When the witch came back, she picked up the sack and set off for home. As she walked along the road, the branches in the sack began to stick into her. “You’re sticking pins into me,” she said. “Stop it!” When she got home, she untied the sack and emptied it on to the floor, and when she saw the pile of branches and sticks, she was very annoyed. “Just you wait, boy, just you wait,” she screeched. “Ill catch you next time, and when I catch you, you’ll be sorry!”
A week later, Joe was taking his cheese to the market when he met the witch again and again she asked him for some cheese. When he refused, she picked Joe up and put him into her sack and started to carry him home. But on the way she suddenly remembered she had forgotten the potatoes that she had bought in town. “Now, what’ll I do?”, she asked herself. “This sack’s too heavy to be carried back to town.” And then she saw some men digging by the side of the road and left the sack with them to look after. As soon as Joe was sure the witch had gone, he shouted to the men to let him out which they did when he promised them some cheese. Joe and the men filled the sack with stones to trick the witch. When she came back and carried the sack home, she heard the stones rattling. “I can hear your bones cracking,” she said. When she got home, she untied the sack and emptied it on to the floor and when she saw the stones, she was very angry.
A week later, Joe was again going to the market when he met the witch again. She asked him for some cheese but when he refused, she picked him up and put him in her sack. This time she went straight home. She untied the sack and emptied it on to the floor. And Joe fell out.
“I’m going to lock you in the house,” she said, “and then I’ll come back and boil you for dinner.”
So she put Joe back into the sack - but she didn’t tie it very tightly this time. After a struggle Joe managed to escape from the sack, but he was still locked in the house. Then he had an idea.
“I know!” he said, “I’ll climb up the chimney and escape!” But first he filled the sack with all the cups and plates in the house, then he escaped and ran home as fast as he could.
When the witch came back. She was very pleased with herself. “Now! You can’t escape this time!, she said. And she untied the sack and emptied it on to the floor. And of course all the cups and plates fell out and broke into thousands of pieces. The witch was absolutely furious. I give up! I won’t try to catch him again.” And she added, “And I don’t like cheese anyway.”
And the witch didn’t try to catch Joe again. And people laughed so much when they heard about the tricks that Joe had played on her that she went away - and was never seen again.
20 - THE STORY OF JACK AND THE BEANSTALK PART I
This is a story about a boy called Jack who lived in a little house in the country with his mother, who was a widow. They were very poor. One day Jack’s mother said: “We haven’t got any money so we can’t buy any food. We’ll have to sell the cow. If we sell the cow, we’ll get some money. If we don’t sell the cow, we won’t have anything to eat.”
So Jack went off to the market to sell the cow. On the way, he met a butcher. The butcher had some coloured beans. He said to Jack: “If you give me the cow, I’ll give you the beans.”
So the butcher took the cow and Jack took the beans, and went back home to his mother. His mother was so angry that she threw the beans out of the window.
The next morning, Jack looked out of the window and saw that the beans had grown into a large beanstalk that reached right up to the sky. Jack climbed up the beanstalk until he reached the top, and found himself in another land. He looked around but there was nothing in sight. By this time he was tired and hungry, so he walked on, hoping to see a house where he could ask for something to eat. Suddenly a fairy appeared before him. She said: “A giant lives near here. He stole all your family’s possessions. All the giant’s treasures belong to you. Now go and get them back.”
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