the seed and stood back. Almost before he moved away, the corn stalk erupted under him. While his mother and sister looked on in disbelief, he started hunting for ears of corn.

“Help me,” he said. “We can have all the corn for supper we want.”

His mother and Sarah stepped up to the enormous plant that was now almost twice as tall as Jack and began peeling away the gigantic ears of corn that grew from the stalk. When the plant was done growing, Jack climbed it to search for more ears.

His mother was delighted. “With all this corn,” she said, “we can have plenty to eat, and a lot left over to sell at the market.”

Jack pulled out a few bean and pea seeds.

 

“Would you like some beans and peas with the corn for supper tonight?” he asked his mother. She was delighted. 

“You bought all those at the market?” she asked. Jack nodded.

“I’ve got a whole sack of them,” he said.

“How much did you have to spend on them?” his sister wondered.

“Umm…” He shifted uncomfortably, guiltily eying the goats. His mother noticed.

“Oh, so that’s where that goat went,” she said. She frowned a little and said, “Jack, I’m pleased with your trade – we don’t need to worry about food this winter – but I would have preferred if you’d sold the cow. She’s much more work than the goats.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Jack said, wishing he’d talked to his mother before taking the goat to the market. Maybe he could look for the man tomorrow and see if he could trade the cow for the goat.

 

<previous page> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 <next page>

 

Enjoy reading!