Lesson 10: The Selfish Giant (3)

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Continue reading the story.

One morning, the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It was so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the spring. But in fact, it was only a little bird singing outside the open window. “I believe the spring has come at last,” said the Giant. He jumped out of bed and looked out. What did he see?

He saw the most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall, the children crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree, there was a little child. And the trees were so delighted to have the children back again that they covered themselves with blossoms. They were waving their arms gently above the children’s heads. The birds were flying about and twittering delightfully. The flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing.

But only in one corner of the garden, it was still winter. There under a tree, a little boy was standing alone crying. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree. The poor tree was still covered with snow, and the north wind was blowing above it.

Match the words with their meanings.

| Words | Meanings | |---|---| | awake | | | perfume | | | sight | | | twitter | |

Meanings:

• not sleeping
• sing in a delightful voice
• things/objects that you see
• sweet smell

Discuss in groups or pairs and answer these questions.

1. Why was the little bird singing outside the window of the Giant’s castle?
2. What happened to the garden when the spring came at last?
3. Why did one corner of the garden still have winter? What happened there?