Once upon a time, there was a beautiful garden where the neighborhood children played games, sang songs, and jumped around happily. The garden was full of colorful flowers, various fruit trees, and soft, lush green grass. This garden belonged to a giant. But the giant had left years ago to visit a friend and had never returned.
One day, after school, the children were once again playing football, skipping rope, and sliding on the slide in the garden. Meanwhile, the giant told his friend that he missed his home and decided to return. When he arrived at his house and saw the little children playing joyfully in his garden, he shouted in his booming voice:
“What are you doing in my garden? Don’t ever come back here again!”
The children scattered and ran away. The giant built a high wall around the garden so that no one could enter. From then on, no one could play in the garden. Children passing by would say, “This used to be such a wonderful place to play.”
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Winter came and then spring arrived, melting the snow everywhere. But spring never came to the giant’s garden. The trees, the grass, and the slide all remained covered in ice. Looking out of his window, the giant wondered, “Why has the snow melted everywhere else, but my garden is still frozen?”
Hearing this, a pigeon in the garden flew into the giant’s room and said, “Of course, spring won’t come here because you’re so selfish!” Then, the pigeon flew away. The selfish giant felt very sad. He thought the pigeon was right. He lay in his bed and slept until morning.
When he woke up and looked out the window, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The snow in his garden had melted, the trees had blossomed, and birds were singing on the branches.
The giant went out into his garden to investigate. What did he see? The children were all playing there again, and that’s why spring had come. When the children saw the giant, they ran away again. However, one tree in the corner of the garden was still covered in snow, and under it was a small child trying to climb the tree but couldn’t reach.
Even though the tree bent its branches down for the child, he still couldn’t reach. All the children had run away because they were afraid of the giant, but the little boy hadn’t seen him. The giant walked over to the child, picked him up, and placed him at the top of the tree. Suddenly, spring came to that tree too, and all the snow melted.
The child was overjoyed and hugged the giant. Watching from a distance, the other children realized that the giant was kind and came back to the garden.
The giant and the children became wonderful friends. They played games together, and the giant tore down the high walls of the garden with a pickaxe and a shovel. From that day on, the garden remained a playground for the children forever.
The Happy Prince and Other Tales-Oscar Wilde