Mountain Giant – Dahnoun Series

Mountain Giant Parent & Teacher Guide

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.

Main Themes:

• The Covenant and Keeping the Promise: The story emphasizes the importance of respecting and honoring the agreement between both parties.
• Misunderstanding and Fear of the Different: The story illustrates how prejudice can lead to the oppression of others, as the villagers fear the Giant without any real reason, simply because he is different from them.
• Cooperation and Mutual Support: The story shows the importance of cooperation among community members, both between the Giant and the villagers and among the villagers themselves, to solve problems.
• Tolerance and Admitting Mistakes: After discovering the truth, the villagers admit their mistake in judging the Giant, highlighting the value of tolerance and confession of wrongdoing as a way to build healthy relationships.
• The Importance of Dialogue and Communication: The story reveals how the lack of dialogue between the Giant and the villagers led to misunderstanding, while the honest confrontation helped uncover the truth and achieve understanding.

Questions for Discussion:

1. How did you feel about the Giant at the beginning of the story? And why?
2. The Giant risked his life for the sake of the villagers. If you were in his place, would you have risked yourself like he did after everything the villagers had done? And why?
3. Has one of your friends ever thought you were angry or sad when you were feeling something completely different? What happened at that time?
4. The villagers apologized to the Giant for their mistreatment of him. Do you remember a time when you apologized to someone? How did you feel after the apology?
5. The villagers forgot the covenant between their ancestors and the Giants, which led to a big problem. Have you ever promised someone something and then forgotten that promise? How did you handle the situation?
6. The villagers misjudged the Giant. Have you been in a situation where one of your friends misunderstood you without asking? How did you deal with them?
7. The villagers only learned the truth about the covenant after dialogue and understanding with the Giant. Imagine if they had done that from the beginning, what would have happened between them?