Once upon a time, the children played in the garden owned by the Giant, who had traveled far away. It was a beautiful garden, filled with soft green grass and 12 peach trees that burst into delicate pink and pearl blossoms in the spring. In the autumn they bore rich fruit. The birds in the garden sang sweetly, and the children used to stop their games to listen to the songs. They were very happy in the garden.
Then one day the Giant returned from his seven-year journey. When he saw the children he cried out, "What are you doing here?" At once the children ran away. The next day the children came to peer over the garden wall, and their faces fell when they saw the notice that the Giant had put up on the wall: "Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted." He was a very selfish giant, and he wanted the garden all to himself.Now the children had nowhere to play. They wandered around the high wall surrounding the garden and talked about the flowers and the trees.
When spring came that year, everywhere the blossoms opened and the birds began to sing. But in the garden of the selfish Giant, winter remained. The birds did not want to sing if there were no children there, and the trees forgot to blossom. A beautiful flower raised its head from the earth, but when it saw the notice, its heart sank, and it slipped into the ground again and went to sleep.
Only Snow and Frost were happy. "We will live here all year round," they cried, and Snow covered the grass and Frost dressed every tree with silver. They invited North Wind to come stay with them. Wrapped in furs, he roared all day about the garden and blew down the chimney pots. He invited Hail to visit, and so Hail came and rattled on the roof of the Giant's home until he had broken most of the slates.
The selfish Giant sat at his window and looked out at the cold, white garden, wondering why spring was so late in coming this year. But spring never came, nor did summer or autumn.
One morning the Giant was lying in bed when he heard some lovely music. He thought it must be the king's musicians passing by, but when he looked at his window, he saw it was only a little linnet sitting on the window ledge singing. So much time had passed since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that to him the linnet's song seemed the most beautiful sound in the world. Then Hail stopped dancing and North Wind stopped roaring, and the Giant smelled a sweet perfume. "Spring has come at last," he said, and he jumped out of bed and ran to the window to see.
There he saw the most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. The trees were so pleased to have the children back that they had covered themselves with blossoms and were waving their arms. The birds were flying happily about, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing.
Then the Giant saw that in the farthest corner of the garden it was still winter. There stood a little boy, so small that he could not reach the branches of the trees. He was weeping bitterly. "Climb up, little boy," cried the tree, and it bent its branches as low as it could, but the boy was too small still.
The Giant felt sad watching this. "How selfish I have been," he said. "I will put that poor little boy on top of the tree, and I will knock down my wall. My garden will be the children's playground forever."
He went downstairs, opened the front door and walked into the garden. But when the children saw him, they were so frightened they ran away, and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so filled with tears he did not see the Giant coming. The Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand and lifted him into the tree. At once the tree broke into blossom and the birds sang, and the little boy stretched out his arms and wrapped them around the Giant's neck and kissed him.
When the other children saw this, they ran back, and with them came spring. "It is your garden now, children," said the Giant, and he took a great ax and knocked down the wall.
All day long the children played, and in the evening they came to bid goodbye to the Giant.
"Where is your little companion?" asked the Giant. "The boy I put into the tree."
"We don't know," the children said. "He has gone away."
"Tell him to come tomorrow," said the Giant, but the children said they did not know where to find the boy. They had never seen him before.
The Giant was very sorry to hear this. Every afternoon when school was over, the children came and played in the garden, but never again did the little boy reappear. Still, the Giant was very kind to all the children.
Years passed, and the Giant grew old and weak. He could not play in the garden any longer, so he sat in a large chair and admired his beautiful garden. But most of all, he admired the children as they played, and called them the most beautiful flowers of the garden.
One winter morning he looked out the window, and suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder. He stared and stared, for he saw in the farthest corner of the garden a tree covered with beautiful white blossoms. Its branches were gleaming golden and heavy with silver fruit, and beneath the tree stood the little boy the Giant had helped.
Filled with joy, the Giant ran downstairs and out into the garden. When he came close to the boy, his face grew red with anger. He said, "Who has dared to hurt you?" For he saw that in each of the child's palms was a nail hole, and the same in each of his feet.
"Who has wounded you?" the Giant cried. "Tell me and I will take my sword and slay him."
"No," said the child, "these are wounds of love."
"Who are you?" asked the Giant, and suddenly he was filled with awe. He knelt down before the little child.
The child smiled and said, "Once you let me play in your garden. Today you will come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."
And that afternoon when the children came to the garden, they saw the Giant lying dead beneath the tree, covered with beautiful white blossoms.