THE FIERY DRAGON - THE HEART OF STONE AND THE HEART OF GOLD (Revised by BoSt 2025)
The adorable
little Princess residing (since baby) in a high tower, always woke in her
little white bed at crack of dawn when the starlings began to chatter in the pearl-gray
morning. As soon as the (forest) woods were awake, she would excitedly throw
off the warm quilt and sit upright, and then
(not bothering to don her slippers) with her little bare feet treading on the
cold flagstones, she would run up the twisting turret-stairs; beaming in face she
would stand on the top of the tower in her white bed-gown then, after an intake
of a deep breath, she would kiss her hands to the sun. Subsequently, in her sweet
melodious tone, she would greet the woods, the sleeping town below (whom she’d
never ventured to) and the fresh new day: "Good morning world, I with
joyful, grateful heart, greet you all!"
Next, she would run down the cold stone steps and dress herself in her short skirt and her cap and apron and begin the day's work. She would tidy-up, sweep the rooms spotlessly clean, and then hasten to make breakfast (from available rations) for two, for herself and for her Nurse; afterwards, she would wash the dishes and scour the pans, then with the mourning chores done, she would sit by her old faithful nurse (for of all who should have served her, only one remained faithful ) and listen in rapt attention to her reminiscences of the past, the golden era when her parents were still alive, and she was just a baby. This world she had never truly known, a wonderous world of bygone era, nevertheless, with her fertile imagination, still thrilled and palpitated her heart with special warmth.
Her old
nurse, bound by loyalty of the heart, had willingly endured this solitary existence,
where both had been virtually held captive in the tower, to present time. And
now that the nurse was in her advanced years and rather feeble and had gray
streaks adorned most of her hair, the princess had taken on all the
responsibilities of menial housework and necessary chores, completing them without
grievance and with a smile, while the Nurse sat still and did the sewing,
because this was a real Princess with skin like milk and hair like flax and a
heart like gold.
The little
princess Sabrinetta’s grandmother Sabra had married to St. George, a legendary
figure, who had rid the country of the terrible, fierce dragon that had once terrorized
the people and beasts. He had ruled the land wisely for many years after that. The
country should have by rights, through her(royal) lineage, belonged to Sabrinetta:
the woods that stretched away to the mountains, the downs that sloped down to
the sea, the pretty fields of corn and maize and rye, the olive orchards and
the vineyards, and the little town itself—with its towers and its turrets, its
steep roofs and strange windows—that nestled in the hollow between the sea,
where the whirlpool was, and the mountains, white with snow and rosy with
sunrise.
But when Sabrinetta’s
Royal father and mother had died quite unexpectedly because of a hunting accident
and left her ambitious cousin to take care of the kingdom, at least, till she
grew up he, being ambitious and evil, took everything away from her, and all
the courtiers (ministers and imp. People) followed him, and now nothing was
left to her, save for the great dragon proof tower that her grandfather, St.
George, had built during his reign. And of all who should have been her
servants only the good nurse remained by her side. This arrangement of her
confinement suited him fine, so he let it be.
As she resided in this tall tower, this was why Sabrinetta was the first person in all the land to get a glimpse of the wonder. This morning again rising at first daylight, while all the majority townspeople were fast asleep, she ran up the turret-steps and looked out over the field, and at the other side of the field there was a green, ferny ditch and a rose-thorny hedge, and then came the wood. And as Sabrinetta stood on her tower she saw a shaking and a twisting of the rose-thorny hedge, and then something very bright and shining wriggled out through it into the ferny ditch and back again. It only came out for a minute, but she saw it quite plainly, and she said to herself: "Dear me, what a curious, shiny, bright-looking creature! If it were bigger, and if I didn't know that there have been no fabulous monsters for quite a long time now, I should almost think it was a dragon."
The thing,
whatever it was, did look rather like a dragon—but then it was too small; and
it looked rather like a lizard—only then it was too big. It was about as long
as a hearthrug.
"I wish
it had not been in such a hurry to get back into the wood," said
Sabrinetta. "Of course, it's quite safe for me, in my dragon proof tower;
but if it is a dragon, it's quite big enough to eat people, and today's the
first of May, and the children go out to pick flowers in the wood."
When
Sabrinetta had done the housework (she did not leave so much as a speck of dust
anywhere, even in the farthest corner of the winding stair) she put on her milk
white, silky gown with the moon-daisies worked on it and went up to the top of
her tower again.
Across the
fields troops of children were going out to gather the may (whitethorn, English
hawthorn), and the sound of their laughter and singing came up to the top of
the tower.
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| 02- CHILDREN GATHERING FLOWERS IN A FIELD JP |
"I do hope it wasn't a dragon," said Sabrinetta, recalling all the terrible tales the Nurse had enumerated (tallied) one stormy night, when they had little else to do, about the of dragon’s horrible temper, his wrath, the time the dragon’s peace had been disturbed.
The children
went by twos and by threes and by tens and by twenties, and the red and blue
and yellow and white of their frocks were scattered on the green of the field.
"It's
like a green silk mantle worked with flowers," exclaimed the Princess,
marvelling at nature’s exquisite tapestry and smiled.
Then by twos
and by threes, by tens and by twenties, the children vanished into the wood,
till the mantle of the field was left plain green once more.
"Most
of the embroidery is unpicked," said the Princess, sighing. The sun shone,
and the sky was blue, and the fields were quite green, the few remaining clusters
of flowers at the edges of the field were very bright indeed, because it was
May Day.
Then quite
suddenly a cloud passed over the sun, and the silence was broken by shrieks
from far off; and, like a many-colored torrent, all the children burst from the
woods (forest) and rushed, a red and blue and yellow and white wave, across the
field, screaming as they ran. Their voices came up to the Princess on her
tower, and she heard the words threaded on their screams like beads on sharp
needles: "The dragon, the dragon, the dragon! Open the gates! The dragon
is coming! The fiery dragon!"
And they
swept across the field and into the gate of the town, and the Princess heard
the gate bang, and the children were out of sight—but on the other side of the
field the rose-thorns crackled and smashed in the hedge, and something very
large and glaring and horrible trampled the ferns in the ditch for one moment
before it hid itself again in the covert of the wood.
The Princess
went down and told her nurse, but the nurse, instead, at once locked the great
door of the tower and put the key in her pocket.
"Let
them take care of themselves," she said, when the Princess begged to be
allowed to go outside and assist the children to safety. "My business is
to take care of you, my precious, and I'm going to do it. Old as I am, I can
turn a key still."
So
Sabrinetta went up again to the top of her tower and there with a burdened
(worried) heart shed some tears, as well, prayed that the children, despite the
seeming danger, got to their home in safety. For she knew, of course, that the
gates of the town were not dragon proof, and that the dragon could just walk in
whenever he liked. In her heart of hearts, she hoped that the dragon would not
be too angry and instead, be more tolerant of the disturbance, as children were
naturally rambunctious.
The children,
meanwhile, had first ran straight to the palace, where the prince (the reigning
King) was cracking his hunting whip down at the kennels, and told him what had
happened.
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| 03- CHILDREN ARE FRIGHTENED BY DRAGON |
"Good sport," said the prince, and he ordered out his pack of hippopotamuses at once. It was his custom to hunt big game with hippopotamuses, and people would not have minded that so much—but he would swagger about in the streets of the town with his pack yelping and gamboling at his heels, and when he did that, the green-grocer, who had his stall in the marketplace, always regretted it; and the crockery merchant, who spread his wares on the pavement, was ruined for life every time the Prince chose to show off his pack.
The prince
rode out of the town with his hippopotamuses trotting and frisking behind him,
and people got inside their houses as quickly as they could when they heard the
voices of his pack and the blowing of his horn. The pack squeezed through the
town gates and off across country to hunt the dragon. Few of you who had not
seen a pack of hippopotamuses in full cry will be able to imagine at all what
the hunt was like. To begin with, hippopotamuses do not bay like hounds: They
grunt like pigs, and their grunt is very big and fierce. Then, of course, no
one expects hippopotamuses to jump. They just crash through the hedges and
lumber through the standing corn, doing serious injury to the crops, and
annoying the farmers very much. All the hippopotamuses had collars with their
name and address on, but when the farmers called at the palace to complain of
the injury to their standing crops, the prince always said it served them right
for leaving their crops standing about in people's way, and he never paid
anything at all.
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| 04- EVIL PRINCE WITH HIPOPOTAMUS - JP |
So now, when he and his pack went out, several people in the town whispered, "I wish the dragon would eat him"—which was very wrong of them, no doubt, but then he was such a very nasty Prince.
They hunted through
the field and hunted through the forest; but the pack drew blank; this dragon, contrary
to belief, was not innately nasty (confrontational), and even though they had
evaded his space, had elected not to show himself.
But just as
the prince was beginning to think there was no dragon at all, but only a cock
and bull story, his favourite old hippopotamus gave tongue. The prince blew his
horn and shouted: "Tally ho! Hark forward! Tantivy!" and the whole
pack charged downhill toward the hollow by the wood, prince thinking only of future
fame and glory, to annihilate the dragon and destroy his refuge. Forced into
defending mode, the Dragon confronted them; however, he did so in manifest form
as big as a barge, glowing like a furnace, and spitting fire and showing razor
sharp teeth.
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| 05- FIERCE, FIRE BREATHING DRAGON- JP |
"The hunt is up!" the prince, drunk with power, bellowed his order. “Charge! “And they all surged (rushed) forward.
Meanwhile,
the brave young dragon—instead of behaving as a sensible quarry (target, game) should
and running away—ran straight at the pack and the prince perched on his
elephant. The prince was mortified now, shocked, seeing his prize pack
swallowed up one by one in the twinkling of an eye, by the dragon they had come
out to hunt. The dragon’s fury unleashed, he’d swallowed all the unsavory hippopotamuses,
just as a dog swallow’s bits of meat. It was a shocking sight. Of the whole of
the pack that had come out sporting so merrily to the music of the horn, now
not even a puppy-hippopotamus was left, and the dragon was looking anxiously
around to see if he’d missed anything. And true enough, he had!
The real
culprit, the once arrogant prince thinking only of his salvation, had in fact slipped
off his elephant on the other side, and cowardly ran into the thickest part of
the wood. He hoped the dragon could not break through the bushes there, since
they were very strong and close. He went crawling on his hands and knees in a
most un-Prince-like way, and at last, finding a hollow tree, he crept into it.
The woods were soon very still—no crashing of branches and no smell of burning
came to alarm the prince. He drained the contents of silver hunting bottle
slung from his shoulder and stretched his legs in the hollow tree. He never
shed a single tear for his poor tame hippopotamuses who had eaten from his hand
and followed him faithfully in all the pleasures of the chase for so many
years. For he was a false Prince, with a skin like leather and hair like hearth
brushes and a heart like a stone. He never shed a tear, but he just went to
sleep.
When he
awoke it was dark. He crept out of the tree and rubbed his eyes. The wood was
black about him, but there was a red glow in a dell close by. It was a fire of
sticks, and beside it sat a ragged youth with long, yellow hair; all around lay
sleeping forms which breathed heavily.
"Who
are you?" said the prince.
"I'm
Elfin, the pig keeper," said the ragged youth. "And who are
you?"
"I'm
Tiresome, the Prince, your Sovereign." declared the other in an arrogant
tone. “You should bow your head to me.”
Elfin nodded
slightly, obliging the haughty prince. "And what reason takes you out of
your safe palace, your Grace, at this time of night?" then asked the pig
keeper, deferentially.
"I've
been hunting," said the prince.
The pig
keeper laughed. "Oh, it was you I saw, then? A good hunt, wasn't it? My
pigs and I were looking on."
All the
sleeping forms grunted and snored, and the prince saw that they were pigs: He
knew it by their manners.
"If you
had known as much as I do," Elfin went on, "you might have saved your
pack."
"What
do you mean?" asked Tiresome curiously, forgetting his ready scoff
(deride).
"Why,
the dragon," said Elfin. "You went out at the wrong time of day. The
dragon should be hunted at night."
"And I imagined
that you were going to say something intelligent." said the prince, mockingly.
“Dragons are not nocturnal and besides, a daylight hunt is quite good enough
for me, you silly pig keeper."
"Oh,
well," said Elfin and shrugged. "Do as you please, Your Grace;
however, I feel that I should warn you, that the dragon will surely come and
hunt you tomorrow, as likely as not. You have after all, trespassed on his domain,
which incidentally he’d quietly existed all this time, without giving anyone
least cause for fear or harm. You have disrespected him and caused him to be violent,
for that ruin (violation, harm), he will carry a lasting grudge against you."
"You're
spouting nonsense," said Tiresome. “Dragons are abomination; they are to
be hunted down and terminated (eliminated) without hesitation. Furthermore, you
a pig keeper, how dare you try sermon (lecture, admonish) your betters! I
should have your head for this breach (infraction), this outrage! “
"I am
only being truthful; but my counsel falls on deaf ears." said Elfin
shrugging, more to himself. He’d with admirable control, had stopped his tongue
from uttering, ‘daft’ (silly, stupid) ears.
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| 06- HANDSOME BOY ELFIN WITH PIGS |
"Well, tell me the truth, then. What is it that, if I had known as much as you do about, I shouldn't have lost my hippopotamuses?"
"You
don't speak very good English," said Elfin. "But come, what will you
give me if I tell you?"
"If you
tell me what?" said the tiresome Prince.
"What
you want to know."
"I
don't want to know anything," said Prince Tiresome.
Elfin
stifled a laugh, “Then you're more eccentric,” He said, instead of the word, ‘daft’,
“even than I thought." again, with admirable constraint. "Don't you
want to know how to settle the score with the dragon before he settles with you?
But first, you must promise that he will just be contained, not destroyed."
" It
might be as well; also, another treasure to keep. Oh well, why not.” The prince somberly, outwardly acquiesced;
inwardly meanwhile, he gloated. “Hah, I will have more time to think of ways
to torment the captive dragon”
“Well, what
are you waiting for, do tell.”
" All
right, I will impart the knowledge, as I need some sleep tonight." Elfin
reluctantly nodded, not entirely trusting the prince." However, this ancient
knowledge, whom I was lucky to be privy to, should not be given freely; hence,
what will you give me for it?"
"Half
my kingdom," said the prince, "and my cousin's hand in
marriage."
"Done,"
said the pig keeper. "Here goes! The celestial dragon grows small at
night! That’s when he is most vulnerable. He sleeps under the root of this
tree. He is not aggressive; in fact, when asked politely, he will even oblige
one with a spark of light for a campfire. “This said, Elfin fell silent and
looked away, thinking of a time in the dead of night, when once he was in dire
straits and the dragon had saved his life, with that life giving fire. He
hoped, he was not, by his action now, being ungrateful wretch.
“Take me
there now; I want to see this for myself.” The prince ordered. And, sure
enough, there under the tree was the dragon on a nest of scorched moss, and he
was about as long as your finger.
"How
can I capture, I mean, contain him?" asked the prince eagerly.
"I
suppose there is one sure way," said Elfin, " you can take him away
if you've brought anything to put him in. That bottle of yours would do."
So, between
them they managed, with bits of stick and by singeing their fingers a little,
to poke and shove the dragon till they made it creep into the silver hunting
bottle, and then the prince screwed on the top tight.
"Now
we've got him," said Elfin. "Remember your promise! You are not to
hurt him any. Gently take him home and put Solomon's seal on the mouth of the
bottle, and then he'll be contained and be safe enough for you. Later tonight,
after I had some shuteye, I shall call on the palace to reclaim my reward. At
least this way, I shall have some money (means) with which to buy fine attire
and so, be presentable when I meet the princess."
“Sure,
you will… In a pig’s eye!” Prince inwardly sneered, looking away to hide his contempt. True enough,
the wicked Prince had made promises he had no intention of ever keeping.
Returning to the palace, darkness still blanketing the earth that night, the
prince summoned the Prime Minister secretly, at once, to his private chambers.
The Prime
Minister was urgently awakened from deep sleep, still groggy, he hastily dressed
in his garbs and rushed compliantly to the prince’s private chambers. He was briefly
informed of the facts, told of the dragon’s capture, then set to task of
finishing the job.
Subsequently,
the P.M. had obligingly, solemnly put Solomon's seal on the mouth of the
bottle, and the bottle was then carried off to be put in the Treasury, which
was the impenetrable, strongest building in the palace. For it was made of
solid copper, with walls as thick as Waterloo Bridge.
~
Later still
that night, Elfin had innocently shown up but was barred entry to the palace by
the rude, hostile armed guards. "Go on, be off with you! What do you
mean?" They bellowed at him. “You have the goal to show your face here at
this ungodly hour and demand to see the prince; just who do you think you are!”
The prince
did not even deign to deny or give excuses when two of the guards came forth to
report Elfin’s claim, as well, give reasons for the sure ruckus (disturbance)
created at the town’s main gate.
"I alone
found and captured the dragon. Imagine, a nobody like him having the audacity
to spread such lies, such vicious, disrespectful claims.” The prince
indignantly complained to his two trusted ministers that happened to be by his
side at the time.” However, as I am
benevolent and merciful ruler, otherwise, I would surely claim his head for
this bold, brazen audacity…” Then turning to the guards, he ordered: “Clearly,
he is insane, so just drive him away, and if he dared to show his face at the
gate again, tell him he will be executed on the spot."
"All
right," said Elfin, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm better off than he
is, anyhow."
"What
do you mean?" one of the guards scowled (glowered) at him incredulously.
"Prince
has got a kingdom (and a dragon), but I've got clean hands (and five and
seventy fine black pigs)." His reaction was duly reported to the prince, who
sneered (jeered, scoffed), but outwardly said nothing.
In small hours, few hours before daybreak, not the usual time at noon, at the assembled court, his Parliament, the Prince with some flare and elaboration recounted to his captive, sleepy audience, how clever and brave he had been in finding the fierce dragon and imprisoning it, even though it had cost him his entire hunting party and his longtime pet hippopotamuses and the riding elephants.
Noting his
lack of remorse (sorrow), some ministers suspected the prince (their present
Sovereign), of duplicity (deceit, lying), however, none dared to voice this;
instead, they in unison said: "You are indeed brave and clever, your Majesty."
For they knew what happened to people with whom the prince was not pleased.
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| 08- PRIME MINISTER PLACES THE IMPRISONED DRAGON IN BOTTLE, IN TREASURY |
Back at the Treasury, the bottle had been securely placed (stored) among the sacks of gold, and the junior secretary to the junior clerk of the last Lord of the Treasury had been duly appointed to sit up rest of the night with it and see if anything happened. The junior secretary had never seen a dragon, and what was more, he did not believe the prince had ever seen a dragon either. The prince had never been a truthful boy, and it would have been just like him to bring home a bottle with nothing in it and then to pretend that there was a dragon inside. So, the junior secretary did not at all minded being left to guard it. They had entrusted him the key, and when everyone in the palace had gone back to bed, he (smuggled in) let in some of the junior secretaries from other Government departments, and together they had a jolly game of hide-and-seek among the sacks of gold and played marbles with the diamonds and rubies and pearls in the big ivory chests. In this care-free manner they had enjoyed themselves very much, but by-and-by the copper treasury began to get warmer, and suddenly the junior secretary cried out, "Look at the bottle!"
All heads
turned to look where’d he pointed, and they saw the bottle sealed with
Solomon's seal had swollen to three times its proper size and seemed to be pulsating,
and furthermore, was blazing red hot. The air, same time had gotten intolerably
warmer as the bottle grew bigger and
bigger, till all the junior secretaries agreed that the place was too hot to
hold them, and out they went, tumbling over each other in their haste, and just
as the last got out and locked the door the bottle burst, and out came the
dragon, very fiery, and swelling more and more every minute, and he began to
eat the sacks of gold and crunch up the pearls and diamonds and rubies as if
they were sugar.
By
breakfast-time he had devoured the whole of the prince’s treasures, and when
the prince came along, his feet nearing the treasury building, around the bend,
he came face to face with the dragon coming out of the broken door of the
Treasury, with molten gold still dripping from his jaws.
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| 09- DRAGON HAS EATEN HIS FILL OF THE TREASURY GOLD |
The terror-struck Prince hastily turned and ran for his life, and as he ran, naturally towards the only safe place, the dragon proof tower, the Princess who had awoken early, happened to see him coming, and she ran down at once and quickly unlocked the door to let him in. She had slammed the dragon proof door in a nick of time, right in the fiery face of the dragon, who, instead of being furious, quietly sat down at outside and morosely (sullenly, grumpily petulantly) grumbled, because he really wanted to get back at the despicable Prince.
The Princess,
unaware of the committed wrongdoing, ushered Prince Tiresome into the best
room, and laid the cloth, and gave him cream and eggs and white grapes and
honey and bread, with many other things, yellow and white and good to eat, and
she served him just as kindly as she would have done if he had been anyone else
instead of the bad Prince who had taken away her kingdom and kept it for
himself—because she was a true Princess and had a heart of gold.
When he had
eaten and drunk, he asked the Princess to show him how to lock and unlock the
main door to the tower. The nurse was asleep, so there was no one to tell the
Princess not to, and she did.
"You
turn the key like this," she said, "and the door keeps shut. But turn
it nine times around the wrong way, and the door flies open."
And so, it
did. And the moment it opened, the prince showed (pushed) the Princess out of the
main door and cast her outside of her safe abode, just as he had pushed her out
of her kingdom, then quickly, heartlessly bolted the door behind her. For he
wanted to have the tower all for himself. And there she was, left stranded (forsaken,
left )and vulnerable in an open street, and across (on the other side of the
way) the assumed, fierce dragon which happened to be sitting, presently,
intently gazing at her. Other than this,
however, he did not stir, nor try to eat her; for beknows (unknown) to all
citizens, celestial dragons could not do harm or eat innocent Princesses with
hearts of gold.
As the
dragon initiated no hostile action towards her, the Princess’s fears were
allayed (dispelled); however, knowing it would be most improper of her to walk
through the streets of the town in her milky-silky gown with the daisies on it,
and with no hat and no gloves, she naturally turned the other way, intending to
ran out across the meadows, toward the woods.
As it were,
she had never been out of her tower before, so, stopping briefly at the perimeter
of the fields, she had first bent down and swiftly removed her silk slippers;
subsequently, her bare feet had tread (glided) over the plush soft grass, like silk-grass
of Paradise it was, an experience she most
immensely enjoyed.
She, without thought, had simply ran right into the thickest part of the dense forest; perhaps, it was to fulfill her yearning secret desire for any adventure; or perhaps it was fate, leading her steps towards what she was meant to go. And lo and behold, there in a dell she suddenly came upon Elfin and his five and seventy fine pigs. He was idly sitting by, playing his flute, and around him the pigs were dancing cheerfully on their hind legs.
"Oh,
dear me," said the Princess rushing towards her perceived rescuer, "please
do take care of me. I am so lost and ever so frightened."
"I
will," said Elfin, putting his arms around her. "Now you are quite
safe. What were you frightened of?"
"The
dragon of course," she, with a slight quaking (trembling) in her voice,
responded. “The Celestial being may still change his mind and come after me!”
"So,
it's gotten out of the bottle," said Elfin. "I hope it's eaten the
notorious prince."
"No,"
said Sabrinetta. "But why would you say that?"
Elfin then
briefly told her of the mean trick that the prince had played on him.
"And he
promised me half his kingdom and the hand of his cousin the Princess,"
said Elfin.
"Oh,
dear, how brashly inappropriate, the ruling prince can be!" said
Sabrinetta with her face flushed crimson, she then strove to gently get out of Elfin’s
protective embrace. "How dare he make promises he had no business doing?
Doesn’t she get a say in this?"
"What's
the matter?" Elfin asked, holding on to her still tighter, reluctant to
let her go. "It was of course inappropriate, a shame, or at least I
thought so. But now he may keep his kingdom, half and whole, if I may just keep
what I have."
"What's
that?" in a nervous, shy voice asked the Princess.
"Why,
you—my beautiful fairy." said Elfin coyly, noting her flushed face just
then, and unable to resist his harmless teasing of her. “And as for the
Princess, his cousin—forgive me, dearest heart, but when I asked for her, I
hadn't seen the real Princess, which my eyes now behold, and the only one I
will ever love, till the end of my existence."
"Are
you in earnest with your declaration of ….?" Sabrinetta blushed crimson.
"Of
course?" he asked.
"Yes,
but five minutes ago you hadn't seen me!"
"Five
minutes ago, I was a pig keeper—now I've held you in my arms I'm a Prince,
though I should have to keep tending pigs to the end of my days."
"You proclaim
that I’ve captivated your heart and that you’ve chosen me; but aren’t you also
being brazenly presumptions akin (similar, like) the prince, in deciding my
fate?" said the pouting, Princess.
"You
asked me to take care of you," said Elfin, feigning being cross, "and
I will—all my life long."
Sabrinetta regretting
hurting his feelings, moreover, she could not dispute his sound reasoning, nor
did she want to, and for the first time taking a long hard look at his
features, she noted the genuine sincerity in his eyes, and something more, a
hint of vulnerability, also, how captivatingly handsome he truly was.
Sharing the
certain kinship of the heart, they sat close but not touching, and then they
began to talk of important things, such as the dragon and the prince, and all
the time Elfin did not know that this was the Princess. Listening to her
concerns however, about the dragon, and the welfare of the common folk, he knew
that she had a heart of gold, and in his heart the spark of attraction, perhaps
it was true affection, which had ignited into a flame, growing by degrees, till
it made him rather uncomfortable, and he rose, to supposedly go check on his
pigs.
He returned
to her side more composed, "The mistake," then said Elfin, "was
in not having a dragon proof bottle. I see that now. I could have long ago,
utilizing such, to gently relocate the unfortunate dragon to a safer place. I
owed him that much."
"I’m
glad you feel the same way as I do and do not blame the dragon for his innate
nature, for which he is now unfortunately more feared and hated, more so after
the terrible destruction and the burdensome the costs he’d incurred by his decimating
the treasury, this on top of the losses of the hunting group, though in every
instance he was the victim of his circumstances?" said the Princess.
"Nevertheless,
we can try mending some of the harm; I can easily get you one of those flagons
(bottles, flasks)—because everything in my tower is dragon proof. We can contain
the dragon and transport (deliver) him to safety, and in doing so, prevent any inadvertent
(accidental) future harm to any meek and vulnerable beings or creatures
(animals)." For she still believed what she had been told all her life,
that dragons when hungry fed indiscriminately, whether it be any kind of wild animal,
herd (sheep, pack, flock, steer) or the little children.
So, at dawn
subsequent morning, she quietly rose and headed towards the town, (started off)
to acquire such a bottle; and when he awoke with a start sensing her absence and
rushed after her, catching up with her in no time, she still adamantly refused
to let Elfin accompany her to town.
"If
what you say is true," she stressed, "if you are sure that I have a
heart of gold, the dragon won't hurt me, and somebody must stay with the
pigs."
Elfin was
quite sure (of her golden heart), so he let her go.
She found
the door of her tower wide open. The dragon had patiently waited all day long for
the prince, and the moment he opened the door thinking he was safe and came
out—though he was only out for an instant to post a letter to his Prime
Minister saying where he was and asking them to send the fire brigade to deal
with the fiery dragon—the dragon ate him. Then the dragon after that had quietly
retreated back to the wood, for rest and solitude after the unusually hectic,
perhaps exuberant day. Furthermore, having just escaped a near disaster, he did
not wish to be found in town when the night fell, and then in his small form be
rendered vulnerable and fall prey (a sure target, a victim) to the evil designs
of any conniving and powerful men.
Sabrinetta quickly
entered the tower and went straight to check in on her nurse; she lovingly
caressed her hand and planted a soft kiss in the palm to gently awaken her. By
the time the nurse had completed (finished) washing up, Sabrinetta had returned,
this time holding a tray of steaming cup of tea and some hot breakfast pastries
and sliced fruit tidbits the nurse usually partook every morning. She set quietly by her side and patiently
watched and waited till the nurse completed her routine breakfast; then in a
calm, composed manner, explained what had transpired during the night while the
nurse had slept, and her careful plans for the future to assure security and well
being (welfare) of all. She assured the nurse that since she had a heart of
gold, the dragon hadn’t harmed her and would never eat her; the nurse noted
that the Princess was quite safe and so, kissed her on the cheek and with
prayers on her lips, simply let her go.
Sabrinetta
without delay secured the small dragon proof bottle made of burnished brass in
her pocket and ran back to the woods and to the dell, finding Elfin sitting
among his sleek black pigs, impatiently and with obvious trepidation, waiting
for her return.
 |
| 11- ELFIN THOUGHT HE'D NEVER SEE HER AGAIN |
"I thought you were never coming back," he said as he rushed forward with his extended arms wide open to at once fiercely embrace her. "You have been away for so long, a year, at least."
“Silly boy, “The
Princess smiling chided, as her affectionate (loving) gaze held his for a
moment or two. She sat down beside him among the pigs, and they held each
other's hands, talking till darkness encroached on them. They went then to find
the dragon, trailing the scorched ground, each bent, charred blade of grass or
branch or moss, followed key identifiable marks carelessly left by the dragon
as it had crawled, getting smaller by degrees, till he had reached his favorite
place, he then exhausted, had simply curled up under the root of the tree and instantly
fallen asleep.
"Now
then," said Elfin, "you hold the bottle." Then he poked and
prodded the dragon with bits of stick till it crawled into the dragon proof
bottle. But there was no stopper. In her haste, she’d neglected to obtain one.
"Never
mind," said Elfin. "I'll put my finger in for a stopper."
"No,
let me," said the Princess. But of course, Elfin would not let her. He
stuffed his finger into the top of the bottle, and the Princess cried out:
"The sea—the sea—run for the cliffs!" And off they went, with the
five and seventy pigs trotting steadily after them in a long black procession.
The bottle
got hotter and hotter in Elfin's hands, because the dragon inside was puffing
fire and smoke with all his might—hotter and hotter and hotter—but Elfin held
on till they came to the cliff edge, and there was the dark blue sea, and the
whirlpool going around and around.
Elfin lifted
the bottle high above his head and hurled it out between the stars and the sea,
and it fell in the middle of the whirlpool.
 |
| 11B- DRAGON TRANSFORMS IN THE WHIRLPOOL |
The dragon being a celestial being, naturally did not expire; Heaven taking pity on him, transformed the dragon into another form, which he could then, in his new form, shot upwards, to permanently disappear in the clouds.
"The
dragon is free now, free to live his life in Heavens, “rejoiced the princess. “You've
saved the dragon, all the earthly creatures, all the little children!” But then
suddenly noting the (flicker) spasm of pain, which he could not hide,
registering in his face, her heart now palpitating with dread, she urgently
asked: “Show me your hands."
"I
can't," said Elfin, his eyes pricked with tears. “I don’t want to frighten
you; but regretfully, I shall never as before, be able to hold your dear hands
again. My hands are badly scorched and scarred."
“What?” She
screamed and reached for his hands, and sadly, she saw how charred and badly
marred his hands were.
The Princess
gingerly (cautiously) placed her hands underneath his, if only for support and,
despite his stoic words and assurances, her heart in tatters, she could not
help but shed copious (profuse) inconsolable tears. Then getting a grip on her
senses, she tore pieces of her silky-milky gown to gently cover the worst parts,
for no herbal medicine, no poultice of any kind would hell the dragon breath
burns. And the two, walking side by side, shoulders barely touching, went back
to the tower and told the nurse of all that had happened. And the pigs hearing
this, sat outside and mournfully shed tears.
"He is
the bravest man in the world," with a heavy heart, whimpered Sabrinetta.
"With his heroic deed, he has saved everyone at a terrible cost to him. Why
is fate so cruel to allow this? Now, his beautiful hands are scorched, marred
forever—My poor, dear, darling, how can I make things better for you!"
Just then,
the door of the room was pushed open ajar, and the oldest of the five and
seventy pigs came in. It went up to Elfin and rubbed itself against him with
little loving grunts.
"See
the dear creature," said the nurse, wiping away a tear. "It knows, it
knows!"
Sabrinetta
stroked the pig, because Elfin’s hands were too painful for stroking or for
anything else.
"The
only cure for a dragon burn," said the old nurse, "is pig's fat, and
well that faithful creature knows it——"
"I
wouldn't for a kingdom," cried Elfin, stroking the pig as best he could
with his elbow.
"Is
there no other cure?" asked the Princess.
Here another
pig put its black nose in at the door, and then another and another, till the
room was full of pigs, a surging mass of rounded blackness, pushing and
struggling to get at Elfin, and grunting softly in the language of true
affection.
"There
is one other," said the nurse. "The dear, affectionate beasts—they
all want to die for you."
"What
is the other cure?" said Sabrinetta anxiously.
"If a
man is burnt by a dragon," said the nurse, "and a certain number of
people are willing to die for him, it is enough if each should kiss the burn
and wish it well in the depths of his loving heart."
"The
number! The number!" cried Sabrinetta.
"Seventy-seven,"
said the nurse.
"We
have only seventy-five pigs," said the Princess, "and with me that's
seventy-six!"
"It
must be seventy-seven—and I really can't die for him, so nothing can be
done," said the nurse, sadly. "He must have cork hands."
"I knew
about the seventy-seven loving people," said Elfin. "But I never
thought my dear pigs loved me so much as all this, and my dear too—and, of
course, that only makes it more impossible. There's one other charm that cures
dragon burns, though; but I'd rather endure life without the use of my hands or
be burnt black all over, than marry anyone but you, my dear, my pretty."
"Why,
who must you marry to cure your dragon burns?" asked Sabrinetta.
"A
Princess. That's how St. George cured his burns."
"There
now! Think of that!" aghast, said the nurse. "And I never heard tell
of that cure, old as I am."
 |
| 12- HAPPINESS AT LAST |
But Sabrinetta threw her arms round Elfin's neck and held him as though she would never let him go.
"Then
it's all right, my dear, brave, precious Elfin," she cried, "for I am
a Princess, and you shall be my Prince. Come along, Nurse—don't wait to put on
your bonnet. We'll go and be married at the basilica (cathedral, church), this
very moment."
So they
went, and the pigs came after, moving in stately blackness, two by two. And,
the minute he was married to the Princess, Elfin's hands miraculously got repaired.
And the people, who were weary of Prince Tiresome and his hippopotamuses,
hailed Sabrinetta and her husband as rightful Sovereigns of the land.
Next morning
the Prince and Princess along with key religious affiliates, went out to the cliff
top by the seashore and after the solemn ceremony, all eyes looking up, loudly apologized
to the Celestial dragon, for all the past prejudices, misdeeds and sins of men,
still a good lesson had been learned, one they will never forget. Afterwards
they expressed their hopeful desire that the dragon will be happy and at peace at
long last and living joyful existence among his own kind in Heaven. For surely, they knew, where he must be.
They could
see nothing, not a trace of the celestial dragon; but when they looked out
toward the whirlpool, they saw a remanent cloud of steam descending from the
clouds to join the whirlpool. The dragon was so moved, he pardoned the humanity
for their past transgressions; furthermore, he conveyed (imparted) on that
region, one final gift. The local fishermen reported later on that the water there
for miles around was hot enough to shave with! And as the water is hot and maintained
its therapeutic benefits to present day, along the shoreline sprung up countless
hostels (inns and clinics) that prospered, treating and curing all manner of impossible
ailments. Meanwhile, citizens of the region remained permanently grateful to the
benevolent dragon that had once existed, though reticently (guardedly,
evasively), among them.
*****
The Prince
and Princess since their happy union, ruled the land well and wisely. The nurse
lived with them, and did nothing but fine sewing and narrate stories, chiefly
about the benevolent dragon, delighting in the eager, wide-eyed children’s
faces as they listened to her accounts, with such innocent, rapt attention. The
prince kept no hippopotamuses, and consequently, remained very popular. The
five and seventy devoted pigs lived in white marble sties with brass knockers
and Pig on the doorplate, and were washed twice a day with Turkish sponges and
soap scented with violets, and no one objected to their following the Prince
when he walked abroad, for they behave beautifully, and always kept to the
footpath, and obey the notices about not walking on the grass. The Princess fed
them every day with her own hands, and her first edict on coming to the throne had
been that the word pork should never be uttered on pain of death, and should,
besides, be scratched out of all the dictionaries.
Fin
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