At last both the woman and her husband fell asleep. But Jack did not dare to sleep. He sat all cramped and tired in the oven, watching the Giant.
When it began to get light he slowly pushed the oven door open and crawled out ever so softly. For a minute he hardly dared breathe for fear of waking the Giant. Then quick as a flash, he seized the hen and stole out of the house as fast as his feet could carry him.
He did not stop running until he reached the beanstalk. All out of breath, he climbed down the ladder with the hen in his arms.
Now, all this time, Jack’s poor mother thought her son was surely lost. When she saw him she said:
“Oh, Jack, why did you go off and leave me like that?”
“But, mother,” said Jack—and proudly he held out the hen—“see what I have brought you this time: a hen that lays golden eggs. Now we can have everything we want. You need never be sad any more.”
Jack and his mother were very happy together for many months. Whenever they wanted anything, they just told the hen to lay a golden egg.
But after a while Jack remembered his promise to the Fairy to punish the Giant. So he said to his mother:
“Mother dear, I think I will go back and get some more of our treasure from the Giant.”
The poor woman felt very bad when her son said this. “Oh, please do not go, Jack,” she begged. “This time the Giant will find you and kill you for stealing his hen.”