Darron and the Dragon

Once upon a time there was an old farmer who had three sons. When he died he left one third of his farm to each of them, and they worked together happily for a while and made a reasonable amount of money. But one day the youngest son decided that he was not suited to farm life and he planned to go and seek his fortune elsewhere. He sold his portion of the farm to his two brothers and set out to find a new home in a distant land.

After many months of travel, Darron, for that was his name, came to a small country ruled by a powerful king who had a beautiful daughter named Melissa. When Darron saw the princess for the first time, he immediately fell in love with her. He would do anything at all to have her for his own. But he was only the son of a farmer, and she was the daughter of a king.

Darron gave up all hope of marrying the beautiful Princess Melissa, but bought a small shop near the palace grounds so that he could behold her as she walked by his door with her ladies.

Then, one day, something came out of the nearby forest, a large dragon that trampled on people in the streets and burnt down their houses with its flaming breath. It came many times, each time taking away with it a little child to eat for tea. The king was so upset that he put forth a message that he would give the one who successfully hunted down the dragon anything at all that his heart desired.

On hearing this, Darron immediately went to the king's palace and offered to go and hunt the dragon.

"What exactly do you wish me to do, your majesty?" he asked.

"I want you," said the king, "to bring back to this palace the head of the ferocious dragon that has been terrorising this country.  Here is a suit of armour and a sword for you, and a bag to put the dragon's head in. If you can bring to me, in this bag, the head of the dragon, you may have anything you wish for."

Darron set off on his horse for the woods where the dragon lurked and soon came to an enormous cave in the side of a mountain, where he supposed the monster had its lair.

He was right. The ferocious dragon came thundering out of its cave, ranting and roaring and spitting out fire. When it noticed Darron it stopped for a moment in surprise and then went over to him. Fearlessly, Darron jumped off his horse and drew his sword. With a mighty blow he struck the dragon on the neck - and broke it - the sword that is, not the neck.

All the brave dragon-hunter had left was his horse and the big bag the king had given him. The dragon lifted his head, ready to release its flame and burn Darron to cinders, but Darron quickly mounted his horse and threw the bag over the dragon's head. The creature was so surprised to find the lights had suddenly gone out that it forgot how to breathe fire. Furiously it charged about, unable to remove the bag, and was still struggling when Darron's horse started off at a gallop. But the dragon heard the steed's hooves clattering on the ground and followed them, rushing blindly along behind Darron. Terrified, Darron spurred his horse on faster and faster and at last came back to the palace, the dragon still close behind him. When he reached the palace door he leapt off his horse and let the dragon go straight into the palace.

The king, queen, princess and all their servants ran to the door to try to escape. Only two people were killed, and they were servants so it didn't matter.

"You idiot!" stormed the king, as he closed the palace door behind him, locking the dragon inside. "Why didn't you kill the beast?"

"Sorry, your majesty. I couldn't."

Suddenly the dragon inside gave a terrible screech and crashed through the wall of the palace. It charged off into the distance as if it had been very badly frightened by something.

"It seems, your majesty," said Darron, "that the dragon managed to remove the bag from its head and saw its own reflection in the large mirror in the main hall. It was so frightened by the monster in front of it that it crashed through the wall and ran home."

"And it will probably be back to fight this monster it thinks is taking over its territory. So you have managed to bring this terrifying dragon right into the royal palace. Oh, how can I punish you severely enough?"

"You can't, your majesty. You must give me my reward."

"Your reward!" the king exploded. "But you did not kill the dragon!"

"You never said I had to. All you said was that I had to bring the dragon's head to the palace in the bag you gave me. And that is exactly what I did. I just happened to bring you the rest of the dragon as well."

"Why you - you have tricked me. But a king must keep his word. Even though you have only made the situation worse, you have done everything I asked you to. What will be your reward?"

"Your majesty, I ask, for my reward, the hand of your beautiful daughter, princess Melissa."

The king broke down and wept. "All right, Darron. You may have my daughter's hand, but, just for a few days, would you please go home and leave me in peace?"

"Yes, your majesty. I will expect to hear from you during the week."

When the young man had gone, the king went into his damaged palace and ordered his servants out. "I want to be alone", he explained. "I must lose my daughter to the son of a farmer. Oh, what can I do?"

"Please, your majesty," said the king's jester, "may I stay behind and speak with you for a moment. I have a suggestion that may interest you."

"You may stay, Jester. Any suggestion may be of some help."

So the jester stayed behind and talked to the king.

Two days later two of the king's men arrived at Darron's shop with a small box. They handed it to him and left, while the puzzled Darron unwrapped the box and opened it. When he lifted the lid he jumped back in horror, for there, lying in the wooden box, was a woman's hand - the hand of the beautiful Princess Melissa.

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Darron moved away from the country to look for a new home. It was his fault that the king had cut off Melissa's hand. He had taken the king literally so it was only fair that the king should take him literally. He had brought pain to the one he had loved, and still loved, though she was no longer near him.

Darron lived in poverty, all his money having been spent on his travels, and the only treasure he had left in the world was the hand in the box, which he valued above anything else.

He lived alone like this for almost a year, and he was surprised when, one day, he saw a royal coach approaching his little cottage. He ran to meet it - and found that it contained the king and his beautiful daughter - accompanied by some servants.

"At last I have found you, Darron," said the king. ":The dragon is dead. It was frightened so much by its own image that it ran and ran until it came to the sea, and just kept on running until it drowned. So you really did rid us of the monster. Since then my daughter has told me that she always had a secret liking for you and admired your courage very much. So if you wish you may wed her and come to live at the palace."

"Your majesty, there is nothing I should like better. I will marry your daughter. I have always loved her. But - but what about her hand?"

"Ha, ha! The hand is not real. I got an old witch to make it for me. Very realistic, isn't it? You probably would have lived your whole life thinking I really cut off my own daughter's hand. Come back with me now, my son. I will make you Prince Darron, future king of this country."

(Actually, I have it on good authority that the hand was, in fact, real. It had belonged to a servant girl who had been sentenced to death for stealing some apricots from the royal garden. Perhaps the king was rather sensitive to the fact that Darron himself had also been a member of the lower classes.)

So Darron married the lovely princess and went to live in the palace. As soon as his two elder brothers heard the good news they immediately sold their farm and came to live with him, so they would never have to work again. When the king died, Darron became the new king and he and his wife, Queen Melissa, ruled over the country wisely and well, and everybody lived happily ever after.