"The Selfish Giant", page 6

Page 6

    Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he could²² not see the Giant coming. And the Giant came²³ up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him. And the other children when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. "It is your garden now, little children," said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o'clock they saw²⁴ the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden in the world.²⁵
    All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.
    "But where is your little companion?" he said: "the boy I put into the tree." The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.
    "We don't know," answered the children: "he has gone away."
    "You must tell him to be sure and come here²⁶ to-morrow," said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, they²⁷ had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad.
    Every afternoon when school was over

²²For publication, "could" was changed to "did."
²³For publication, "came" was changed to "stole."
²⁴For publication, "saw" was changed to "found."
²⁵For publication, "in the world" was changed to "they had ever seen."
²⁶For publication, "here" was deleted.
²⁶For publication, "they" was deleted.