a fairy tale (=old story for children) about a boy called Jack who buys some magic beans that grow into a tall beanstalk (=the main stem of a bean plant) . Jack climbs up it into the clouds, where he finds a giant 's castle. He enters it and finds a magic hen (=a female chicken) that produces golden eggs. Jack steals the hen, and goes back down the beanstalk. The giant tries to follow him, but when Jack arrives back on the ground he cuts down the beanstalk, the giant falls and dies, and Jack becomes rich as a result of the golden eggs