Christiana

by Jim Pappas

  Just then there came passing by an officer of the law who was glancing about himself in obvious fear. Him Great-heart managed to detain and asked the meaning of all this mysterious behavior. The 'copper' cast a furtive glance in all directions before beckoning them into an alley and venturing a whispered answer. "What! Are you only strangers in these parts that you do not know?"

  "Know what?" asked Great-heart.

  "Shhh! Not so loud!" answered the officer in a hoarse whisper. Then, after casting another fearful glance behind him he answered, "Don't you know? Have you really not heard?"

  "About what?"

  "About . . ." and at this, he paused, swallowed hard, and then said, ". . . about 'The Night of The Dragon'."

  "What dragon?" queried Matthew.

  "What night?" asked Great-heart.

  "Shhh!" commanded the frightened man with another furtive glance before and behind. "Not so loud!"

  "I have heard nothing of these things," said Great-heart. "Say on more."

  So beginning from records most ancient, the officer gave a brief overview of the "Night of The Dragon" - a dark night in the autumn of certain years. On said night a great beast of indescribable evil would make one of its periodic forays against Vanity Faire. On these occasions, the beast, guided by a mysterious rider, would assault the city. Without apparent rhyme or reason it would terrorize the entire town. When it was finished with its orgy of destruction it would retreat, herding off as many children as could be captured. Behind it lay a wide swath of destruction and many men and women lying smashed, broken, and bleeding in the streets.

  "And is there no prince or knight with courage enough to oppose him?" asked Great-heart incredulously.

  "Nay, none," quoth the sheriff, "for all the children of noble birth have been captured and raised as siblings to the beast's own vicious sucklings. They are then returned to us as the educated elite. 'Tis they who now comprise the leadership of Vanity Faire. 'Tis they who frame the laws and it does not so much as enter their minds that they should oppose him."

  "And is this beast truly about to strike?"

  "Yea, of a surety. All the gypsies of the Faire have had their crystal balls turn to murky darkness. The tarot cards yield only confusion, the tea leaves show nothing at all, and every familiar spirit has fallen silent. Divinations, chantings, fastings, even the self flaggelations of our priests achieve nothing. Nothing at all. Yea, truly, the serpent strikes in verity."

  "Tonight?" asked Matthew.

  "Yes. 'Tis the last day of the month. He always strikes on the devil's holiday." answered the trembling man.

  "And does someone always die?"

  "Always."

  "And are children always taken?"

  "Yea, always. But if thou canst do anything, help us!" pleaded the wretched man.

  "If, did you say? All things are possible to him that believeth."

  "Lord Great-heart, I don't know how to believe. I can only ask that you help my unbelief."

  Now the monster of which they spake was unlike any other beast upon the face of all the earth. Its body was that of a great red dragon; it had seven heads and ten horns, and there were crowns upon seven of his heads. Upon its back, there rode a woman clad in the voluptuous attire of a harlot. She was bedecked with purple and scarlet and held in her hand a gold cup filled with an abominable wine brewed in the temples of Babylon. She it was who, with unseen and subtle touch, directed the movements of the monster. She too it was that raised the captive children in the ways of spiritual adultery. Moreover 'twas she who propounded conditions to the men of Vanity Faire by which she would not slay them but let them live. And such men as loved this present life more than that eternal one, gladly exchanged true liberty for false security. Yea, they bowed before her saying, "Who is able to make war with the beast, and who dares to stand against him?"

  So Great-heart and Matthew returned to their company and reported how that the beast and its rider had terrorized the town. Then all rose up as one man shouting indignantly, "Down with the Medusa monster and its whore of a rider!"

  "But, lads," cautioned Mr. Feeble-mind. "Ye all be fathers of young children. Will you risk retribution upon your little ones should you fail in battle?"

  "What!" cried James. "Shall we stand by idle until all the town is vanquished?"

  "But at least you and yours will be safe!" answered he (not believing his own words but trying out our boys to see what answer they might give).

  "Safe until when?" replied our hero. "Only until there is no one to join us in our battle. Safe until he chooses to pick us off one by one. I say forward to the fray; for our only danger is that we shall forget how God has led us in the past!"

  "Hear! Hear!" shouted they all. And so it was that they vowed before God that they should deliver the town from the jaws of the serpent. When word of their decision had reached Mr. Contrite and the other godly men of the town, they took heart and pledged themselves, their fortunes, and their lives to see the noble enterprise to its victorious conclusion.

  So it was that Mr. Honest, Mr. Contrite, Mr. Holy-man, Mr. Dare-not-lie, Mr. Penitent, Great-heart and the four sons of Christian put on the whole armor of God and stationed themselves at the gate of the town. Meanwhile, their mother, their young wives, and their wee ones set themselves to fasting and prayer for sons, husbands and fathers. Yea, they stormed the very bastions of heaven with the violence of their earnest petitions.

  Well, sure enough, just as the town clock began tolling out twelve bells, the night breeze drifting down the hills began to bear upon its wings the biting odor of hellish sulfur and the sleep-inducing vapors of Babylonish wine. 'Ere long they heard the rustle of scales, the scuffling of a dragging tail, and the angry click of iron claws upon cobblestones. There came the snapping sounds of street posts broken off at the base and the sickening rumble of cottages being shouldered off their foundations. There followed the crushing sound of roofs being smashed in and the tinkling rain of window glass cascading to the floor in a million pieces. There were women screaming, children crying, babies wailing and men calling for buckets of water to put out the myriad fires kindled by the dragon's breath. The village dogs, who should have barked up a storm and harried the beast on all sides, had gone dumb with fear. As they whimpered down the street with tails between legs, they looked for all the world like giant rats fleeing a sinking ship. The citizens, of course, were fleeing for safety, taking only the clothes on their backs and dragging wailing little ones behind. Thus it was that Mr. Great-heart and band found themselves standing all alone at the city gate.

  Now you can well imagine the surprise of this demonic duo when, upon rounding the corner onto main street, they came upon a band of grim-faced warriors standing with flaming torches and drawn swords. "Eh? Whaaaa?" puzzled one of the beast's heads as it looked one upon its fellows in stunned amazement. After a moment of silence wherein to recover her wits, the rider leered at the men in angry contempt and bade them step aside or be trampled by the beast. To punctuate her words, the old red dragon reared up all haughty and insolent against them. Some of his heads snarled and roared while others spewed forth orange flames and yellow-gray sulphurous smoke. With its iron claws the monster gashed out a section of cobblestone paving and sent some of the stones crashing through the door and windows of a nearby cottage.

  Now such a show of might would have put lesser men upon their heels long before this. But Great-heart's men, because of their purity of heart and singleness of purpose, were each of them braver than one of David's mighty ones. Yea, it was of them that the prophet Joel spake when he called them ". . . a great people and a strong . . .They shall run like mighty men, they shall climb the walls like men of war, and they shall march every one on his ways . . .The earth shall quake before them . . ."

  Now at first glance, one might think that giving battle to a seven-headed dragon would be nigh unto impossible. And indeed this might be true of a single warrior. But Great-heart knew that all seven heads were attached to but o
ne body. And because one body can advance or retreat in only one direction, the multiplicity of heads was of no great advantage in actual combat. Thus it was that Great-heart and his men stood fearless and yielding not one inch of ground.

  "Eeerraaauugh!" snarled one of the heads.

  Clickity-click went iron claws upon cobblestones.

  "Psssshhhh," hissed another head.

  "Errroooaaar!" roared the head that resembled a lion.

  So the beast stood all unsure and hesitating - one head spewing smoke, another screaming and a third roaring like a lion. Then the rider goaded the beast with her high heels and reined it into a mighty, lumbering charge against Great-heart. At this, the four young men dashed in from both sides with lances and swords and chipped a few nicks into the beast's scaly armor. On his part, Great-heart darted left and right quick as a mongoose, smashing his shield into one of the faces and leaving a dripping wound upon another. Some of the godly men of the town began to sling stones thick as hail at the leftmost head. Yea, so David-like was their aim that it was soon trying to execute a bloody retreat behind one of its fellows. Others of them had thrown a lasso around the two horns on the dragon's tail and were now being yanked to and fro by its flailings.

  Now it was not long until the beast and his jostled rider realized that this band of warriors was not comprised of the local mindless gentry; those who had been paralyzed by entertainments and pleasure. Therefore, finding themselves harried and harassed on all sides, they were not long in calling for space to breathe a bit - which was granted them.

  Then the woman, who, on the exterior was most lovely to behold, changed her mask, as it were, and gracefully dismounted from her dragonish companion. Walking boldly in and among our men as if at a party with familiar friends, she spoke many words of flowery flattery. She lauded them for their heroism and praised their might and courage. She smiled coy smiles and sought to display her many charms to their best advantage. She waved her golden cup before them and softly blew the vapors of its treacherous wine into their faces. But the men, both young and old, had made a covenant with their eyes and so were as those who neither saw nor heard.

  She then presented herself before Great-heart himself and proposed that everything was just a small misunderstanding. "Let us put aside our small differences," quoth she, "and work together to forge a new order. We shall build a utopia where all will share equally in the rich bounties of the earth. 'To each according to his need; from each according to his ability'," said she. She then offered to share a refreshing sip from the golden cup in her hand. "This is the world's finest wine," declared she, "Centuries old and squeezed from the presses of Alexandria, Athens, and Rome. Yea," she continued, "'tis the very wine we serve the children who are lucky enough to be brought up in our way of thinking. Come, partake, for there is enough for all to take their fill."

  "Hah! That we might be polluted by thy adulterous abominations and shorn of our strength!" cried Great-heart indignantly.

  "What!" shouted Mr. Holy-man. "Would you have us exchange the pure blood of the grape squeezed at Calvary for the fiery brew fermented in the witches' cauldrons of Babylon! Away, vile harlot!"

  Then the whore struck a provocative pose and addressed herself to Matthew and his brothers, saying, "What? Will you lusty young men let these senile graybeards speak on your behalf?"

  Now because all of these noble youth had made Job's covenant with their eyes, the wanton woman's scanty attire and seductive manner was more disgusting than seductive. So Matthew answered angrily, "Nay! But we shall speak for ourselves."

  "And what would you whisper to me?" she invited coyly.

  "I would say, 'En garde, wench!'" shouted he as he readied his blade and lifted high the key of promise. "En garde!" shouted his brothers. "En garde!" cried all the holy men of the town.

  The woman, seeing that she could not arouse their baser passions, put off her mask of pleasantry and swore venomously, "All right, simple fools. Seeing you will not accept from me a message of love and peace, you shall receive from my beast the message of hate and war!" So she wheeled about and clicked her high-heeled way back to the beast. There she was lifted by one of its heads to her jewel encrusted saddle. So she spurred the beast anew to the attack.

  Now the ensuing battle was furious to behold, for the beast itself was like unto a small army. Head one, being earlier wounded by the sling stones, only roared continuously. To his left, head two belched forth clouds of eye-stinging, lung-searing smoke. The next head, perched upon a long snake-like neck, rose up high above the others. He had yellow-green snake-eyes that glowed in the dark and seemed to see everything. On his long snakish neck he was ever weaving to and fro in constant communication with his fellows. By him they were alerted whenever one of our heroes was in a position to either do harm or be snatched off his feet by snarling jaws.

  In the center was a head more stout than all the rest. He had a man's face and wore a triple crown. He it was who seemed to be in command and furious was his countenance towards those who dared oppose him.

  To his left was a head like unto a frog. From his mouth there issued forth flattering words, misinformation, and propaganda. Moreover, out of his mouth issued forth a long, sticky, forked tongue which could wrap itself about a victim. Woe to that man who allowed himself to come within its reach, for it would stick to him and pull him into range of the other heads who would instantly tear him to pieces.

  Next was a head that continually poured forth hypnotic music with which to disarm his enemies. It was music such as I have never heard before: heavy, driving, dissonant pulsations so loud as to bring pain to the ears and drown out all else besides.

  Last was a roaring, lion-like head that made the very earth shake with the power of its voice. His work it was to strike fear into the hearts of any opponents. "Give back!" it roared. "Give back! For who is able to stand against the beast or to make war with him?"

  This then was the beast which opposed itself to our little army. But trusting in the power of the key of promise and in He who had given it to them, they were totally undaunted by loud roarings, hypnotic rhythms, fuming gases, gnashing fangs and earth-ripping claws. Great-heart, fearless of mere threats from an abandoned woman and a pretentious beast, resumed his attack. The slingers slang stones the size of hens' eggs. The archers sent steel-tipped arrows zinging between bony scales. The spear men jabbed and poked while the swordsmen hacked, thrust and parried.

  And so it was that 'ere long the beast was pierced, bruised and cut in so many places that he deemed it high time to sacrifice pride upon the altar of survival. Therefore did he seek to beat a hasty retreat. Great-heart, seeing his opportunity, dealt a nearly fatal wound to the stout head. Yea, his neck was nearly severed and his head flopped about uselessly and turned an ashen gray. So it was that the monster and its voluptuous mistress beat a hasty, limping retreat, leaving behind a trail of thick, oily blood.

  Now a few ruffians, youth, and soldiers of the town had been attracted by the fracas and now gathered courage enough to chase after the beast. They followed hard upon the monster's tail, hurling stones at already wounded heads, casting dust into already blinded eyes, and cursing the monster by the gods of Vanity (not realizing, of course, that it was the god of Vanity they were pursuing).

  Then was there a grand rejoicing in Vanity Faire. The day next Great-heart and his companions received great honor and adulation from the gentry of the town. Yea, some of the superstitious priests would have offered garlands and sacrifices before them as gods. But Great-heart protested, saying, "Ye men of Vanity, cease and desist. For we are men of like passions with yourselves. Worship the true God who created the heavens and the earth. 'Tis the Creator who must be lifted up - that He may draw all men unto Himself. The creature must be put down lest we become foolish and vain in our imaginations!"

  Yet even so, it was with some difficulty that they prevented the people from bowing before them. But still, though these men had wrought such a wondrous deliverance by the
hand of their God, very few Vanitarians made any change. They chose instead to keep on in the evil ways that had made them so weak and impotent against the ravages of the beast.

  So it was that the "Night of The Dragon" came to a temporary end. Oh, to be sure he and his adulterous rider came again many a time. But because of his many wounds he limped badly and for a long while could do no more than threaten the children of Vanity. As for his flame, he could do little more than get up a few puffs of sooty smoke. Therefore, from the time of his deadly wounding and onward, there were only weak attempts at a raid and not many children were taken. Indeed, some of the leading religionists of Vanity declared that the beast would surely die of his deadly wound. However, just between you and me, I have read in Christian's little book that the deadly wound shall be healed and that all the world shall wonder after the beast again. Therefore, be on your guard and very diligent, O, ye shepherds in Israel. For the dragon seeks still to capture and train your little ones.

  Now the tale of that healing and the woes that settled down upon Vanity Faire because of it, are a tale to be told at another time. Should it be my lot to pass this way with you again, I shall speak of those evil days and God's deliverance in some great detail.