THE SELFISH GIANT - Kids story

“Owning things is human, sharing them is divine”.

You have heard or giants in stories haven’t you? What makes someone a giant? Are they real or unreal? Do giants really have to be tall? They are all large and strong. Some are good, and some are bad. Oscar Wilde’s story is a beautiful parable of what makes people bad, and what makes them change.

Every afternoon, the children went and played in the Giant’s garden. It was a large and lovely garden with soft green grass and trees. After seven years. The Giant came back. He had been away, visiting his friend, the Cornish ogre. He saw the children playing in his garden. “How can they play in my garden?” he was wondering.
So he built a wall all around it. He was indeed a very selfish giant. Now the poor children had nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road: but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones. They became unhappy. Then the spring came and an over the country there were little blossoms and little birds; but in the garden of the selfish giant it was still winter.

One morning the giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded very sweet to his ears. It was only a linnet singing outside the window. “I think the spring has come at last” said the giant; and he jumped out of his bed and looked out. There, he saw the most wonderful sight.

Though a little hole in the wall the children had crept in; and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child, and the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms. It was a lovely scene.

But in one corner there was still winter. A little boy was standing under the tree. As he could not reach up to the branches, he was crying bitterly. And the giant’s heart melted as he looked out. “How selfish I have been”, he said. Now I know why the spring could not come here. I will that poor little boy on the top on the tree. Then I will knock down the wall and my garden shall be the children’s playground forever.”

So he opened the door and crept downstairs. But when the children saw him, they were so frightened that they all ran away and the garden became winter once again. But the little boy did not run because his eyes were full of tears. He did not see the giant coming. And the giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hands and put him up into the tree.

And at once the tree broke into blossom and the birds came and sang on it. The little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them around the giant’s neck and kissed him. The other children saw that the giant was no longer wicked and came back; and with them came the spring. “It is your garden now, little children” said the giant and he took a big and knocked down the wall. All day long they played and in the evening they came to the giant to bid him goodbye.

The giant loved the little boy the best because he had kissed him. Every afternoon when the school was over, he children came and played in the garden. The little boy whom the giant loved was not to be seen. The giant loved all the children but longed for the little child, and often spoke of him.

Years went on; the giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about anymore; co he sat on an arm chair and watched the children at their games and admired his garden. “I have many beautiful flowers”, he said “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all”.

One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder and looked out again. It certainly was a marvelous sight! In the farthest corn or of the garden was tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms? Its branches were golden and silver fruit were hanging down from them; and underneath stood the little boy whom he had loved so much. The giant ran downstairs in great joy and out into the garden, till he came near the child.

The child smiled and said to the giant. “You let me play once in your garden. Today you shall come with me to my garden, which is paradise”. And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.