est descendu v a descendu

Question

This seems to be a repeated question which I have yet to find a clear answer to.  Jaques est descendu du haricot magique is translated as Jaques got off the magic bean and not came down the magic bean.  However, looking at my bilingual dictionary (Le Grand Robert Collins), under the entry for descendre as an intransitive verb is included "descendre de l'échelle" translated as "to come down the ladder".   This seems to be contradicting the information given here and I would be grateful for further comment

Accepted Answer

This is my understanding:
Descendre de qqc -- to step off from, to step down from something. It is like stepping off the last rung of a ladder, and not climbing down the ladder.
Descendre l'échelle -- climbing down the ladder, i.e., rung by rung. It's the process of coming down.