English

A very ancient legend tells a story about a lost dragon that

reached very high mountains with rugged slopes and there, he

found a nice hot, comfortable cave where he decided to live.

One day, while he was flying over a golden wheat field he

burst out sneezing and, as everybody knows, when a dragon

sneezes his nose expels fire. He didn't do it on purpose, but he

set fire to the crop. A farmworker, who was over there, saw

it and he spread the word in the village that a very fierce

dragon had burnt their fields and wanted to devastate the

kingdom. The people in the village began to be afraid of the

dragon and they looked at the sky, curious and frightened,

looking for him.

Another day, he went down to the river to drink and he met

a shepherd and his flock. In spite of moving very slowly and

smiling, the sheep were so afraid to see him that they started

to run and bleat desperately in all directions.

Consequently, the shepherd said to all those who wanted to

listen to him that an enormous dragon capable of gobbling up

seven oxen in one bite and looking hungry, had wanted to

eat their sheep.

From that moment on, the

dragon could not fly during the

day any more as people

followed him and threw him

stones. He flew during the

night bathed in moonlight.

On one occasion he saw a

princess crying out in the

balcony. As she looked very

sad, he approached her and he

held out his paw to her as a

gesture of friendship. Feeling

lonely, she touched his paw

and explained that she was

crying because she was not

allowed to leave the palace

and she wanted to know the

rest of the world.

At nightfall, one day, when they were leaving the palace,

the baker, who works when everybody sleeps, saw the

dragon with the princess and started to shout. He woke up

all the people in the village and they and the royal guard

threw the dragon arrows and lances. The princess wanted

to explain that he was her friend, but they were very far

and they could not hear her.

The dragon descended a little so that they could hear what

the princess was telling them, but they were so furious that

they did not listen to her and a soldier plunged the lance

into the dragon's paw. Being in pain, he flew to his cave

and there they waited for the injuries to cure.

She also said that she had never played with children, as she

could not get dirty or lose her refined manners. Therefore,

she did not have any friends because there were only old

people in the castle. The dragon, feeling sorry for her,

invited her to ride him and fly with him so that she could see

the village and the forest. The princess was delighted to

agree, they became good friends and they flew together

every night.

Meanwhile, in the castle the King and

the Queen promised a fortune to the

person who killed the dragon and

rescued the princess. Brave knights and

a number of princes appeared, but none

of them reached the cave. One of them

came across an enormous snake in his

path. He was so afraid that he came

back to the palace galloping. Obviously,

he could not tell the real reason for his

return, as he would make a coward of

himself.

Therefore, he made up a story and

explained to the King and the Queen

that he had got close to the dragon, but he

was so big and fierce that, despite his

brave fight, he had not defeated him.

Another one reached the mountain, but

he was not good at climbing, so he could

not arrive at the cave. He also returned

to the palace telling his fight against the

big dragon in great detail.

Fire was expelled from his nose and

mouth and his eyes sparkled with

rays, giving everybody a withering

look. Besides he was covered with

venomous spines.

Every brave prince or knight who

came back empty-handed told terrible

things about the dragon, although none

of them had seen him really.

A week later, the dragon with tender

eyes had become a monster for the

people in the kingdom.

One morning a climber, who did not

believe in tales about dragons eating

princesses or all that rubbish, reached

the cave. He greeted the princess and

the little dragon and he asked if he

could rest for a while before climbing

down the mountain.

He seemed so kind and friendly that

they invited him to stay for some

days.

A few weeks later, the three of them continued living happily in

the cave. Every night they flew and in the morning the princess

told them stories about far away countries as she had studied a

lot and she knew a lot of things, although she had not played at all.

That´s how the dragon learnt that in China, a place in the east,

people loved dragons. They thought very highly of them and there

were a lot of dragons like him.

The princess and the climber fell in love without

realizing. One day, while they were sitting in front of

the fire eating wild strawberries, they decided to go to

the village together to explain that he, bravely,

had killed the dragon so that the King could

give him her hand in marriage and a great

amount of silver and gold too to travel

around the world together.

This way they would leave the dragon alone, thinking

that he was dead. But the dragon explained that he

was planning to fly to China one night to meet other

male and female dragons to be happy with them. Jordi,

the climber, who knew a lot about maps and how to get

to different places, showed him the shortest way.

They decided to take the lance that had injured and

killed the dragon and they picked up some beautiful red

roses that had grown where the blood from the injury

had fallen. They wanted to explain that those flowers

had appeared where the brave climber had shed the

dragon's blood.

One evening they said goodbye with certain sadness,

but very happy because they could always remember

the great time they had spent together and because they

were going to start a new life.

Jordi and the little princess set off towards the castle,

and the dragon, at nightfall, took flight towards the east.

They got married and partridges flew freely and

happily in their kingdom.

THE END