Man Holding Large Peas

I was going down a dimly lit alley in Glodok district of Jakarta. There was a grocery store inside the alleyway that had become a local market for locals to shop in, and a man was seated firmly in front of the store. He holds a pea for sale in his hand. Each one of the beans was a very large pea. They seemed to be the same kind of beans I saw in another alleyway, which was also a market, north of Fatahillah Square. The man grabbed the branch-like part of the pod and looked at the peas as if to see how well they were done.

As I looked at the large peas, I could not help but wonder if the peas in the English fairy tale 'Jack and the Beanstalk' were similar to these large peas. A bean that grows to a trunk thick enough for Jack to climb must be big like them.

The greengrocer seemed to be wondering whether he should get some money to sell the beans that grow on the giant tree, or plant them in his house and climb up to the giant's castle on the clouds. If he could get to the giant's castle, he might be able to get a bag of gold and silver coins, so that was something to worry about.