Original title: Der kleine Riese
Author: Hans Wilhelm
Genre: Fairy Tale
Original language: German
First published: 1987
Translator: Thoitoi O'Cottage
Once upon a time there was a small giant. His name was Igor,
and he was very unhappy,
because he had a very serious problem:
he did not know who or what he was.
He was not big and did not feel he was as giantly as his
siblings and his parents. He was
just simply different. He preferred to be
alone and remain reading books.
However, it was not that easy to find
a small quiet place. Igor's family was
very loud and noisy. With shouts and jeers, they raged over
the mountains and through the woods, hunted animals
and did nothing else but nonsense.
They even netted and gathered some clouds,
rolled them up into thunderbolts and hurled them at each other
around the ears, causing a terrible downpour.
Igor was often in their way, and he
could feel it. Finally, he came to believe more and
more that nobody loved him,
nobody understood him and wanted to have him.
One day Igor could not stand it any
longer. He packed his favorite books
and then took five giant steps.
Then he was gone!
A couple of giant steps and Igor was standing
in the middle of a foreign kingdom on
the other side of the world. There he suddenly
heard a loud cry.
It was a small king. He sat under a tree and
sobbed so much that Igor asked him, "Why
are you so sad? What's happened?"