Jack and his mother were very poor, so Jack's mother sent him to the market to sell their cow. On the way back, Jack traded the cow for magic beans. The beans grew into a giant beanstalk that reached the sky. Jack climbed the beanstalk and found a castle in the clouds, where he encountered a giant. Jack stole a golden harp and hen from the castle and climbed back down the beanstalk, with the giant chasing him. Jack's mother chopped down the beanstalk to escape the giant, and they lived happily ever after with the treasures Jack acquired.