The dragon finds Sir Owe

He left his pail and off he went in great haste. When the others heard his story they said, "You, did wisely not to touch the man. Go and ask him to be our comrade. Such a warrior as he is would be a great help to us.".

The dragon returned and awoke Owen, who started up at sight of the great beast, much alarmed.

He forgot how valiant he was, and was about to run off when the dragon said, "Stop, don't go away. I have read what is written on your sword, and I and the other dragons who live in a cavern beyond this wood want you to be our comrade. You will live with us and you shall have plenty to eat and drink, and we will all defend each other from whatever danger, threatens."

"That is a very good plan," said Owen, "and I agree to it."

So the dragon filled his pail with water, and led the way through the wood to the cavern. There the other dragons welcomed Owen, and the cavern became his home.

The next morning the dragons told Owen that they took turns in fetching water and also wood, and that they should expect him to share the work with them. He began to study what he should do about this, for the pail they used to fetch the water was as big as a hogshead, and they dragged home an entire tree at a time. They thought he had the power of forty men at least, and he did not like to imagine what would happen if they learned his real strength.

At length his turn came to fetch water. It was all he could do to get the great pail to the spring empty, and he only succeeded in doing that by rolling it most of the way. He did not attempt to fill it, for he knew the task of carrying water back in it was hopeless. Instead, he hewed out a rough wooden spade with his sword and began digging a ditch around the spring.

After he had been gone from the cavern a long time, the dragons were afraid something was wrong and sent one of their number to see what had happened. This dragon found Owen hard at work digging, and said, "What are you doing, Sir Owen?"

"Oh," replied he, "I'm digging up the spring. "I can't be at the trouble of coming to fetch water every few days. So I am going to bring the whole spring at once to save time."

 

"For heaven's sake, Sir Owen, don't do that!" begged the dragon. "The spring would be destroyed and we would soon die of thirst. Let it alone, and we will bring water in your place when it is your turn."

"Why, if that suits you," said Owen, "I am willing to let things remain as they are."

So he threw away his wooden spade, and the dragon filled the pail and carried it back to the cavern, while Owen followed after.

But a few days later it came Owen's turn to fetch wood. He could not pull up a tree and haul it home as the dragons did. Therefore he carried a long rope to the wood and busied himself tying as many trees together as possible. When several hours had passed and he did not return, one of the dragons went to search for him. "What are you doing there, Sir Owen?" asked the dragon on arriving where the man was at work.

"I am tying all the trees together so that I can bring the whole wood at once," he replied. "I can't be bothered coming here for firewood every time it happens to be my turn. This will save trouble for all of us."

"Oh, no," said the dragon, "don't pull up the whole wood, Sir Owen. In a little while we would have nothing to make our fire with, and the winter cold would freeze us to death. You let the trees alone, and we will bring home your share of the wood."

"Do as you please," said Owen, "and you can begin taking home my share now."

So the dragon pulled up a big tree and went off with it to the cavern, and Owen walked along behind.

One evening, when Owen had gone to bed early, and the dragons thought he was asleep, he heard them talking about him. "What is the use of having this Sir Owen here anyway?" they said. "We have had no battles to fight, and he does no work. Let us get up about midnight when the fire has died down and it is perfectly dark, and we will each of us give him a blow with an ax as he lies in his bed."

This plan was agreed on, and presently, when they were all asleep and snoring, Owen rose and put a log in his bed. Then he hid in a remote nook of the cavern and sat listening and waiting. About midnight the dragons awoke, and one after another struck the log in Owen's bed a mighty blow with an ax, so that when they finished there was nothing left of the log but pieces.

As soon as the dragons were asleep again Owen took the fragments of the log and put them with the rest of their wood, and lay down on the bed to wait for morning. When he joined the dragons at breakfast as usual they were very much surprised. "How did you sleep last night?" they asked.

"Pretty well," replied he, "except for a restless spell about midnight, probably caused by fleas."

"Fleas!" thought the dragons. "Then he took our ax blows for flea bites. What a tough body he must have! We shall be obliged to use more caution in dealing with him in the future."

During that day they consulted privately together, and concluded to propose that he should go away. So they called him and said, "Sir Owen, you have told us that you have a wife and children. By this time you must wish to see them. We will give you a supply of money, and you can go home."

"All right," replied Owen, "but I shall want to take one of you dragons along to carry the money."

He and the dragon started the next morning and continued on the way for two days. Then, when they were nearly to Owen's house, he said to the dragon, "Stop! Let me go and tie up my children, lest they eat you."

The dragon did not want to be eaten, and he waited while Owen went and tied up his children. "You will see me and a dragon coming, pretty soon," said Owen to them, "and when you do, mind you call out, 'Dragon's flesh! Dragon's flesh!' as loud as you can, and struggle to get away to run after the dragon."

Then he returned to the dragon, and they went on together, but as soon as they arrived within sight of the children, every child began to shout, "Dragon's flesh! Dragon's flesh!" and tried to break away.

The dragon stopped and set down the money. "I think I've gone far enough," he said. "You don't need me any more."

Just then the children broke the old ropes with which their father had bound them, and came running and yelling toward the dragon. He did not wait for them, but turned tail and sped away in a hurly-burly of dust, going at least a mile a minute.

He slowed down when he got beyond sight and hearing of those terrible dragon-eating children, and presently he met a fox.

"You look frightened," said the fox. "What is the matter?"

"I can't stop to talk," said the dragon, looking anxiously behind him. "Sir Owen's children want to eat me, and I'm doing my best to get away from them."

"Hold on a moment," said the fox. "Who is this Sir Owen? Where does he live?"

"He lives in the first house in the next village," replied the dragon.

"That is the home of Owen the shoemaker," thought the fox, "but Owen himself has been gone this long time." Then he said aloud, "I know Sir Owen, and I'm surprised that you should be afraid of his children. I'm not afraid of them. Why, Sir Owen had two hens; one I ate yesterday, and the other I am going to eat to-day. I am on my way to Sir Owen's house to get that other hen now. If you don't believe what I say, come along with me and see."

So the dragon turned about and went along with the fox. When they neared the shoemaker's home Sir Owen was on the lookout with his sword, for he was not sure whether the dragons would leave him in peace or not. He stepped out to his gate as soon as he saw the fox coming with the dragon, and shouted, "I didn't tell you to bring that dragon, but to bring them all."

These words put the dragon in a great fright. He thought the fox must be in league with the man, and that the sly creature had deceived him. It was very clear to him that what the fox wanted was to deliver him to this dreadful Sir Owen, the power of whose sword he well knew from having read its inscription. Indeed he was fully convinced that Sir Owen had plotted to destroy not only him, but all the rest of the dragons who dwelt in the cave beyond the thick wood.

So he parted company with the fox, and while he took one direction, the fox took another and they both scudded off as fast as they could go. Sir Owen never saw anything of the dragons afterward. He had plenty of money now, and he rebuilt his house very handsomely and lived at his ease the rest of his days.