The Dragon - a Fable

BACKGROUND

Thanks to "onlythelonelylove" for his constructive comments on my Little Langford story and for drawing my attention to Wawel Castle having a ley line.

I hope that he enjoys (and you enjoy) this fable of Hitler's rise and fall.

THE STORY BEGINS

A century before the first Castle was built, the Dragon of Wawel Hill plagued the town of Kraków.

The man-eating monster was appeased with a weekly ration of cattle by the already impoverished people. The Krakow villagers could scarcely afford to feed the Dragon. It was better for them to feed the Dragon on cattle rather than have it eat your wife or child.

The villagers went about their subjugated business unaware of psychic ley line powers.

So they fed their cattle on grain that could be ground into flour and baked into loaves of bread. Then every Saturday they left the best cow at the entrance of the Dragon's cave.

Then appeared on the scene a scholar named Kris. He was a kindly, trusting, learned man. He was too trusting. He believed that all people are as kind as him. But of course this is not true. And, as we all know, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Because of his extensive knowledge, Kris knew that Wavell Hill lay on the crossroads of 3 ley lines.

THE VILLAGE MEETING

The pre-Castle Krakow had no need of a leader, since it only had a small population. Kris called a Village Meeting which meant all adult men were obliged to attend.

Kris explained to the male villagers "A Ley Line Crossroad gives people otherworldly powers. Three good men could use this ley line power to outwit the Dragon."

Most of the villagers were afraid. Fear of a Dragon is natural. Fear would be my response to having a man eating monster living near me. I would have reacted the same as most of the villagers. I would have feared moving from the status quo, even though I would want to be rid of the Dragon.

One villager spoke up. He only said what the majority of the men of the village were thinking.

He said "The Dragon is content to stay in his cave if we leave him our weekly cattle tribute. But if our plan fails the Dragon will surely come out and eat us, our wives and children."

Kris replied 'I agree that this is possible. But I will train the 3 people so that they can fool the Dragon."

Out of the cowardly crowd an old man shouted "My 2 sons and I will volunteer. And if we fail we will offer ourselves as a sacrifice to the Dragon."

The villagers were pleased that 3 people had come forth, but they were still fearful of any plan going wrong.

Kris said,"And if we don't defeat the Dragon then I will offer myself as a sacrifice."

The villagers voted unanimously to let the 4 men try to defeat the Dragon. It was too late to formulate a plan so the villagers' best cow was left outside the Dragon's cave as usual.

THE PLAN WORKS (SORT OF)

Kris had extensive knowledge of ley lines. He also knew that animals can intake quite large quantities of sulphur without being harmed.

He also knew about the explosive quality that sulphur can have at high temperature. He knew of the blue flame and the smell of rotten eggs.

But no one had managed to do an academic study on a dragon. So Kris had to rely on his knowledge of first principles.

He did a whole set of mathematical equations. He was convinced that he could safely feed a cow with sulphur in its many forms. Then when the Dragon ate the cow, it would explode.

Kris was very sure of his equations.

Given the lack of academic knowledge Kris could only hope that the insides of dragons were at a higher temperature than that of cows.

He wanted to gamble his life, and that of the 3 volunteers, on the hope that sulphur would be worse for the Dragon than the cow.

The father and his 2 sons agreed. So did the villagers.

The next Saturday the sulphur laden cow was left outside the Dragon's cave. As usual the Dragon took the cow into the cave to eat.

The explosion so loud that houses shook and people were thrown from their beds onto the floor. The air smelt indescribably bad.

But these inconveniences were ignored since it meant that the Dragon was no longer alive. The villagers were overjoyed and danced joyfully.

LEADERS

The villagers were so pleased that they wanted Kris to be their leader. Kris declined their kind offer. But, unwisely, he suggested that they appoint the father as their leader.

The villagers had another Village Meeting. All the men agreed it would be great to have a leader who was brave enough to risk his life for them.

They also agreed that the brave sons should be leaders when the father died. They little realised that they had agreed to have rulers rather than being in power collectively.

Of course while the father was full of human kindness the villagers were happy having a ruler. But of course not everyone is full of human kindness. Sensing that he might not live long enough to become leader, Krak the younger murdered his elder brother. The father/leader grieved the loss of his first-born son.

He couldn't believe his other son could be guilty of murder. The villagers were no braver than when subjugated by the Dragon. The second son became the village's leader.

Krak claimed full credit for ridding the village of the dreaded Dragon, though he was simply a cobbler.

At first Krak did some good things for the villagers. But Krak also gave power to his favoured friends and increasingly ostracised those who he didn't like.

Those who gained power were not nice people. They got perks like the best cuts of meat.every Saturday and the best houses.

The ostracised were people with the normal mixture of good intentions, a sense for survival and the hope that they would live a good life.

Those who weren't ostracised or favoured kept quiet. They became known as "those who keep their noses clean". They feared becoming ostracised because Krak (and his fellow travellers) became increasingly paranoid.

KARMA

In the end, the goddess Karma couldn't stand and just watch the villagers suffer.

She arranged for Krak to make the big mistake of trying to go to fall out with the leader of a nearby larger village. The 2 leaders fought.

The villagers learned the lesson. They returned to their Village meetings.