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He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. “This is a delightful spot,” he said, “we must ask the Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. “Spring has forgotten this garden,” they cried, “so we will live here all the year round.” The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. “How happy we were there,” they said to each other. They used to wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside.

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They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. The poor children had now nowhere to play. “My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant “any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.” So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board. “What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. “How happy we are here!” they cried to each other. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them.

Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.