A long time ago, a giant lived in a castle. The castle had a big garden.4
There were lots of beautiful trees and flowers in the garden. Some children
lived near the castle. They liked the Giant's garden, but the Giant did not
like people. 'You can't play here! It's my garden!' he shouted. The Giant
was selfish. One day, the Giant went to visit his brother. -The Giant's going to be away
for a long time,' said the children. 'Now we can play in his garden.' They
were very happy Every day they went to the beautiful garden and played. They climbed the trees.
They swam in the river. They ran on the grass. They chased butterflies. The children liked the
garden in all the seasons of
the year. In the spring the flowers and leaves grew. In the summer the children rolled on the
green grass. In the autumn the leaves were orange and red. They fell from the trees and
the children played with them. In the winter the children played in the snow. They made snowmen.
Different children came to the garden every year. After seven years, the Giant came back to his
castle. He saw children in his
garden. He was very angry. 'Get out of here! It's my garden!' he shouted. 'You can't play here.
This garden is MINE!' 'I'm going to build a brick
wall,' he said. He built a wall round the garden. The children were very sad. "Where can we play?'
they said. Sometimes they played in the street,
but it was hard and rough. 'The Giant's
garden was better than the street," they said. The Giant sat in his castle. 'It's nice and quiet
now,' he thought. 'It's
winter, but soon the spring will come. It will be warm and sunny. The
flowers will grow. My garden will be beautiful again.' But the Spring did not want to come. The
Spring said 'The Giant's too selfish. I like children. I'm not going to go to a sad, empty
garden.' So the Snow, the Wind and the Rain played in the garden. The sun did not
shine. Sometimes it was very windy Sometimes it snowed. Sometimes it
rained. It was always cold and grey.
'Is the spring never going to come?' asked the sad, cold Giant. Then one day he saw a little bird.
'The bird is singing in my garden!' he said
'Hooray! The trees and flowers are growing!' He clapped his hands happily. He looked again. 'The
children have made a
hole in the wall,' the Giant said. 'They've come back to my garden, and the sun has come
with them!' The Giant was not angry. He was delighted. The Giant ran into the garden. He wanted to
hug the children, but the
children were afraid. They ran away and it became cold again. 'Don't run away,' said the Giant.
'I'm sorry. I was selfish. Please come and play in my garden.'
Only one little boy did not run away. He wanted to climb a tree, but he was
too small. 'Don't cry, little boy. I'll help you,' said the Giant. He put the little boy on
a branch in the tree. The boy smiled. 'Thank you,' the little boy said. 'You're welcome,' said the
Giant. The boy kissed the Giant's cheek. Spring came into the garden again. The children saw this.
They came back into the garden through the hole in
the wall. Now the children played in the garden every day. The Giant played with
them. All the children liked the Giant! But the Giant did not see the little
boy again. 'Where's the little boy?' he asked the children, but they did not
know. After ten years, the Giant was old. He did not play now. He looked at his
garden and smiled. Many children played in the garden. Then one day he saw the little boy again.
He was under a tree in the garden. The Giant ran out of his castle. He picked up the little boy and
kissed him. The boy said, 'A long time ago you helped me. We are friends. I played in
your garden. Now you are going to play in my garden. My garden is
Heaven.' In the evening the children came into the garden. They saw the Giant. He
was under the same tree. 'Is he asleep?' asked one girl. 'Wake up! Wake up!' said a boy But the
Giant did not wake up.The Giant was dead. His eyes were closed, but there was a happy smile on his
face.