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Rudyard Kipling: The Cat That Walked by Himself

“The Cat That Walked by Himself” is a short story by Rudyard Kipling, published in July 1902 in Ladies’ Home Journal. A long time ago, when all animals and humans were still wild, a woman decided to leave her nomadic life behind and build a home. Little by little, various animals approach her cave and seal pacts that make them domesticated. Only one of them remains apart: the proud and solitary cat watches from a distance and cunningly plots his own way of approaching the fire without giving up his independence.

Oscar Wilde: The Selfish Giant

In Oscar Wilde’s 1888 short story The Selfish Giant, a giant returns home to find that children are using his garden as a playground and drives them out, building a wall to keep them out. Without the children, the garden is plunged into a perpetual winter, deprived of life and joy. One day, a mysterious child enters the garden. The giant, seeing their sadness, is moved and decides to tear down the wall to allow the children to return and with them, spring. The story is a reflection on selfishness, kindness and the redeeming power of love and childlike innocence.