Al Salwa - Mountain Giant – Dahnoun Series

Through this story, children learn the concept of a covenant (or promise) and the importance of keeping it, as well as the significance of tolerance and understanding. They also learn how prejudice can lead to injustice and misunderstanding.

The story further promotes the values of cooperation and assistance, illustrating how teamwork can solve problems and achieve good for all.

In the story, the Giant lives in a small hut on the mountaintop. Every year during the sheep-shearing season, the Giant shears the wool from the sheep to make a coat that protects him from the winter cold, which upsets the villagers. After a meeting and discussion between the leader and the villagers, the leader decides to shear the wool this year before the Giant can beat them to it.

When winter arrives, the Giant descends to the sheep pastures as usual and is shocked to find the sheep bare. He is extremely saddened because he won’t be able to make a coat this year.

One cold, rainy night, he feels a huge rock tremble and finds it on the verge of rolling down towards the village. He holds it steady with his hands all night in the cold and rain. However, a small rock still rolls down towards the village and destroys the local mill.

The villagers then assume the Giant is responsible and decide to confront him and drive him away. When they climb to the mountaintop, they are met with a shocking surprise: the Giant is holding a massive rock that was about to fall onto the village houses.

At this moment, everything changes. The villagers realize their misunderstanding and their hasty judgment of the Giant. Inside the Giant’s house, the Giant tells them the secret of the old covenant between his ancestors and the villagers, which stipulated that the Giant would take the wool from the sheep every year in exchange for protecting the village from falling rocks.

The villagers then feel deep remorse, apologize to the Giant, and promise to make him a new coat and give him a sufficient share of the wool every year. The story ends with a scene uniting the Giant and the villagers at the top of the mountain.