Page:History of Jack and the bean stalk.pdf/2



In the days of King Alfred, there lived a poor woman, whose cottage was situated in a remote country village, a great many miles from London. She had been a widow some years, and had an only child, named Jack, whom she indulged to a fault: the consequnce of her blind partiality was, that Jack did not pay the least attention to any thing she said, but was indolent, careless, and extravagant. His follies were not owing to a bad disposition, but that his mother had never checked him. By degrees, she disposed of all she possessed - scarcely any thing remained but a cow. The poor woman one day met Jack with tears in her eyes; his distress was great, and, for the first time in her life, she could not help reproaching him, saving, "Oh! you wicked child, by your ungrateful course of life you have at last brought me to beggary and ruin! Cruel, cruel boy! I have not money enough to purchase even a hit of bread for another day — nothing now remains to sell but my poor cow! I am sorry to part with her; it grieves me sadly, but we must not starve.”