Chapter 9 -- St. George and the Dragon
The story of Saint George and the Dragon is a popular one in Europe. There are several variations and locations used when telling the story. One of the most popular variations of the legend takes place in a town called Silene, in Libya. The legend states that this town had a large pond where a plague-bearing dragon dwelt. To appease the dragon, the villagers would feed it sheep and maidens. The maidens of the village would draw lots to see who would be sacrificed to the dragon.
One day, the lot fell upon the princess of Silene. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared. The people, fearing the wrath of the dragon, refused. So, the princess was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.
Saint George, hearing of this predicament, rode on horseback to the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain and fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross.
The dragon reared out of the lake as George and the princess were talking. Saint George charged at it on horseback and pierced it with his lance. Then he called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a dog on a leash. They led the dragon back into town, where it terrified the people at its approach. But St. George called out to them, saying that if they converted to Christianity and were baptized, he would slay the dragon before them.
The king and the villagers agreed, 15,000 men, plus women and children, were converted and baptized. George then drew his sword and slew the dragon. On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church, which bore a spring whose waters cured all diseases.
Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, "here's the rest of the story . . . . "
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Hi there. My name is -- hmm, forget that -- you couldn't pronounce it in dragon-speak -- why don't you just call me George (that's what most people do). I'm a dragon (as you've probably figured). But wait, how's that work? Isn't this story about St. George and the dragon. Righto, you got it the first time. You see, there were two of us. My friend -- you might as well call him Gene -- and I. Yes, two dragons (hey, you didn't really think there was only one dragon in the world, did you?). Anyway, the way this went down is pretty much as follows. . . .
I was on vacation (yes, dragons take vacations too -- who do you think came up with the idea in the first place?) in what would become the south of France. I pretty much had this nice beach fronting the Med all to myself, just basking in the sun, taking the occasional swim, doing some fishing (not with a rod, diving in and chasing fish with my teeth (grin)), blipping into the nearby mountains when I wanted some red meat -- you know the drill. It was very relaxing.
So, anyway, I'm lying there soaking up some rays when I feel a bit of disturbance in the ley lines and notice that another dragon has appeared overhead and is circling for a landing. As he landed, I realized that it was Gene. He walked on over and said, "hi George." (Well actually, he addressed me by my dragon name, and did it telepathically.)
As we were catching up -- we had grown up together (always testing each other and the boundaries set by our parents), but hadn't seen each other in quite a few years, Gene said to me, "George, I've got this awesome gig. You ought to come by and check it out some time."
I responded, "okay. Why don't you tell me a bit about it."
He then layed it out to me. Apparently, he spent quite a few of his winters in Libya -- you know -- hot, dry, desert climate. He liked a spot just outside of a decent sized town called Silene. He had a cave that only accessed under water, through a small lake just outside of town. When he got hungry he would blip out to an area with no people, kill a deer or antelope, gorge himself, then blip back home.
It seems that he had been using the spot for quite a while when he got careless and someone saw him frolicking in the lake. The guy freaked, went back to town, told a bunch of people about seeing Gene, and they had returned with various and sundry weapons to kill the dragon.
If you've been reading any of these other stories, you know that is simply not how it's done. First of all, Gene was in the middle of the lake, so they couldn't reach him. A number of the men shot arrows at him. Gene thought that was entertaining for a while -- he tried to see how many he could catch before they landed in the lake (or stuck him). While doing this, he realized that he wouldn't get much peace and relaxation if this kept on, so he slowly swam up to the shore (giving the nice people plenty of opportunity to back a safe distance away).
Coming out of the water, Gene took on a rather threatening guise, hissing and using his wings to create gusts of wind to blow some of the folks around a bit. Some of the braver folks came close enough to swing some axes and swords at him, while those not so brave (or just a bit smarter) shot arrows and threw spears from a safe distance. Gene had made his skin impervious to the weapons, so they just dropped to the ground around him (slightly bent, some broken).
Tiring of the game, he grabbed one of the townsmen and blipped out (happened to be to this beach). With the guy firmly in hand, he sat down and then changed to human form. Gene said to the guy, "this has to stop. Do I need to visit you guys and do some serious damage to your nice little town?"
The guy assured Gene that he didn't need to do that. So, Gene, being Gene (I did mention earlier that we were always getting into trouble, did I not), said, "what's in it for me to leave you alone?"
The guy asked Gene, "what do you want? Gold? Food? Wine? Women?" (He was obviously thinking of what he would have wanted himself.)
Gene sat there a bit and pondered. Finally, he told the guy, "how about once a year, you give me a small bag of gold, one sheep, and one of your young, unattached women." (The way Gene said it, it wasn't a question.) He then said, "I'm going to take you back. You talk it over with your fellow townsmen. Then get back to me."
Gene then transformed back into dragon form, grabbed the guy, and blipped back to right where they had been, but above the group of milling townsmen who were still wondering where the dragon had gone with their guy.
He dropped the guy right on top of some of his friends and blipped back to the beach.
The next day, Gene blipped back to the beach by his lake and waited. Sure enough, about mid-morning a small delegation of townsmen approached him. Very deferentially, they offered him a small bag of gold, some sheep, some clay vessels of wine, and a young woman.
Gene, playing the bored dragon took his time looking at their offering. The gold was interesting -- small coins with the king's bust on one side and some creature on the other -- and shiny. One sheep might be okay, but he really didn't want to be bothered with several sheep. He really wasn't into the wine. But, hmm, the young lady was nicely put together. She was also shaking like a leaf as she looked at him. It was then that he realized she had her hands tied behind her.
Gene transformed himself into human form right in front of the group. Taking into account the appearance of the townsmen, he took the form of a young man about 6" taller than any of them, with a more muscular frame, and what he thought to be a more handsome profile (and with blonde hair instead of their dark hair). He then walked up to them, saying, "I'll take that small sheep on the left. And I'll take the woman to be my bride. She will be my wife for one year. I will then return her here. You will take her back amongst you and care for her." (The look he gave them was a fair indication that they would regret it if they did not take her back and take care of her.) He then stated, "when I return her, you will provide me with another bride," adding as an after-thought, "and bring another sheep at the same time for our bridal feast."
This caused a bit of consternation among the townsfolk. Apparently, they were going for a one-time deal (a bit short-sighted of them, heh). They had picked a young woman who was an orphan, and the town tart, figuring that it would be a good way to not have to choose one of their own daughters.