The Dragon of Krakow

by Richard Monte

  “Have you anything to sell?” Janek asked, remembering his pact with the duck.

  “Have I got anything to sell? Now there’s a thought!” laughed the beggar. “Well, young man, I’ve got nothing – except a good heart. I will sell you that.”

  Janek scoffed. “I don’t need a heart. I already have one of my own.”

  The beggar roared with laughter. “You have a stone for a heart.”

  Janek felt insulted. “Why do you say that? I have never done anyone any wrong.” And he reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of coins and threw them on the floor at the beggar’s feet. “I’ll show you my heart! There!”

  The earth shook. There was a rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning. The beggar had vanished, and in his place stood a princess with a gold crown on her head, just like the one which the golden duck had worn.

  Janek looked down at his clothes. His riding boots had gone. His velvet shirt and silk cravat had disappeared. He was back in his ragged old work clothes again.

  “You didn’t keep your word, and now you will remain a poor shoemaker’s apprentice,” said the princess.

  Janek blinked, as her words echoed in his ears. Then a wave of relief rushed over him. A great weight had gone from his shoulders.

  “What’s the point of being rich, if you can’t share your riches? I could never be happy like that,” he wanted to say – but when he looked up, the princess had vanished.

  So Janek went back to his room above the shoemaker’s shop and believe it or not, he slept like a log that night – before starting another working day.

  Mountain Man and Oak Tree Man

  The sound of gun shots echoed through a forest. A bear and a wolf looked at each other and began to run.

  “Why does the king always have to go hunting?” gasped the bear, as they hurried off through the trees.

  “I don’t know. Let’s get as far away as possible,” cried the wolf.

  They didn’t stop running until they were on the other side of the forest. It was then that they heard a faint whimpering sound.

  “That was no animal cry,” howled the wolf.

  “You’re right. Let’s go and have a look,” growled the bear.

  They hurried towards the crying, until they came to a ring of pine trees. There, beside a tree trunk, lay not one, but two baby boys, and the body of a young woman, who had died giving birth to them.

  “Goodness gracious. The poor little mites!” exclaimed the bear, picking them up. “We must get them to safety.”

  The wolf dug a hole and buried their mother, placing a little cross of twigs in the earth. They gathered up the blueberries she had been picking and ambled home to their cave in the mountains.

  “What are we going to do with them?” asked the wolf.

  “Well, I’m not handing them over to the king. He’ll shoot us on the spot,” said the bear. “There’s nothing for it. We must bring them up ourselves.”

  Years passed, and the boys grew older and stronger – so strong, in fact, that one day the bear and the wolf looked at each other aghast.

  “Goodness! My boy can pull up trees!” said the bear, looking at a pile of uprooted oaks lying outside the cave.

  “That’s nothing. Mine has just moved a mountain!” said the wolf, pointing with her nose to a big gap in the landscape.

  “If the king finds out about this, we’ll be in for it,” said the bear, shaking.

  “I think they are old enough to look after themselves!” said the wolf.

  When the two boys came back from the forests and the mountains, the bear and the wolf looked at them fondly.

  “You have both grown into fine young men. We’ll miss you so much,” said the bear tearfully.

  “Yes, we will. Take care, and don’t go pulling up too many oak trees or moving too many mountains, or the king will be after you,” added the wolf.

  So Mountain Man and Oak Tree Man went out into the world, forgetting everything they had been told. If a dense oak forest blocked their way, Oak Tree Man would pull up the trees by the roots and carve out a path. If a mountain stood in their way, Mountain Man would move it. They went on like this for days and days, until they had moved so many mountains and pulled up so many oak trees that the entire landscape had been altered beyond belief.

  ***

  The king pulled on his beard, looked out of the window of his palace – and fell off his throne. “Karlik, come at once! Someone’s stolen my oak forest! How am I going to hunt now?”

  The next day he looked out of the window and saw that some of the mountains had been moved. “Karlik, come at once! Someone’s stolen my mountains! Are you responsible for this?”

  Karlik, the king’s adviser, shook his head and squinted through dark, beady eyes. “No master, but I will find out who has done this. He must possess great strength. Perhaps he can kill that terrible dragon.”

  The king played with his beard. Yes, he had forgotten about their old foe, the dragon. How he would love to be rid of it! The beast had scorched fields with its hot breath, eaten many of the people and threatened to destroy the king’s palace.

  “Find out who is responsible, and tell him that if he can put his great strength to better use and kill my old enemy, I will give him one of my daughters and my kingdom as a reward.”

  Karlik scampered off through the corridors of the palace to find his orange and red magic carpet. He sat down, gave it one quick tug and flew off to find the culprit.

  Oak Tree Man was woken by the sound of little feet. At first he thought it was a squirrel, but when he looked closer, he saw that a dwarf in bright red boots had joined them in the glade. He nudged Mountain Man, who blinked in surprise. Karlik had rolled up his orange and red spiral-pattened carpet and was carrying it under his arm.

  “Ah! So there are two of you! Good afternoon, gentle giants!” said Karlik politely, peeping up over Mountain Man’s shoes. “How would you like to marry the king’s two daughters?”

  The two giants nodded.

  “We’d love to. Just tell us how!”

  Karlik put down the carpet and unrolled it.

  “Well, if you can defeat the dragon that threatens his kingdom, you will get your reward.”

  Mountain Man laughed loudly and the ground shook.

  “This is a magic carpet. Sit on this and it will take you to the dragon,” said Karlik.

  At first the two giants thought it impossible that they could both fit on such a small piece of cloth. But as soon as they sat on it, the carpet seemed to grow in size. Karlik clapped his hands and the carpet flew up into the air, carrying the two giants with it. When they looked down, they could see the little man hurrying along below.

  “Doesn’t it surprise you that I can move so quickly, even though I am so small?” he shouted up at them.

  “Yes it does!” Mountain Man shouted back.

  “Well, you see my red boots. They are very special. A wizard gave them to me. Once I put them on and start running, each step I take is one mile. If I jump, I can travel two miles.”

  Karlik demonstrated this and the two brothers had to urge the carpet forward to catch him up.

  As the carpet flew over the dwarf again, they shouted down, “Hey there, can we have your boots?”

  They were nearing the dragon’s lair and landed safely in a clearing. Karlik had taken off his boots and was sitting by a tree.

  “How do you know they will fit you?” he asked.

  Mountain Man and Oak Tree Man looked worried for a moment. Then, as they tried them on, they both burst out laughing because, like the magic carpet, the boots grew big enough to fit their huge feet.

  “The dragon’s cave is over there, between those mountains. Good luck – and don’t forget to share your boots!” cried Karlik, skipping off back to the palace, well away from any danger.

  Mountain Man and Oak Tree Man stared at each other. Then, laughing, each put on a boot.

  “I have never worn anything so ridiculous!” said Mountain
Man.

  “Nor I!” exclaimed Oak Tree Man.

  They hobbled clumsily forward.

  “I hope these boots work for us!” said Oak Tree Man. It was getting hot and he could smell the dragon’s sulphurous breath. He pulled up an oak tree and carried it like a club, in case he needed a weapon.

  Then they saw the cave. The ground was littered with old bones and the earth was scorched dry.

  “Right. I will climb up on top of the cave and give it a good bang. You hit him with your club when he comes out!” shouted Mountain Man loudly.

  The cave shook and a terrible roar came from inside. The dragon was awake!

  “Who dares rattle my cave like this!” Out he came, teeth bared and fire circling his tongue.

  Oak Tree Man took one look at the dragon and almost dropped his club. It was a good thing he had his magic boot on, because in one jump he had leapt two miles away!

  The dragon turned on Mountain Man, who picked up a huge boulder and threw it at the creature. It landed on the dragon’s tail. What a roar the beast gave! Mountain Man then used his boot to jump two miles away.

  Back in the forest the two brothers discussed what to do.

  “That dragon can’t move. His tail is pinned to the ground,” said Mountain Man.

  “Then what are we waiting for! Let’s go back and finish him off,” said Oak Tree Man, waving his club.

  So they used their boots to jump back again.

  The dragon was wild with rage.

  “You monstrous giants! I’ll kill you!” he roared.

  Oak Tree Man stepped forward and beat the dragon with his club. Mountain Man threw a huge boulder at him. The dragon let out one last ferocious groan – and expired.

  The two brothers strode up to the palace. The king came to meet them and stood on the drawbridge looking up in amazement at the two giants.

  “I saw it all! Come in! Come in! We will have a feast, and you shall marry my daughters! Isn’t it a good thing I have two of them!”

  Karlik was guest of honour at the marriage ceremony and after dinner, he entertained the guests with wonderful stories of his magic boots.

  The next day, at a public meeting, the local farmers and shepherds voiced their worries that the two giants might go on pulling up trees and mountains.

  But the brothers reassured them: “Good sirs! Your livelihoods are safe. Never again will we touch the trees or the mountains.”

  Then they turned to the king. “We have carried out your wishes. We will never move your mountains or your oak trees. But we ask one thing of you.”

  “And what is that?” asked the king.

  “Promise never to hunt the bears and the wolves that live in your forests and mountains.”

  The king agreed, and when he died, the two brothers banned hunting throughout the land, for they never forgot the kindly bear and the wolf who had brought them up.

  Neptune and the Naughty Fish

  Among the coral reefs and rock plants of the Baltic Sea, there lived a family called Plaice. They were so plain and dull, the other creatures of the sea never noticed them, but the Plaice family tried to look on the bright side.

  “We may not have spots, or stripes, or rainbow-coloured fins like other fish, but at least no one hunts us for food.”

  Then one day, a clever little Plaice was born. Unlike her brothers and sisters, she was always asking questions about the world.

  “What is up there? Does all this water ever come to an end? What are those dark shapes which pass above us across the sea?”

  “So many questions for such a little fish!” laughed her granddad, but he didn’t have any answers. “Go and see the Salmon. He knows everything.”

  Granddad Salmon was a wise old fish who lived with his family near a coral reef. He had sailed through many oceans and seen things other fish could only imagine. When the little Plaice started asking him questions, he was surprised.

  “Well now, I thought I’d seen everything, but I never thought I’d live to see a Plaice asking questions! Let me tell you about the sea above. Sometimes it can be rough. Ships get caught in violent sea-storms and are cast against the rocks. They sink to the bottom and we call them wrecks. But don’t you worry too much, for Neptune the Sea god has forbidden us to go near them.”

  He knew many sea tales and the little Plaice enjoyed listening to him.

  “I would love to swim between the rotting timbers of a sunken ship and hunt for treasure,” she said.

  The old Salmon nodded, remembering his youth.

  “I was like you once, you know. I wanted to find treasure. I was lucky and escaped alive. It’s a risky business being a treasure-hunter.”

  He told the little Plaice how he had seen glass jars full of wine and olive oil, wooden caskets packed with china, chests of porcelain and sacks of grain, diamond-studded coffers bulging with gold coins, and glittering rainbow-coloured jewels.

  “That was in the days before Neptune forbade us to swim among the shipwrecks!”

  The old Salmon’s stories only made the little Plaice more eager to see the treasures for herself. She spent her days swimming around the old wrecks, crossing waters which were out of bounds, and bringing back questions about the things she had seen.

  “What are the big gold circles I saw?” she asked.

  “Those are rings,” answered the Salmon.

  “What are the bigger circles joined together?”

  “Bracelets.”

  “Why do people need rings and bracelets?”

  “They think that shiny pieces of metal and stone make them more attractive!” laughed the Salmon.

  “I wish I could wear a ring,” mused the little Plaice wistfully.

  “And where would you stick it? Through your nose? Why can’t you just be yourself?” chuckled the Salmon.

  ***

  It was the time of the year when the Salmon left home to visit distant oceans. The little Plaice grew bored. To make her days more interesting, she sought out ships which had sunk to the bottom of the sea. She swam inside them and played with sparkling trinkets. Maybe jewellery would make her more interesting, if only she could find something special.

  Other fish warned her, “If Neptune catches you playing in those wrecks, you’ll regret it!”

  A group of big Cods laughed and jeered, “Haven’t you been found out yet?”

  The little Plaice waved them away. “I’m not scared of anything! I’m looking for treasure!” she exclaimed.

  The big Cods could see that she meant business.

  “Well, don’t say we didn’t warn you!” they shouted back, and quickly swam as far away as possible.

  One day, the Plaice decided to go on a journey. The Salmon had once told her of a distant part of the sea where a huge old wreck had lain for thousands of years. It was covered in barnacles and limpets and inside its rusty hull was a jewel-studded chest full of treasure. It was hidden in a room where a chandelier of shells hung from the ceiling.

  She swam for days and nights. The sea became deeper and darker and the little Plaice sometimes stopped to talk to pink crabs and sea-snails with yellow and brown stripy shells.

  “You must be new to these waters,” said the crabs.

  “We haven’t seen you before,” added the snails.

  “I’ve come to seek out the wreck that lies in this part of the sea.”

  “Oh, that’s over there beyond those rocks. Why do you want to see that rusty old skeleton?” asked the crabs.

  “I’ve been told that a treasure-chest lies inside it. I’m looking for some special jewellery to make myself look more interesting.”

  “No one has ever dared venture inside. Neptune can see everything, you know!”

  “Oh I’m not scared of Neptune,” scoffed the Plaice, and with that she swam off towards the algae-covered rocks which the crabs had told her about.

  The lights from electric fish lit up the rotting beams of the old wreck. Inside, sea-horses hung from the rafters like lamps. She followed
the lights along a corridor. She swam into a room and saw the chandelier of shells hanging from the ceiling, just as the old Salmon had described. In the middle stood a huge chest decorated with carvings of snakes and tongues of fire. It was studded with precious stones: rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds, which glittered beneath the chandelier.

  The little Plaice began knocking against the chest with her snout, mouth and tail, but it would not open, so she swam back through the wreck and went to look for other fish to help her. It wasn’t easy. Everyone in the sea was scared of Neptune.

  “Why are you all so frightened? Have any of you ever seen him?” she asked.

  “Curiosity has already killed the cat! What chance has a nosy little Plaice got?” said the Cuttlefish.

  “Seek – and you shall find yourself in deep water!” laughed the Cods.

  “Have some sense. You’re too young to lose your life,” warned the Salmons.

  Only a Halibut, a Sole and a blind old Turbot dared enter the wreck.

  “Show us where the chest is, and we’ll help you open it, but if Neptune catches you we’re not staying around,” they said.

  The little Plaice was delighted. She wouldn’t be so dull and grey once she had those jewels dangling from her body. She led the blind Turbot, the Halibut and the Sole along the dimly-lit corridors of the wreck towards the great room where the treasure-chest lay. The heavy lid creaked as it opened and bubbles of air sailed out into the water and disappeared along the corridors of the abandoned ship.

  In her eagerness, she darted inside the chest and started to nose around.

  Suddenly the other fish trembled. The entire wreck shook as if an earthquake was shaking the seabed.

  “Don’t worry. It is only a tremor. It will pass,” said the little Plaice.

  But the shaking became more and more violent, and they all grew scared.

  “This is more than a tremor. Let’s go!” shouted the Halibut and the Sole, and dropping the lid, they raced blindly along the corridors, carrying the Turbot between them, in a desperate attempt to find the open sea.