The Selfish Giant
Once upon a time, in a small village, there was a magical garden where all the children went to play after school. The garden was enormous, with a lawn as soft and green as a carpet.
There were flowers of every colour, and twelve peach trees that in spring were covered with lovely pink blossoms and, in autumn, gave juicy peaches.
The birds sang so sweetly on the branches that the children sometimes stopped their games just to listen.
“We’re so happy here!”
the children would say as they ran and laughed.
One day, the giant who lived in a castle beside the garden came back from a long journey. He had been visiting his friend, the ogre of Cornwall, for seven years.
When he reached his home, he saw the children playing in his garden.
“What are you doing here?”
he shouted, in a loud, harsh voice.
The children were frightened and ran out of the garden.
“This garden is only for me,”
said the giant.
“Everyone must understand that. I won’t allow anyone but me to enjoy it.”
So the giant built a very high wall all around the garden and put up a sign that said:
NO TRESPASSING — TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
The giant was very selfish.
The poor children now had nowhere to play. They tried in the road, but it was full of dust and sharp stones that hurt them.
So, after school, they would wander round the wall and talk about the beautiful garden on the other side.
Weeks passed, and spring arrived. All over the country the birds sang and the flowers bloomed. But in the selfish giant’s garden, it was still winter.
The birds had no wish to sing there, and the trees would not blossom.
Once, a pretty flower poked its head up through the grass, but when it saw the giant’s sign it felt so sad for the children that it lay down again and went back to sleep.
The only ones who were happy were the Snow and the Frost.
“Spring has forgotten this garden,”
they said.
“We can live here all year!”
The Snow covered the grass with her white blanket, and the Frost dressed the trees in a silver gleam. They invited the North Wind to come and stay a while.
The North Wind accepted and came wrapped in furs. He roared all day long in the garden, blowing down chimneys and howling furiously.
“This place is perfect!”
said the North Wind.
“Let’s invite the Hail as well.”
The Hail arrived, and every day, for three hours, he beat his drum on the castle roof, breaking many tiles. Then he raced round the garden as fast as he could.
“I don’t understand why spring is taking so long,”
said the selfish giant, peering out at his white, cold garden.
“I do wish the weather would change!”
But spring did not come, nor did summer. Autumn brought golden fruit to every garden—except the giant’s.
“He is far too selfish,”
said Autumn.
And so, it was always winter in the giant’s garden. The North Wind, the Hail, the Frost and the Snow danced happily among the trees.
The days went by, and the giant grew lonelier and sadder in his cold, desolate garden. Yet he didn’t realise that his own selfishness was the cause of his unhappiness.
One morning, while the giant was sleeping in his great bed, he heard the most wonderful music. It sounded so sweet that he thought the King’s musicians must be passing by.
In truth, it was only a little bird singing outside his window. Because it had been so long since he’d heard a bird in his garden, it seemed to him the loveliest music in the world.
The Hail stopped beating on the roof, and the North Wind ceased his roaring. A delicious perfume drifted in through the open window.
“I think spring has come at last,”
said the giant.
He jumped out of bed and looked out. He saw an amazing sight.
Through a gap in the wall, the children had slipped into the garden and were climbing the trees. In every tree he could see, a child was sitting.
The trees were so glad to have the children back that they had dressed themselves in blossom and were waving their branches joyfully over the children’s heads.
The birds flew and sang with delight, and the flowers laughed as they lifted their little faces through the grass.
It was a lovely sight.
However, in one corner of the garden, it was still winter. There was a very small boy who could not reach the branches of a tree and was walking round it, weeping bitterly.
The poor tree was still covered with Frost and Snow, and the North Wind was blowing over it.
“Climb up, little one,”
said the tree, bending its branches down as far as it could. But the boy was too small to reach.
The giant’s heart softened when he saw the child.
“How selfish I have been!”
he thought.
“Now I understand why spring would not come here. I’ll lift that child to the top of the tree, and then I’ll knock the wall down. My garden will be the children’s playground for ever.”
The giant was truly sorry for what he had done. He went downstairs, opened his castle door, and walked into the garden.
But when the children saw him, they were frightened and ran away—leaving the garden winter once more.
Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the giant coming. The giant crept up to him, lifted him gently, and set him in the top of the tree.
At once the tree burst into blossom, the birds came and perched upon it, singing, and the little boy flung his arms round the giant’s neck and kissed him.
When the other children saw that the giant was no longer cruel, they came running back—and with them, spring returned.
“From now on, this is your garden, little ones,”
said the giant with a smile.
And taking a great hammer, he knocked down the wall.
At midday, the farmers on their way to market saw the giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.
They played all day, and at dusk the children said goodbye to the giant.
“But where is your little friend?”
asked the giant.
“The boy I lifted into the tree.”
“We don’t know,”
the children replied.
“He’s gone.”
The giant was very sad.
“Tell him he must come tomorrow, without fail,”
he insisted.
But the children said they did not know where he lived and that they had never seen him before.
The giant sat and looked at his garden, now full of life and laughter, yet he missed the small boy who had shown him the worth of kindness and love.
The giant became dearly loved by all the children in the village. Every day, after school, they came to play in his garden, and he played with them as often as he could.
However, he never again saw the little boy he had lifted into the tree. The children played happily, but the giant longed for his first little friend.
“How I should like to see him once more!"
the giant would often say, gazing out of the window.
Years passed, and the giant grew old and weak. He could no longer join in the children’s games, but he sat in a great armchair and watched them with a smile upon his face.
“I have many lovely flowers,”
he would say,
“but the children are the loveliest flowers of all.”
One winter morning, as he was dressing, he looked out of the window.
He no longer hated winter; he had learnt that it was only the spring’s sleep and the flowers’ rest. Suddenly, he rubbed his eyes and looked carefully.
In the farthest corner of the garden he saw something wonderful. One tree was covered with white blossoms, with golden branches and silver fruit. Beneath the tree stood the little boy he loved so much.
Filled with joy, the giant hurried downstairs and ran into the garden. He crossed the lawn and came up to the child. But when he drew near, his face changed to wonder and concern.
“Who has dared to wound you?”
cried the giant.
In the child’s palms and on his feet were the marks of nails.
“Who has dared to wound you?”
the giant repeated.
“Tell me, and I shall fetch my sword and punish him.”
“No,”
answered the child.
“These are the wounds of Love.”
A great awe fell upon the giant, and he knelt before the child.
“Who are you?”
whispered the giant.
The child smiled and said,
“You let me play once in your garden.
Today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.”
When the children came into the garden that afternoon, they found the giant lying beneath the tree, covered all over with white blossoms. He was at peace, with a smile upon his face, and the garden had never looked so beautiful.
The children understood that the giant had found his place in Paradise, where he would be happy for ever.
And that is all… for the moment.
Til the next tale.