Summary
Every afternoon, after school, the children used to walk by a garden.
There were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate
blossoms of pink and pearl, and in autumn bore rich fruit.
There were some birds on the trees singing so sweetly that they used to
stop their games in order to listen to them.
The owner was a big, tall man that everybody called “The Giant”.
He lived all alone in a huge house that looked like a castle and was surrounded
by a beautiful garden covered in soft, green grass.
However, the Giant was at his old friend the Cornish Ogre’s house.
One day a beautiful lady invited the children to come to the garden.
One day, after seven years, the Giant came back.
The children had nowhere to play.
They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of
hard stones.
So, when lessons were over, they used to wander round the high wall trying
to take a peek of the garden.
Soon the trees lost their leaves.
Winter covered the garden and the village with its cold cloak and the birds
migrated south to a warmer climate.
Days slowly passed until the time of rebirth arrived.
Mornings became longer: the sun warmed the ground chasing away the Frost
and the Snow.
As time went by, days became shorter.
Soon the trees lost their leaves.
They did not dare to climb the wall as they were afraid of that terrible,
enormous man.
The months passed and the days became longer but in the Giant’s garden
Spring never came nor Summer.
Autumn gave golden fruits to every garden, but not to the Giant’s
garden.
It was always winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost,
and the Snow danced about through the trees.
One day spring returned thanks to a boy. After this day the giant let the
children play in his garden.
We did not know where that boy lived as they had never seen him before.
Every afternoon, when school was over, the children went to the garden to
play with the Giant, but they never saw the little boy.
Years went by, and the Giant grew very old and feeble.
But one winter morning, as he was looking out of the window, the Giant saw
the little boy. He was standing in the farthest corner of the garden, near
a tree covered with lovely white blossoms.