The day came when the gold had run out, and Jack knew he must brave the ogre's house once more.  Up the beanstalk he went, using his makeshift ladder.  When Jack reached the top of the ladder, he walked bravely along the path and snuck into the house once again.  In the kitchen he found the tall woman from before and once more asked for some breakfast.  The woman recognized Jack, and asked him Did you notice a bag of gold go missing when you were last here? Ever the quick thinker, Jack made a show of pondering, and replied that “I might know something, but hunger is clouding my vision, you'd better give me something to eat and I might be able to remember. The tall woman gave Jack some ham and bread and hid him once more in the jam pot as her husband rumbled down the hall. 'Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman!' shouted the ogre as he entered the kitchen, carrying a hen under one arm. But he couldn't see anyone and so he set the hen down on the table and began devouring his breakfast.  The wife sat down in front of the hen and said 'Lay', and the hen laid an egg of pure gold!  She picked up the egg and placed it in a special basket full of golden eggs.  Jack could not believe his eyes and vowed that as soon as the coast was clear he would have that hen for himself.  Sure enough, the ogre fell asleep after his meal and his wife was busy tidying, long enough for Jack to escape the jam pot, pick up the hen and scramble for the door.

Jack's Escape Down The Ladder

Jack sped away down the path, and started down the beanstalk.  This was no easy feat, given that Jack was now using his makeshift tree ladder and really needed both hands to hold on.  With the hen tucked under his arm, Jack carefully descended through the clouds and down, down, down until he reached the tumbledown cottage.  When he arrived, Jack showed his mother the hen.  At first she was not impressed, but when she saw Jack tell it to lay and it produced the most perfect golden egg, she was placated. Jack and his mother lived off the golden eggs for a long while, but Jack knew that at the top of that magical beanstalk lay even more ways to get rich, dangerous as it was.  One day, he thought it was time to venture back up the beanstalk.  Packing a telescopic ladder into a carry bag in case he needed to reach anything high up in the ogre's house, he headed towards the beanstalk. Earlier in the month, he had tried to build a new ladder to ascend the plant, to make it an easier climb, but none of the ladders were good enough. Remembering the arduous journey last time, Jack decided to use the cherry picker once again.  He set it up and started rising towards his goal, past the stalks of his previous makeshift ladder. At the top, he went back along the path, back under the door and back into the kitchen.  This time, both the ogre and his wife were there and they both smelled Jack: “Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman” they cried together.  The wife suspected Jack had stolen the gold and the hen and told the ogre to look in the jam pot.  But Jack had hidden under the oven, so they could not find him.  Eventually, the ogre sat down to breakfast and when he had finished, his wife brought him a golden harp. The ogre set this on the table in front of him, and ordered it to play.

How To use a Telescopic Ladder

Jack was astounded: the harp played itself!  He watched as the ogre drifted off to sleep, knowing this would be his chance.  As soon as the giant's head hit the table, Jack dashed out from under the oven, quickly extended his telescopic ladder to help climb up the table legs, grabbed the harp and, descending the ladder as quick as he could, made a break for the door.  But Jack had not counted on the harp being able to talk, and when it realised it was being stolen, it called out to the ogre. The ogre awoke, angry to have been roused and chased Jack all the way to the top of the beanstalk.  Jack leapt into the cherry picker, closely followed by the giant.  As the ogre went to get into the basket Jack shouted out that he was too heavy for the mechanism, as it was certified to BS EN131 standards and the weight of Jack, the harp and the ogre was well over 150 kg.  The ogre was confused by Jack's proclamations, which gave Jack just enough time to start the descent. The ogre was not having any of this and decided to use using Jack's makeshift tree ladder.  As soon as the ogre had grasped the first rungs, they snapped out of the stalk and the giant man went tumbling towards the ground, snapping the beanstalk as he fell.  Jack was safely out of the way, having set up the cherry picker a good distance away from the stalk. Jack's mother came flying out of the tumbledown cottage, wanting to know what all the commotion was about.  When she saw the giant body surrounded by ladder rungs lying in her garden, and the golden harp, she was furious, but the harp started playing to calm her down while Jack returned the cherry picker to his friend.  And they all live happily ever after with the golden egg laying hen and the beautiful music of the harp that played itself. We know some of our posts at Midland Ladders are a bit potty, but we try to make them fun and informative, if you have any suggestions for ladder topics that you would like our creative and technical writers to research and write about please get in touch either through the main website or feel free to drop a comment into the box below.