"Where are you off to, little boy?" said the man. "I'm off to market to get something for these boots," replied Max. "It's a long way to market," said the man in the red shirt, " and the people there will try to cheat you. I have some very valuable diamonds here that I will give you for those boots. They are magic diamonds." "What a nice man," thought Max to himself. So he gave the man his boots and the man gave Max two of the magic diamonds. Taking the diamonds Max ran all the way home in high excitement.

When Max got home he proudly told his brother what he had done, but he was very angry. "Diamonds!" he scolded, "these are just worthless beans." And with that he threw them out of the window onto the bit of land just by the factory, and sent Max off to bed.

The next morning Max woke up very early. When he looked out of the window he saw a great beanstalk rising into the sky from the very spot the diamonds had been thrown the night before. The beanstalk went up and up and up until it disappeared into the clouds. Quick as a flash Max pulled on his spare pair of boots, rushed out of the house, and began to climb. He climbed and he climbed until the ground and the lower branches were left far behind. Finally, up in the clouds, Max came to a strange deserted land that he had never seen before. As he walked along he met an old woman with a hen under her arm. "Hello young man," she said, " would you like this hen. It lays golden eggs." "Yes please," replied Max, "what will you take for it?" "That pair of boots will do," said the old woman. So Max gave the woman the boots and she gave him the hen. As soon as Max picked it up it laid a golden egg.

In the distance was a beautiful castle with only one entrance. Max walked up to the castle but the door was shut, and he could not get in. A huge fish - a Turbot - was passing by. "Who lives in that castle?" asked Max. "That is the home of a great giant," said fish. "Inside are wonderful treasures. Only I know the secret of how to get into the castle." "Tell me," said Max. The fish chuckled. "First you must give me the golden egg laid by that hen." So Max gave the fish his promise. The huge fish pulled a huge bunch of keys from his pocket. "If one has enough keys one is bound to fit," said the fish. Max tried all the keys. Some were too big; some were too small; some were too rusty; some were badly made; some bent in the lock. "These are no good," said Max. The fish winked. "I have another plan," said the fish, "but for it to work you must give me two golden eggs." Max picked up the hen again and lo and behold it laid two eggs. He gave them to the fish. The fish pulled out an even bigger bunch of keys and passed them to Max. He tried again. None of them were any good. The door remained firmly closed. "Fear not," said the fish, "I have an even more cunning plan. Give me the hen." So Max gave him the hen. The fish took a whole handful of eggs the hen had laid and fashioned them into a bunch of beautiful golden keys. He put each in turn into the lock, but it would not turn. Just then a group of small ragged boys approached. "Let's go into the castle," they said to each other. They pushed at the door and it swung open. The boys disappeared inside, and the door swung back. Max was left outside. "Never mind," said Max to the fish, " I'm sure your plan will work next year. I do have my wonderful giant beanstalk still."

And the moral of the story is boys and girls........... fish can't open doors.