The Selfish Giant (Classic Version)

The Selfish Giant

Every afternoon, children would play in the garden of a giant who had been away for seven years. Upon his return, the giant saw the children in his garden and angrily built a high wall around it, banning the children from entering. He declared, “My own garden is my own garden.”

With the children gone, eternal winter fell upon the garden. Trees forgot to blossom, and flowers hid beneath the frozen soil. Only in the giant’s garden was it still winter.

One morning, the giant heard a bird singing. He looked outside and saw that spring had finally arrived in his garden. The children had found a way in through a small hole in the wall, and were sitting on the branches of the trees.

The giant felt a twinge of remorse seeing the joy of these children. He knocked down the wall and helped the children play in his garden, becoming good friends with them. The garden was once again full of life, except in the farthest corner where winter still clung because of a small boy who could not climb up a tree.

The giant, seeing this, lifted the boy into the tree. The boy kissed him, and it was then that the giant’s cold heart melted fully. Thereafter, the garden was a paradise for the children.

Many years later, the giant grew very old and weak. He saw the little boy under the same tree, bearing the marks of crucifixion. The child revealed that he was the Christ-child and had come to take the giant to His garden, Paradise.

When the children came into the garden later, they found the giant lying dead under the tree, covered in white blossoms. Despite his initial selfishness, the giant found redemption through his love for the boy.

The End.