How the Dragon was Tricked
(a Modern Greek tale)
However, it happened that an old and humpbacked shepherd passed the tree with his flock and, seeing the prisoner, he stopped and said to him, 'Tell me, my son why are you tied to that tree?'
'Because I was so crooked,' answered the young man, 'but it has quite cured me, and now my back is as straight as can be.'
'I wish you would bind me to a tree,' exclaimed the shepherd, 'so that my back would get straight.'
'With all the pleasure in life,' replied the youth. 'If you will loosen these cords, I will tie you up with them as firmly as I can.'
This was soon done, and then the young man drove off the sheep, leaving their real shepherd to repent of his folly, and before he had gone very far, he met with a horse boy and a driver of oxen, and he persuaded them to turn with him and to seek for adventures.
By these and many other tricks he soon became so celebrated that his fame reached the king's ears, and His Majesty was filled with curiosity to see the man who had managed to outwit everybody. So he commanded his guards to capture the young man and bring him before him.
And when the young man stood before the king, the king spoke to him and said, 'By your tricks and the pranks that you have played on other people, you have, in the eye of the law, forfeited your life. But on one condition I will spare you and that is if you will bring me the flying horse that belongs to the great dragon. Fail in this, and you shall be hewn in a thousand pieces.'
'If that is all,' said the youth, 'you shall soon have it.'
So he went out and made his way straight to the stable where the flying horse was tethered. He stretched his hand cautiously out to seize the bridle when the horse suddenly began to neigh as loud as he could. Now the room in which the dragon slept was just above the stable, and at the sound of the neighing, he woke and cried to the horse, 'What is the matter, my treasure? is anything hurting you?'
After waiting a little while, the young man tried again to loose the horse, but a second time it neighed so loudly that the dragon woke up in a hurry and called out to know why the horse was making such a noise. But when the same thing happened the third time, the dragon lost his temper, and went down into the stable, and took a whip, and gave the horse a good beating. This offended the horse and made him angry, and when the young man stretched out his hand to untie his head, he made no further fuss, but suffered himself to be led quietly away.
Once clear of the stable, the young man sprang on his back and galloped off, calling over his shoulder, 'Hi! Dragon! Dragon! If anyone asks you what has become of your horse, you can say that I have got him!'
But the king said, 'The flying horse is all very well, but I want something more. You must bring me the covering with the little bells that lies on the bed of the dragon, or I will have you hewn into a thousand pieces.'
'Is that all?' answered the youth. 'That is easily done.'
And when night came, he went away to the dragon's house and climbed up on to the roof. Then he opened a little window in the roof and let down the chain from which the kettle usually hung and tried to hook the bed covering and draw it up. But the little bells all began to ring, and the dragon woke and said to his wife, 'Wife, you have pulled off all the bed-clothes!' and drew the covering towards him, pulling as he did so the young man into the room.
Then the dragon flung himself on the youth and bound him fast with cords, saying as he tied the last knot, 'To-morrow when I go to church, you must stay at home and kill him and cook him, and when I get back, we will eat him together.'
(800 words)
