[Music] good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this morning of saturday the 7th of the 2nd of april as we say our morning prayers together feel welcome wherever you are in the world a very different kind of day from yesterday which opened with snow and sleet and all kinds of of cold weather throughout the day and that has now gone away and although it's quite a chilly morning it's a still morning and the morning of blue skies but the sun which has risen um has yet to reach all parts of the garden and we shall be talking about how the garden is used by so many for reading purposes because this is a very special day and that we shall explore a little together as we say our morning prayers but before going any further i must mention that uh there's a very special concert happening tomorrow night sunday evening in the gulbenkian theater of the university of kent and you will remember that earlier this week we had the choir the caritas chamber choir rehearsing the ashgrove with our friend ben priest who's conducted so many services in the cathedral when our own choir has been away but was himself a chorister here and ben is giving a concert at the gulbenkian theater called colours of spring it will be beautiful music preparing us for the spring which is already beginning to flower the piano is played by tim frost so we know it will be really wonderful music if any of you are near enough to be able to go to this concert then i would recommend it highly is it half past seven tomorrow the third of april sunday the third of eight but sadly we are already engaged in something else and so we'd not be able to go ourselves and i'm we're very disappointed of that but if you want to go then do ring the uh box office of the gulbenkian and the telephone number we will put on for you here and then you can book your place at the collier ferguson hall at the university of kent and i know that you won't be disappointed with the music that ben provides bring your own concerns your own intentions as you come you'll have many thoughts and also many images in your minds wherever you are bring those to our prayers and we continue to pray of course for the people of ukraine and for peace in that area of europe and for the millions enduring a very severe lockdown we think of china itself for that massively severe lockdown because the pandemic still has its grip so we pray for all those who will be caring for people in sickness and also people giving hospitality to those who fled their homes in danger danger of war mostly at this time so let's say our prayers on this saturday morning i've come into this arbor in the garden where in warmer days we like to bring books to read but this is let me say it now international children's book day and that we shall be reflecting on in our reflection later for the moment though let's say our prayers together oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise hear our voice so lord according to your faithful love according to your judgments give us life blessed are you god of compassion and mercy to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of our sin your light breaks forth like the dawn and your healing springs up for deliverance as we rejoice in the gift of your saving help sustain us with your bountiful spirit and open our lips to sing your praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind does we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this second morning of the month is psalm 9 i will give thanks to you lord with my whole heart i will tell of all your marvelous works i will be glad and rejoice in you i will make music to your name almost high when my enemies are driven back they stumble and perish at your presence for you have maintained my right and my cause you sat on your throne giving righteous judgment you have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked you have blotted out their name forever and ever the enemy was utterly laid waste you uprooted their cities their very memory has perished but the lord shall endure forever he has made fast his throne for judgment for he shall rule the world with righteousness and govern the peoples with equity then will the lord be a refuge for the oppressed a refuge in the time of trouble and those who know your name will put their trust in you for you lord have never failed those who seek you sing praises to the lord who dwells in zion declare among the peoples the things he has done the avenger of blood has remembered them he did not forget the cry of the oppressed have mercy upon me o lord consider the trouble i suffer from those who hate me you that lift me up from the gates of death that i may tell all your praises in the gates of the city of zion and rejoice in your salvation the nation shall sink into the pit of their making and in the snare which they set will their own foot be taken for the lord makes himself known by his acts of justice the wicked are snared in the works of their own hands they shall return to the land of darkness all the nations that forget god for the needy shall not always be forgotten and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever arise o lord and let not mortals have the upper hand let the nations be judged before your face put them in fear o lord that the nations may know themselves to be but mortal of the rising and falling of earthly powers and we shall come across that later in our reflection because of some of the dates that we shall look at today but for the moment let's return ourselves to the gospel of saint john and take up from where we left off yesterday in chapter 11 and starting at verse 17. now when jesus came he found that lazarus had already been in the tomb four days bethany was near jerusalem about two miles off and many of the jews had come to martha and mary to console them concerning their brother so when martha heard that jesus was coming she went and met him but mary remained seated in the house martha said to jesus lord if you had been here my brother would not have died but even now i know that whatever you ask from god god will give you jesus said to her your brother will rise again martha said to jesus i know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day jesus said to her i am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me though they die yet shall they live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die do you believe that martha said to him yes lord i believe that you are the christ the son of god who is coming into the world a passage in the story of the raising of lazarus in chapter 11 of st john's gospel but just a section of it and a really important section containing one of the most important i am of jesus notice that as we said at the beginning of this story the evangelist takes it for granted that we know something about mary and martha and therefore it assumes that we know that little story which is now found in luke's gospel but as with all these stories before they were collected together by the various evangelists and used in their collection and order that they put them in and told in their way before that it may well have been a story that was common in the christian church and was handed around martha the active one mary the contemplative one who knelt at the feet of jesus and listened to his words and let them shall we say soak into her and martha complains why is my sister not helping me because martha was preparing to entertain jesus and we shall come across a scene like that in chapter 12 of this particular gospel but for the moment martha is again the active one two miles from jerusalem bethany and no doubt the disciples being so near to the city where they were very recently wanting to stone jesus to death and the disciples nervous anyway of re-crossing the river and coming back jesus himself must have felt human apprehension about what he was to suffer but for the moment she's come to the call of dearly loved friends mary martha and their brother lazarus who has died and has now been in his tomb for four days martha gets up and goes to meet jesus always the active one her body cannot be still she goes to meet him on the way with a degree of joy but a huge degree of sadness because jesus is coming and she when she meets him she said if if you had been here my brother would not have died and jesus is then in conversation with martha the active one and we go back to the words that they spoke to one another when martha came she said lord if you had been here my brother would not have died but even now i know that whatever you ask from god god will give you there's a preliminary statement of faith but there's more to come for jesus then says to her your brother will rise again and martha anchoring herself in the faith in which they all lived their life at that time said i know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day and then it is that jesus utters this sentence i am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me though they die yet shall they live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die let's stop there for a moment before the question to masa for those words are known to us very very well as the opening sentences of any funeral service i am the resurrection and the life says the lord and that's been set to music so many times but at the same time is the statement of faith which we respond to and it's always one of these statements of jesus in the present tense i am the resurrection and the life interesting that the most important words spoken by jesus about resurrection and life as a shared gift are spoken there on the path where martha the active one has gone out to meet him and spoken first to martha who met him in answer to really a reproach to that friend if you had been here my brother would not have died and then you have the dialogue and that that dialogue ending with those words i am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me though they die yet shall they live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die ends with a question and it's a question a singular question to martha do you believe this and hello and martha in response to that question entirely to her as an individual says to jesus yes lord i believe that you are the christ the son of god who is coming into the world those words are words of faith he's quite a little puzzler and i put his breakfast down here come on you can come and have it up there there we are there we go hey i'd put it down here for him and i'd forgotten he was there but he hunted it out we'll talk about hunting out puzzles a bit later on but here is jesus speaking to martha and he's speaking also to us because when those words are spoken they are edgar amy in the greek i am in the present tense and she responds like the man born blind when jesus finds him and says i whom speaking to you am he do you believe this and he responds lord i believe and martha says yes lord i believe the same words that you are the christ the son of god who is coming into the world this whole conversation as with everything in this gospel hangs not on the earthly plane but the perception in the eternal plane of what jesus is and what he is saying and what he is offering i am the resurrection and the life do you believe that yes lord i believe that you are the christ the son of god the anointed one the christ who is coming into the world this relationship has moved on from a relationship of close trust and friendship to an open-eyed in the spiritual sense statement of belief and if you like it's martha's faith that unlocks this whole story unlocks the tomb for always the action follows belief and that's a concept here throughout this fourth gospel martha effects the bethany event i don't think it's too much to say that and now the others will come to see jesus as well but that's for monday tomorrow being sunday a special lesson and mary herself then is with jesus before they ever go to the tomb but today we think of martha whose physical activity is stopped in its tracks by the statement of jesus which is given to us all but the question individually asked of us all do you believe that [Music] and martha it's almost as if the scales dropped from her her uh physical eyes and the whole spiritual world is open to her yes lord i believe we're back with that lord i believe so let's think of the various dates that connect with this day because they're interesting ones and the first one i want to deal with is the fact that on the 2nd of april 2005 many of you will remember this day well pope john paul ii the second longest uh serving pope i think in the history of the papacy uh died at the vatican he died after a long struggle against parkinson's disease a struggle in which we shared we watched his physical strengths for he was a man of enormous physical strength and energy we watched it deteriorate as the flame of his spirituality burned brighter and brighter and who can ever forget that last picture of him in the window of his apartments in the vatican looking out at the people it was actually a time of enormous enormous uh love and respect for him but also a time of seeing how the human physical frame when it grows weaker and suffers so much can burn brighter in spiritual terms and it's it was almost as if he was asking that question of us from that window in all his physical frailty as physical life ended and the gates of eternity opened in which he had always believed through his life it was as if he was asking that question do you believe and we remember that in 1978 those of us you remember that far back he assumed the papacy after the 33 days of lovely pope john paul the first who died all too quickly and everyone had to gather again to elect a new pope and what had happened was that uh john paul the first had taken the name for his papacy of john xxiii and paul vi his two predecessors and now the uh polish pope the first non-italian to be made pope since the 16th century uh he took the name that his 33-day predecessor had been pope uh the name that he had taken and and said almost i will carry on this ministry john i'll be john paul ii now the fact that he came from poland a nation which had suffered so much not only in the second world war but also in the the communist years from the occupation of communism of that country and suddenly their champion stood forward in the person of john paul ii who became a champion of the free world and the pope that we remember traveling everywhere mostly before that popes had been in the vatican located from now on the commonest site was to see this energetic pope walking down the steps from an aircraft kneeling on the tarmac of the country he was visiting and kissing that tarmac as a sign of um of of blessing that country that nation its locality its physicality and its spirituality all of those things and always uh you would find that that the wind was would blow his tippet over his his head or something of that sort and he stood up to write himself but the fact that he had knelt on that the earth of a different country was hugely important 129 countries he visited throughout his papacy but we remember him in those years as a tower of strength not only against communism but also against the dictators of the world many of them in catholic countries and the fall of dictatorships in catholic countries seemed to cascade once the pope had visited and when he was there he was not afraid to speak one remembers his words with uh in in haiti he he said the people here and this was all had lack opportunity to eat enough be cared for when ill find housing to study to overcome illiteracy to find worthwhile and properly paid work all that provides a truly human life for men and women children young and old [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] one remembers also the way he loved to break down barriers and how in 1986 he gathered leaders of all faiths not all denominations but all faiths in assisi for that day of world peace and prayer for the leaders of all faith and that long photograph of them all in assisi outside the basilica is a treasured photograph for the for the christian memory at the initiative of pope john paul ii on october the 27th 1986 in assisi italy the first meeting of religions for the peace of the world took place 150 representatives from 12 religions took part also present were the four great worldwide interreligious organizations the inter-religious association for religious freedom the world congress of faith the temple of understanding and the world conference on religion and peace [Music] present were buddhists muslims aboriginals from africa and america zoroastrians sikhs hindus and shintoists foreign also present was eliot chief rabbi of the central synagogue of rome which the pope had visited a few months previously christians of almost all confessions were represented the world council of churches nestorians non-calcidonians cops armenians malabaris roman catholics old catholics anglicans lutherans there was also a place at this pan-religious meeting for the orthodox ecumenists who indeed played a decisive role in its realization there were delegates from the orthodox churches of finland and czechoslovakia the patriarchate of bulgaria the patriarchate of romania [Music] moscow and the patrick of antioch a special place next to the pope was occupied by archbishop ranci the presiding bishop of the anglicans and archbishop methodius theater the representative of the patrick of constantinople [Music] the churches of alexandria and jerusalem declared their spiritual ascent with messages [Music] the church of greece participated in a prayerful way with a well-known byzantine choir from athens which chanted at the three main presentations at assisi [Music] oh [Music] the pope was the only speaker in his address he equated the prayer of christians to the true and only god with the prayer of all other religions [Music] peace he emphasized is a fruit of prayer which in the various religions expresses a relationship with a supreme power power that surpasses our human capacities the pope's speech was followed by silent prayer joint prayer okay [Music] [Music] to those of other religions were assigned christian churches to perform their worship services and to pray for peace the buddhists prayed in the parish church of saint peter they placed a small statue of buddha on the altar so the hindus assembled in the church of santa maria majori sitting around the sanctuary they invoked the whole succession of their gods [Music] come on [Music] the muslims gathered in the monastery of saint anthony [Music] the aboriginals of africa prayed in the churches and gregory and prepared their peace pipes inside the sanctuary monastery [Music] foreign [Music] ah all of those things we remember on this day when we give thanks not only for the strength of john paul ii we have photographs of him here coming to canterbury to kneel at the site of st thomas beckett and to pray with the archbishop of canterbury that was an a gesture of of uh unity between two communions of the christian church and a striving to affect a greater unity but at the same time that gathering in 1986 was a gathering of leaders of all faiths so that as one looks at that photograph you're looking at a brave attempt to break down barriers and at the same time the barriers began to fall and uh the communist countries under the the rule of the soviet union in the east of europe themselves began to those dictators began to fall and they took responsibility once again for their own nation kissing the tarmac the earth of a nation and blessing it and then after that other things followed well we could speak a long time about uh john paul the the second but let's think also of another event which is in a way uh similar but it talks about an ideal which really never was in full fruition and yet it was an ideal of the concept of christendom in europe and i'm saying this because on the 2nd of april in the year 740 the one who would become the first holy roman emperor charlemagne or charlemagne as we say in in england very often uh was born and on christmas day in the year 800 in old peter the old saint peter's basilica not the present one which is built much later the pope leo iii crowned charlemagne as the emperor of the romans the first holy roman emperor starting a concept which as i say was an idealistic concept which never really reached full fruition and yet still is a concept which is in our heads of christendom as though there could be uh a sense of the unity of those who hold earthly power with those who hold spiritual power in the welfare of all peoples would that it could be so but that holy roman empire was due to last we saw the end of it the other day when we were talking about joseph haydn in when napoleon abolished the holy roman empire when he captured so much of those lands and he just sort of ripped it up after 800 sorry a thousand years from 800 to 1800 little after 1800 and then declared himself an emperor and when he declared himself an emperor the holy roman emperor then took on the title instead emperor of austria but the the original title was a a concept which we pray for of the unity of those in earthly power and those with spiritual authority in every kind of faith that they may all work together for the peace of the world and the welfare of all nations and particularly their own that duality so then let's go on to a much more cheerful subject and this is uh the fact that on the 2nd of april 1805 the writer of plays travelogues novels poems was born hans christian anderson he was danish and is remembered not for any of those things really but for his fairy tales his tales which mostly are read to children and by children but beloved of adults as well rather different from the the collecting together of old fables these stories are his and they are wonderful stories of his own um community life in denmark and i suppose that i know most of them only because of the songs that were written for a film about hans christian anderson which was made in 1952 with danny k playing hans christian anderson and i didn't see that film at that time but what i was conscious of through the years of the 1950s when i was growing up uh was that those songs that were involved in it which each told the story of one of hans christian anderson's tales and they were all tales which really cheered you up and made you laugh but some have very very great deep intentions about those who thought themselves great in the world or those who thought themselves magnificent or those who had an unhappy time in areas of their life early on and some of you will know those songs too they used to be on the the radio at that time when we were children a saturday morning program called children's favorites and the songs of that film which were all about hans christian anderson's fairy tales were always being played so one knew the song about the ugly duckling from that not from hans christian anderson's tale which i've read since of course but that um song which is still absolutely in my head from those early days of the 1950s there once was an ugly duckling with feathers all stubby and brown and the other birds in so many words said quack get out of town quack get out quack quack get out quack quack get out of town and you'll remember uh he went and hid himself in the reeds because he thought he was an ugly duckling until suddenly a flock of swans saw him after the winter had passed and said you're a very fine swan indeed that wonderful story of one who in the earliest years of their life is thought to be an ugly duckling or in some way is is laughed at and you're not actually like us so and then suddenly blossoms and is greeted by an another group said you're a very fine swan indeed but that word also is you're one of us gathered into a different community and proud to be so it's such a lovely concept but then um i remember also the the lovely song about the emperor who or the king uh and he is the one who is duped by two tailors making uh clothes for him you'll remember this only too well uh and uh he was he had someone who was very easily flattered and duped and loved to be wearing wonderful proud things and the tailors come along and say but your majesty look at this cloth it's only to be seen by someone with very discerning eyes and they've nothing in their hands they're actually holding nothing and uh the the king says because he's he's too proud to admit that he can't see this at all everyone else must be seeing it in the moment he said oh yes so all the cultures say the same oh yes it's beautiful classy humanity look at this and the two tailors are flattering the king and saying would you like us to make you a suit of clothes with all of this you remember the story only too well and the king has the suit of clothes made and then finds himself walking naked through his people thinking he's wearing the best clothes in the world and all the people actually saying oh yes his majesty is wearing wonderful things until the voice of a child shouts out and here again one remembers the song the king is in the altogether the altogether the all together because the king is naked and it takes a a voice of a child to puncture both the pride of the uh king and at the same time the sycophancy of his courtiers and the fear of the crowds that if they say anything else then yes he's wearing wonderfully fine clothes they will themselves be in some way punished and the little boy shouts out the king's naked the king is in the altogether and we remember that so many stories the little mermaid the snow queen the little match girl the steadfast tim tin soldier you remember how he stood at his post and uh that his the the is found in that one i would give the game away if you haven't read them the princess and the p they're all parables in their way thumbelina the red shoes and all of this one remembers that when danny k playing hans christian anderson and niels who's helping him as a cobbler stand outside the school in the little village and they hear the children reciting two and two is four four and four is eight eight and eight is sixteen and so it goes on and they're singing it two and two is four four and four make eight eight and eight make sixteen and so and then do you remember how the school master shuts the door if you've seen the film and they walk on and niels is kneeling by a patch of marigolds and there's an inchworm one of those worms that goes an inch and then gathers himself up and then goes the next inch and gathers himself up and goes the next inch and so on and over that song of the children 2 and 204 hans christian andersen begins to help niels understand how small steps we're back with what we were learning yesterday small steps make the way to a great understanding end life whatever it's small steps that create you we're back with rachmaninoff's preludes and danny k as hans christian anderson sings over the children's mathematical song inchwan inchworm measuring the marigolds [Music] two and two are four four and [Music] first one of the year [Music] you and your arithmetic [Music] measuring the marigolds [Music] seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful they are [Music] four and four [Music] one gives thanks for all those things that one heard as songs as children and are still in there and in here and the images that hans christian andersen was creating were really sound lessons for those who had too much power or those who were dubed by that power or themselves had thought they weren't worth anything when they were the ugly duckling not that our ducky is in any way ugly but is absolutely beautiful but this one was a swan and wasn't part of it and didn't know it until the swans came and said you're a very fine swan indeed and life opened up so we give thanks on this day for the way in which children are able to understand those stories quite often better than adults but at the same time the way in which they themselves can learn to read books or better still be read stories because that nothing takes the place of a human voice and the sharing of of the story going on a human voice reading and the the sense of of the the reading of a story especially when there's an end which isn't yet known or is so well known that you've got lines in it that the children respond to as well and we've seen that by reading julia donaldson's books and later on um because we we mentioned it a bit back kenneth graham's wind in the willows we read but kenneth graham's little story the reluctant dragon which is a a parable in its own right uh will attach on our after matins in the cathedral i'll come and i'll come and read this and we will have it as a sign of children's international book day and give thanks for all the stories that we know and the fact that they stay in our hearts and minds some of the books that have been brought out this morning we've got arabian nights here and even an eleva eleanor fargen martin pippen in the apple otter orchard watership down all sorts of things behind me but sometimes also puzzles and games that keep everyone happy together and one can laugh at here's a book of riddles which was uh given to me by fletcher at some stage and they're easy riddles followed by medium riddles followed by difficult riddles and followed by fiendishly difficult riddles two of the easy ones to start with and i'll set them here and not give you the answer uh a hundred feet in the air but back on the ground what am i and give you two this morning i have eight to spare and i am covered in hair what am i leave you with those questions 100 feet in the air but back on the ground what am i i have eight to spare and i'm covered in hair what am i and they're very easy ones here's a more complicated book and it's called lost words and it's a beautifully poetic and really artistic book as you go through of plant life and words and letters which express themselves here's a dandelion page and then there are letters all around and here's very much a crow page corny crow and as one goes through then the whole thing is done as an acrostic so that the poem or the passage and they are poetic passages are giving you the first letter of what it's talking about and then a picture here's the first one begins with a as flake is to blizzard as curve is to sphere as knot is to net as one is to many as coin is to money as bird is to flock as rock is the mountain as drop is the fountain as spring is to river as glint is to glitter as near as to far as wind is to weather as feather is to flight as light is to star as kindness is to good so acorn is to wood and the acorn actually is then pictured but the letters of acorn have appeared at the first line of each poem a beautiful book and a puzzle and the way in which people get used to books if i hold it up i'm being told i'm not giving you time even to see it there we are come on tiger come up here come on tiger tigers all right come here come on there we are come up there hi okay good i think i've given you time to see the acorn and it really is time to say our prayers so we'll put the reluctant dragon on afterwards and for the moment we'll say our prayers together and on this day we are thinking of the diocese of congo in the episcopal church of south sudan in the jungle province of that church and here we're praying in the diocese for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover for uh emma bishop at lambeth and the north down scenery um clergy with permission to officiate those who help out in all the parishes of north downs which we'll be praying for day by day as the next few weeks continue so let's say our prayers on this day and we're still using as our colleague the colleague for the fourth sunday of lent this is the last morning we use this colleague before we go on to passion sunday tomorrow bring your own prayers your own intentions and those that you want to picture and pray for merciful lord absolve your people from their offenses that through your bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins which by our frailty we have committed grant this heavenly father for jesus christ's sake our blessed lord and savior amen and the colic for lent itself almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language and in our own way we pray the prayer our savior taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen moment now for your own reflections on this international children's book day there once was an ugly duckling with feathers all stubby and brown and the other birds in so many words say get out of town get out get out get out of town and he went with a quack would you like me to tell you the rest of the story [Music] that poor little ugly duckling went wanderings far and near but at every place they said to his face now get out of here get out get out get out of here and he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack [Music] all through the winter time he hid himself away ashamed to show his face afraid of what others might say all through the winter in his lonely clump of weed till a flock of swans spied him there very soon agreed [Music] take a look at yourself in that lake and you'll see and he looked and he saw and he said i am a swan way i'm not such an ugly duckling no feathers or stubby and brown for in fact these birds in so many words said the best in town the best the best the best in town not a quack not a quack not a waddle or a quack but a glide and a whistle and a snowy wide back and a head so noble and high [Music] [Music] i hey you can't read this there we go christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourselves take up your cross daily and follow him and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men so tiger we're going to go out into the sunshine now the sun's risen on most of the garden we can leave this rather cold place and go and find it well perhaps you're going to stay in here all right as i said to you after matins i would read for this international children's book day a short story by kenneth graham who of course wrote wind in the willows but we've never read this on on our in our morning broadcast so this is called the reluctant dragon and like the hans christian andersen stories it's a kind of parable so let's read this together now long ago might have been hundreds of years ago in a cottage halfway between an english village and the shoulder of the downs a shepherd lived with his wife and their little son now the shepherd spent his days and at certain times of the year his knights too up on the wide ocean bosom of the downs with only the sun and the stars and the sheep for company and the friendly chattering world of men and women far out of sight and hearing but his little son when he wasn't helping his father and often when he was was as well spent much of his time buried in big volumes that he borrowed from the affable gentry and interested parsons of the country round about him and his parents were very fond of him and rather proud of him too though they didn't let on in his hearing so he was left to go his own way and read as much as he liked and instead of frequently getting a cuff on the side of the head as might very well have happened to him he was treated more or less as an equal by his parents who sensibly thought is a very fair division of labor that they should supply the practical knowledge and he the book learning they knew that book learning often came in useful at a pinch in spite of what their neighbors said what the boy chiefly dabbled in was natural history and fairy tales and he just took them as they came in a sandwichy sort of way without making any distinctions and really his course of reading strikes one is rather sensible one evening the shepherd who for some night's past had been disturbed and preoccupied and off his usual mental balance came home all of a tremble and bursting into the room where his wife and son were peacefully employed she with her seam he and following out the adventures of the giant with no heart in his body exclaim with much agitation it's all up with me maria never no more can i go up on them their downs was it ever so now don't you take on like that said his wife who was a very sensible woman but tell us all about it first whatever it is has given you this shakeup and then me and you and the sun here between us we ought to be able to get to the bottom of it it began some nights ago said the shepherd you know that cave up there i never liked it somehow and the sheep never liked it neither and when sheep don't like a thing there's generally some reason for it well for some time past there's been faint noises coming from that cave noises like heavy sighings with grunts mixed up in them and sometimes a snoring far away down real snoring yet somehow not honest snoring like you and me are knights you know i know remarked the boy quietly of course i was terrible frightened the shepherd went on yet somehow i couldn't keep away so this very evening before i came down i took a cast around by the cave quietly and there oh lord there i saw him at last as plain as i see you saw who said his wife beginning to share her husband's nervous terror why him i'm attending you said the shepherd he was sticking halfway out of the cave and seemed to be enjoying of the cool of the evening in a poetical sort of way he was as big as four cart horses and all covered with shiny scales deep blue scales at the top of him shading off to a tender sort of green below as he breathed there was that sort of flicker over his nostrils that you see over our chalk roads on a baking windlass day in summer he had his chin on his paws and i should say he was meditating about things oh yes a peaceable sort of beast enough and not ramping or carrying on or doing anything but what was quite right and proper i admit all that and yet what am i to do scales you know and claws and a tail for certain though i didn't see that end of him i ain't used to him i don't hold with them and that's a fact the boy who had apparently been absorbed in his book during his father's recital now closed the volume yawned clasped his hands behind his head and said sleepily it's all right father don't you worry it's only a dragon only a dragon cried his father what do you mean sitting there you and your dragons only a dragon indeed and what do you know about it because it is because i do know replied the boy quietly look here father you know we've each of us got our line you know about sheep and weather and things i know about dragons i always said you know that that cave up there was a dragon cave i always said it must have belonged to a dragon sometime and ought to belong to a dragon now if rules count for anything well now you tell me it has got a dragon and so that's all right i'm not half as much surprised as when you told me it hadn't got a dragon rules always come right if you wait quietly now please just leave all this to me i'll show up tomorrow morning no in the morning i can't i've got a whole heap of things to do well perhaps in the evening if i'm quite free i'll go up and have a talk to him and you'll find it'll be all right only please don't you go worrying around there without me you don't understand them a bit and they're very sensitive you know he's quite right father said the sensible mother as he says dragons is his line not ours he's wonderful knowing about book beasts as everyone allows and to tell the truth i'm not half happy in my own mind thinking of that poor animal lying alone up there without a bitter hot supper or anyone to change the news with maybe we'll be able to do something for him if he ain't quite respectable our boy will find it out quick enough he's got a pleasant sort of way with him that makes everybody tell him everything so next day after he'd had his tea the boy strolled up the chalky track that led to the summit of the downs and there sure enough he found the dragon stretched lazily on the sword in front of his cave the view from that point was a magnificent one to the right and left the bare and billowy leagues of downs in front the veil with its clustered homesteads its threads of white roads running through orchards in well-tilled acreage and far away a hint of grey old cities on the horizon a cool breeze played over the surface of the grass and the silver shoulder of a large moon was showing above distant junipers no wonder the dragon seemed in a peaceful and contented mood indeed as the boy approached he could hear the beast purring with a happy regularity well we live and learn the boy said to himself none of my books ever told me that dragons purred hello dragon said the boy quietly when he got up to him the dragon on hearing the approaching footsteps made the beginning of a courteous effort to rise but when he saw it was a boy he set his eyebrows severely now don't you hit me he said or bung stones or squirt water or anything i won't have it i tell you no not going to hit you said the boy wearily dropping on the grass beside the beast and don't for goodness sake keep on saying don't i hear so much of it and it's monotonous and makes me tired i've simply looked in to ask you how you were and all that sort of thing but if i'm in the way i can easily clear out i've lots of friends and no one can say i'm in the habit of shoving myself in what i'm not wanted no no don't go off in a huff said the dragon hastily fact is i'm as happy up here as the days long never without an occupation dear fellow never without an occupation and yet between ourselves it is a trifled dull at times the boy bit off a stalk of grass and chewed it going to make a long stay here you ask politely can't hardly say it present replied the dragon it seems a nice place enough but i've only been here a short time and one must look about and reflect and consider before settling down it's rather a serious thing settling down besides now i'm going to tell you something you'd never guess it if you tried ever so fact is i'm such a confoundedly lazy beggar oh you surprised me said the boy civilly it's the sad truth the dragon went on settling down between his paws and evidently delighted to have found a listener at last and i fancy that's really how i came to be here you see all the other fellows were so active and earnest and all that sort of thing always rampaging and skirmishing and scouring the desert sands and pacing the margin of the sea and chasing nights all over the place and devouring damsels and going on generally whereas i like to get my meals regular and then to pop my back against a bit of rock and snooze a bit and wake up and think of things going on and how they kept going on just the same you know so when it happened i got fairly caught when what happened please ask the boy that's just what i don't precisely know said the dragon i suppose the earth sneezed or shook itself or the bottom dropped out of something anyway there was a shake and a roar and a general stromash and i found myself miles away underground and wedged in as tight as tight well thank goodness my wants are few and at any rate i had peace and quietness and wasn't always being asked to come along and do something and i've got such an active mind always occupied i assure you but time went on and there was a certain sameness about the life and at last i began to think it would be fun to work my way upstairs and see what you other fellows were doing so i scratched and burrowed and worked this way in that way and at last i came out through this cave here and i like the country and the view and the people what i've seen of them and on the whole i feel inclined to settle down here what's your mind always occupied about ask the boy that's what i want to know the dragon colored slightly and looked away presently he said bashfully did you ever just for fun try to make up poetry versus you know of course i have said the boy heaps of times and some of it's quite good i feel sure only there's no one here cares about it mother's very kind and all that when i read it to her and so his father for that matter but somehow they don't seem to exactly cried the dragon my own case exactly they don't seem to and you can't argue with them about it now you've got culture you have i could tell it on you at once and i should just like your candid opinion about some little things i threw off lightly when i was down there i'm awfully pleased to have met you i'm hoping the other neighbors will be equally agreeable there was a very nice old gentleman up here only last night that he didn't seem to want to intrude oh that was my father said the boy and he is an iso gentleman and i'll introduce you someday if you like can't you two come up here and dine or something tomorrow ask the dragon eagerly only of course if you've got nothing better to do he asked politely thanks awfully said the boy but we don't go out anywhere without my mother and to tell you the truth i'm afraid she might not quite approve of you you see there's no getting over the hard fact that you are a dragon is that and when you talk of settling down in the neighbors and so on i can't help feeling that you don't quite realize your position you're an enemy of the human race you see i haven't got an enemy in the world said the dragon cheerfully too lazy to make him begin with and if i do read other fellows my poetry i'm always ready to listen to theirs oh dear cried the boy i wish you'd try and grasp the situation properly when the other people find that find you out they'll come after you with spears and swords and all sorts of things you'll have to be exterminated according to their way of looking at it you're a scourge and a pest and a painful monster but there's not a word of truth in it said the dragon wagging his head solemnly character bear the strictest investigation and now there's this little sonny thing i was working on when you appeared on the scene oh if you won't be sensible cried the boy getting up i'm going off home no i can't stop for sonnets my mother's sitting up i'll look you up tomorrow sometime or other and do for goodness sake try and realize that you're a pestilential scourge or will find yourself in the most awful fix good night the boy found it an easy matter to set the mind of his parents at ease about his new friend they had always left that branch to him and they took his word without a murmur the shepherd was formally introduced and many compliments and kind inquiries were exchanged his wife however they're expressing her willingness to do anything she could to mend things or set the cave to rights or cook a little something when the dragon had been pouring over sonnets and forgotten his meals as male things will do could not be brought to recognize him formally the fact that he was a dragon and they didn't know who he was seemed to count for everything with her she made no objection however to her little son spending his evenings with the dragon quietly so long as he was home by nine o'clock and many a pleasant night they had sitting on the sward while the dragon told stories of old old times when dragons were quite plentiful and the world was a livelier place than it is now and life was full of thrills and jumps and surprises what the boy had feared however soon came to pass the most modest and retiring dragon in the world if he's as big as four cart horses and covered with blue scales cannot keep altogether out of the public view and so in the village tavern of knights the fact that a real live dragon sat brooding in the cave on the downs was naturally a subject for talk though the villagers were extremely frightened they were rather proud as well it was a distinction to have a dragon of your own and it was felt to be a feather in the cap of the village still all were agreed that this sort of thing couldn't be allowed to go on the dreadful beast must be exterminated the countryside must be freed from this pest this terror this destroying scourge the fact that not even a henrous was the worst for the dragon's arrival wasn't allowed to have anything to do with it he was a dragon and he couldn't deny it and if he didn't choose to behave as such that was his own lookout but in spite of much valiant talk no hero was found willing to take sword and spear and free the suffering village and win deathless fame and each night's heated discussion always ended in nothing [Applause] meanwhile the dragon a happy bohemian lulled on the turf enjoyed the sunsets told anti-diluvian anecdotes to the boy and polished his old verses while meditating on fresh ones one day the boy on walking into the village found everything wearing a festival appearance which was not to be accounted for in the calendar carpets and gay-coloured stuff were hung out of the windows the church bells clambered noisily the little street was flower strewn and the whole population jostled each other along either side of it chattering shoving and ordering each other to stand back the boys saw a friend of his own age in the crowd and hailed him what's up picride is it the players or bears or a circus or what it's all right his friend hailed back he's a who's a coming demanded the boy thrusting into the throng why saint george of course replied the friend he's heard tel of our dragon and he's coming on purpose to slay the deadly beast and free us from his horrid yoke oh my won't there be a jolly fight here was news indeed the boy felt that she ought to make quite sure for himself and wriggled himself in between the legs of his good-natured elders abusing them all the time for their unmannerly habit of shoving once in the front rank he breathlessly awaited the arrival presently from the far away end of the line came the sound of cheering next the measured of a great war horse made his heart beat quicker and then he found himself cheering with the rest as amidst welcoming shouts shrill cries of women uplifting of babies and waving of handkerchiefs saint george paced slowly up the street the boy's heart stood still and he breathed with sobs the beauty and the grace of the hero were so far beyond anything he had yet seen his fluted armor was inlaid with gold his plumed helmet hung at his saddle bow and his thick fair hair framed a face gracious and gentle beyond expression till you caught the sternness in his eyes he drew rain in front of the little inn and the villagers crowded round with greetings and thanks and valuable statements of their wrongs and grievances as oppressions the boy heard the grave gentle voice of the saint assuring them that all would be well now and that he would stand by them and see them righted and free them from their foe then he dismounted and passed through the doorway and the crowd poured in after him but the boy made off up the hill as fast as he could lay his legs to the ground it's all up dragon he shouted as soon as he was within sight of the beast he's coming he's here now you'll have to pull yourself together and do something at last the dragon was licking his scales and rubbing them with a bit of house flannel the boy's mother had lent him till he shone like a great turquoise don't be violent boy he said without looking around sit down and get your breath and try and remember that the noun governs the verb and then perhaps you'll be good enough to tell me who's coming oh that's right take it coolly said the boy hope you'll be half as cool when i've got through my news it's only saint george who's coming that's all he rode into the village half an hour ago of course you can lick him a great big fella like you but i thought i'd warn you because he's sure to be round early and he's got the longest wickedest looking spear you ever did see and the boy got up and began to jump round in sheer delight at the prospect of the battle oh deary deary me moan the dragon this is too awful i won't see him and that's flat i don't want to know the fellow at all i'm sure he's not nice you must tell him to go away at once please say he can write if he likes but i can't give him an interview i'm not seeing anybody at present now dragon dragon said the boy imploringly don't be perverse and wrong-headed you've got to fight him sometime or other you know because he's saint george and you're the dragon better get it over with and then we can go on with the sonnets and you ought to consider other people a little too if it's been dull up here for you think how dull it's been for me my dear little man said the dragon solemnly just understand once for all that i can't fight and i won't fight i've never fought in my life and i'm not going to begin now just to give you a roman holiday in old days i always let the other fellows the earnest fellow do all the fighting and no doubt that's why i have the pleasure of being here now but if you don't fight he'll cut your head off guards the boy miserable at the prospect of losing both his fight and his friend oh i think not said the dragon in his lazy way you'll be able to arrange something i have every confidence in you you're such a manager just run down there's a deer trap and make it all right i leave it entirely to you the boy made his way back to the village in a state of great despondency first of all there wasn't going to be any fight next his dear and honored friend the dragon hadn't shown up in quite such a heroic light as he would have liked and lastly whether the dragon was a hero at heart or not it made no difference forcing george would most undoubtedly cut his head off arrange things indeed he said bitterly to himself the dragon treats the whole affair as if it was an invitation to tea and croaky the villagers were struggling homewards as he passed up the street all of them in the highest spirits and gleefully discussing the splendid fight that was in store the boy pursued his way to the inn and passed into the principal chamber where sin george now sat alone musing over the chances of the fight and the sad stories of ray pined of wrong that had so lately been poured into his sympathetic ears now come in sin george said the boy politely as he paused at the door i want to talk to you about this little matter of the dragon if you're not too tired of it by this time yes come in boy said the saint kindly another tale of misery and wrong i fear me is it a kind parent then of whom the tyrant has bereft you or some tender sister or brother well it shall soon be avenged of the sort said the boy there's a misunderstanding somewhere and i want to put it right the fact is this is a good dragon exactly says george smiling pleasantly i quite understand a good dragon believe me i do not in the least regret that he is an adversary worthy of my steel and no feeble specimen of his noxious tribe but said the boy he's not a noxious tribe oh dear oh dear how stupid men are when they get an idea into their heads i tell you he's a good dragon and a friend of mine and tells me the most beautiful stories you ever heard all about old times and when he was little and he's been so kind to mother and mother do anything for him and father likes him too though father doesn't hold with art and poetry much and always falls asleep when the dragon starts talking about style but the fact is nobody can help liking him when once they know him he's so engaging and so trustful and as simple as a child sit down and draw your chair up said st george i like a fellow who sticks up for his friends and i'm sure the dragon has his good points if he's got a friend like you but that's not the question all this evening i've been listening with grief and anguish unspeakable to tales of murder theft and wrong rather too highly coloured perhaps not always quite convincing but forming in the main a most serious role of crime history teaches us that the greatest rascals often possess all the domestic virtues and i feel that your cultivated friend in spite of the qualities which have won and rightly your regard has got to be speedily exterminated oh you've been taken in all the yarns those fellas have been telling you said the boy impatiently why our villagers are the biggest storytellers in all the country round it's a known fact you're a stranger in these parts or else you'd have heard it already all they want is a fight they're the most awful beggars for getting up fights it's meat and drink to them dogs bulls dragons anything so long as there's a fight why they've got a poor innocent badger in the stable behind here at this moment they were going to have some fun with him today but they're saving up now till your little affair is over and i've no doubt they've been telling you what a hero you were and how you were bound to win in the course of right and justice and so on but let me tell you i came down the street just now and they were betting six to four on the dragon freely six to four on the dragon members in george sadly resting his cheek on his hand this is an evil world and sometimes i begin to think that all the wickedness in it is not entirely bottled up inside the dragons and yet may not this wily beast of mislead you as to his real character in order that your good report of him may serve as a cloak for his evil deeds nay may there not be at this very moment some hapless princess immuned within yon yonder gloomy cavern the moment he had spoken since george was sorry for what he had said the boy looked so genuinely distressed i assure you saint george the boy said earnestly there's nothing of the thought in the cave at all the dragons are real gentlemen every inch of him and i may say that no one would be more shocked and grieved than he would at hearing you talk in that that loose way about matters on which he has very strong views well perhaps i'd been over credulous said george perhaps i've misjudged the animal but what are we to do here are the dragon and i almost face to face each supposed to be thirsting for each other's blood i don't see any way out of it exactly what do you suggest can't you arrange things somehow oh that's just what the dragon said replied the boy rather nettled really the way you two seem to leave everything to me i suppose you couldn't be persuaded to go away quietly could you no that's impossible i fear said the saint quite against the rules you know you know that as well as i do well then look here said the boy it's early yet would you mind strolling up with me and seeing the dragon and talking it over it's not far and any friend of mine will be most welcome well it's irregular said saint george rising but really it seems about the most sensible thing to do you're taking a lot of trouble on your friend's account he added good-naturedly as they passed out through the door together but cheer up perhaps there won't have to be any fight after all oh but i hope there will be though replied the little fellow wistfully i brought a friend to cu dragon said the boy rather loud the dragon woke up with a start i was uh just thinking about things he said in his simple way very pleased to make your acquaintance sir charming weather we're having this is saint george said the boy shortly said george let me introduce you to the dragon we've come up to talk things over quietly dragon and now for goodness sake do let us have a little straight common sense and come to some practical business-like arrangement for i'm sick of views and series of life and personal tendencies and all that sort of thing i may perhaps add that my mother's sitting up so glad to meet you since george became the dragon rather nervously because you've been a great traveler i hear and i've always been rather a stay at home but i can show you many antiquities many interesting features of our countryside if you're stopping here any time i think said george in his frank pleasant way that we'd really better take the advice of our young friend here and try to come to some understanding on a business footing about this little affair of ours now don't you think that after all the simplest plan would be just to fight it out according to the rules and let the best man win they're betting on you i may tell you down in the village but i don't mind that oh yes do dragon said the boy delightedly it'll save such a lot of bother my young friend you shut up said the dragon severely believe me it's in george he went on there's nobody in the world i'd sooner oblige than you and this young gentleman here but the whole thing's nonsense and conventionality and popular sick headedness there's absolutely nothing to fight about from beginning to end and any how i'm not going to so that settles it but supposing i make you said saint george rather nettled you can't said the dragon triumphantly i should only go into my cave and retire for time down the hole i came up you'd soon get heartily sick of sitting outside and waiting for me to come out and fight you and as soon as you'd really gone away why i'd come up again gaily for i tell you frankly i like this place and i'm going to stay here so george gazed for a while on the fair landscape around him but this would be a beautiful place for a fight he began again persuasively these great bear rolling downs for the arena and me and my golden armor showing up against your big blue scaly coils think what a picture it would make now he was trying to get at me through my artistic sensibilities said the dragon but it won't work not but what it would make a very pretty picture as you say he added wavering a little we seem to be getting nearer to business put in the boy you must see dragon that there's got to be a fight of some sort because you can't want to have to go down that dirty old hole again and stop there till goodness knows when [Applause] it might be arranged said st george thoughtfully i must spear you somewhere of course but i'm not bound to hurt you very much there's such a lot of you that there must be a few spare places somewhere here for instance just behind your foreleg it couldn't hurt much just here no you're tickling george said the dragon coily no that place won't do at all even if it didn't hurt and i'm sure it would awfully it would make me laugh and that would spoil everything well let's try it somewhere else then sits in george patiently under your neck for instance all these folds of thick skin if i speared you here you'd never even know i'd done it yes but are you sure you can hit off the right place said the dragon anxiously of course i am citizen george with confidence you leave that to me it's just because i've got to leave it to you that i'm asking replied the dragon rather chesterly no doubt you would deeply regret any error you might make in the hurry of the moment but you wouldn't regret it half as much as i should however i suppose we've got to trust somebody as we go through life and your plan seems on the whole as good of one as any look here dragon interrupted the boy a little jealous on behalf of his friend who seemed to be getting all the worst of the bargain i don't quite see where you come in there's to be a fight apparently and you're to be licked and what i want to know is what are you going to get out of it saint george said the dragon just tell him please what will happen after i'm vanquished in the deadly combat well according to the rules i suppose i shall lead you in triumph down to the marketplace or whatever answers to it says in george precisely said the dragon and then and then there'll be shoutings and speeches and things continuous in george and then i shall explain that you're converted and see the error of your ways and so on quite so said the dragon and then oh and then says in george white then i suppose the usual banquet exactly said the dragon and that's where i come in look here he continued addressing the boy i'm bored to death up here and no one really appreciates me i'm going into society i am through the kindly aid of our friend here who's taking such a lot of trouble on my account and you'll find i've got the qualities to endear me to people who entertain so now that's all settled and if you don't mind i'm an old fashioned fellow don't want to turn you out but remember you'll have to do your proper share of fighting dragon said george as he took the hint and rose to go i mean ramping and breathing fire and so on oh i can ramp all right revive the dragon confidently as to breathing fire it's surprising how easily one gets out of practice but i'll do the best i can good night they had descended the hill and almost back in the village again when sin george stopped short i knew i'd forgotten something he said there ought to be a princess tetra stricken and chained to a rock and all that sort of thing boy can't you arrange a princess the boy was in the middle of a tremendous yawn i'm tired to death he wailed and i can't arrange a princess or anything more at this time of night and my mother's sitting up and do stop asking me to arrange more things till tomorrow next morning the people began streaming up to the downs at quite an early hour in their sunday clothes carrying baskets with bottlenecks sticking out of them everyone intent on securing good places for the combat this was not exactly a simple matter for of course it was quite possible that the dragon might win and in that case even those who had put their money on him felt they could hardly expect him to deal with his backers on a different footing to the rest places were chosen therefore with circumspection and with a view to a speedy retreat in case of emergency and the front rank was mostly composed of boys who had escaped from parental control and now sprawled and rolled about on the grass regardless of the shrill threats and warnings discharged at them by their anxious mothers behind the boy had secured a good front place well up towards the cave and was feeling as anxious as a stage manager on a first night could the dragon be dependent upon he might change his mind and vote the whole performance rot or else seeing that the affair had been so hastily planned without even a rehearsal he might be too nervous to show up the boy looked narrowly at the cave but it showed no sign of life or occupation could the dragon have made a moonlight flit the higher portions of the ground were now black with sightseers and presently a sound of cheering and a waving of handkerchieves told that something was visible to them which the boy far up towards the dragon end of the line as he was could not yet see but a minute more and since george's red plumes topped the hill as the saint rose slowly forced on the great level space which stretched up to the grim mouth of the cave very gallant and beautiful he looked on his tall war horse his golden armor glancing in the sun his great spear held erect the little white pennant crimson crossed fluttering at its point he drew rain and remained motionless the lines of spectators began to give back a little nervously and even the boys in front stopped pulling hair and cuffing each other and leaned forward expectant now then dragon muttered the boy impatiently fidgeting where he sat he need not have distressed himself had he only known the dramatic possibilities of the thing had tickled the dragon immensely and he had been up from an early hour preparing for his first public appearance with his much heartiness as if the years had run backwards and he had been again a little dragon let playing with his sisters on the floor of their mother's cave at a game of saints and dragons in which the dragon was bound to win a low muttering mingled with snorts now made itself heard rising to a bellowing roar that seemed to fill the plane then a cloud of smoke obscured the mouth of the cave and out of the midst of it the dragon himself shining sea blue magnificent pranced splendidly forward and everyone said oh oh oh as if he had been a mighty rocket his scales were glittering his long spiky tail lashed his sides his claws tore up the turf and sent it flying high over his back and smoke and fire incessantly jetted from his angry nostrils oh well done dragon cried the boy excitedly didn't think he had it in him he added to himself so george lowered his spear bent his head dug his heels into his horse's sides came thundering over the turf the dragon charged with a roar and a squeal a great blue whirling of combination of coils and snorts and clashing jaws and spikes and fire mist yelled the crowd there was a moment's entanglement of golden armor and blue green coils and spiky tail and then the great horse tearing at his bit carried the saint his spear swung high in the air almost up to the mouth of the cave the dragon sat down and barked viciously whilst in george with difficulty pulled his horse round into position end of round one thought the boy how well they managed it but i hope the saint won't get excited i can trust the dragon all right what a regular play actor the fellow is sin george had at last prevailed on his horse to stand steady and was looking around him as he wiped his brow catching sight of the boy he smiled and nodded and held up three fingers for an instant seems to be all planned out said the boy to himself round three is to be the finishing one evidently wish it could have lasted a bit longer whatever is that old fool of a dragon up to now the dragon was employing the interval in giving a ramping performance for the benefit of the crowd ramping it should be explained consistently in running round and round in a wide circle sending waves and ripples of movement along the whole length of your spine from your pointed ears right down to the spike at the end of your long tail when you are covered with blue scales the effect is particularly pleasing and the boy recollected the dragon's recently expressed wish to become a social success sin george now gathered up his reigns began to move forward dropping the point of his spear and settling himself firmly in the saddle time yelled everybody excitedly and the dragon leaving off his ramping sat up on end and began to leap from one side to the other with huge ungainly bounds whooping this naturally disconcerted the horse who swerved violently the saint only just saving himself by the mane and as they shot past the dragon delivered a vicious snap at the horse's tail which sent the poor beast careering madly far over the towns so that the language of the saint who had lost a stirrup was fortunately inaudible to the general assemblage round two evoked audible evidence of friendly feeling towards the dragon the spectators were not slow to appreciate a combatant who could hold his own so well and clearly wanted to show good sport and many encouraging remarks reached the ears of our friend as he strutted to and fro his chest thrust out his tail in the air hugely enjoying his new popularity sin george had dismounted was tightening his girths telling his horse with quite an oriental flow of imagery exactly what he thought of him and his relations and his conduct on the present occasion so the boy made his way down to the saints end of the line and held his spear for him it's been a jolly fight since george he said with a sigh can't you let it last a bit longer well i think i better not reply the saint the fact is your simple-minded old friends getting conceited now they've begun cheering him and he'll forget all about the arrangement and taking to play the fool and there's no telling where he would stop i'll just finish him off in this round he swung himself into the saddle took his spear from the boy now don't you be afraid he added kindly i'd mark my spot exactly and he's sure to give me all the assistance in his power because he knows it's his only chance of being asked to the banquet sin george now shortened his spear bringing the butt well up under his arm and instead of galloping as before trotted smartly towards the dragon who crouched at his approach flicking his tail till it cracked in the air like a great cartwhip the saint wheeled as he neared his opponent and circled warily round him keeping his eye on the spare place while the dragon adopting similar tactics paced with caution around the same circle occasionally fainting with his head so the two sparred for an opening while the spectators maintained a breathless silence though the round lasted for some minutes the end was so swift that all the boys saw was a lightning movement of the saints arm and then a whirl and a confusion of spines claws tail and flying bits of turf the dust cleared away the spectators whooped and ran in cheering and the boy made out that the dragon was now pinned to the earth by the spear whilst in george had dismounted and stood astride of him it all seemed so genuine that the boy ran in breathlessly hoping the giro dragon wasn't really hurt as he approached the dragon lifted one large eyelid and winked solemnly and collapsed again he was fell held fast to earth by the neck but the same touch hit him in the spare place agreed upon and it didn't even seem to tickle then you're gonna cut his head off maester asked one of the applauding crowd he had backed the dragon and naturally he felt a trifle saw well not today i think replies in george pleasantly you see that can be done anytime there's no hurry at all i think we'll all go down to the village first and have some refreshment and then i'll give him a good talking to and you will find he'll be a very different dragon at that magic word refreshment the whole crowd formed up in procession and silently awaited the signal to start the time for talking and cheering and betting was passed the hour for action had arrived sin george hauling on his spear with both hands released the dragon who rose and shook himself and ran his eye over his spikes and scales and things to see that they were all in order then the saint mounted and led off the procession and the dragon following meekly in the company of the boy while the thirsty spectators kept at a respectful interval behind there were great doings when they got down to the village again and had formed up in front of the inn after refreshments in george made a speech in which he informed his audience that he had removed their dietal scourge at a great deal of trouble and inconvenience to himself and now they weren't to go about grumbling and fancying they got grievances because they hadn't and they shouldn't be so fond of fights because next time they may have to do the fighting themselves which would not be the same thing at all and there was a certain batter in the in stables which had got to be released at once and he'd come and see it done himself then he told them that the dragon had been sinking things over and saw that there were two sides to every question and he wasn't going to do it anymore and if they were good perhaps he'd stay and settle down there so they must make friends and not be prejudiced or go about fancying they knew everything there was to be known because they didn't not by a long way and he warned them against the sin of romancing and making up stories and fancying other people would believe them just because they were plausible and highly colored then he sat down amidst much repentant cheering and the dragon nudged the boy in the ribs and whispered that he couldn't have done it better himself then everyone went off to get ready for the banquet banquets are always pleasant things consisting mostly as they do of eating and drinking but the specially nice thing about a banquet is that it comes when something's over and there's nothing more to worry about and tomorrow seems a long way off since george was happy because there had been a fight and he hadn't had to kill anybody for he didn't really like killing though he generally had to do it the dragon was happy because there had been a fight and so far from being hurt he had one popularity and a sure footing in society the boy was happy because there had been a fight and in spite of it all his two friends were on the best of terms and all the others were happy because there had been a fight and well they didn't require any other reasons for their happiness the dragon exerted himself to say the right thing to everybody and prove the life and soul of the evening while the saint and the boy as they looked on felt that they were only assisting at a feast of which the honor and tired and the glory were entirely the dragons but they didn't mind that being good fellows and the dragon was not in the least proud or forgetful on the contrary every 10 minutes or so he lent towards the boy and said impressively look here you will see me home afterwards won't you and the boy always nodded though he had promised his mother not to be out late at last the banquet was over the guests had dropped away with many good nights and congratulations and invitations and the dragon who had seen the last of them off the premises emerged into the street followed by the boy wiped his brow side sat down in the road and gazed at the stars jolly knight has been he murmured jolly stars jolly little place this think i shall just stop here don't feel like climbing up any beastly hill boys promised to see me home boy i'd better do it then no responsibility on my part responsibility all boys and his chin sank on his broad chest and he slumbered peacefully oh get up dragon cried the boy piteously you know my mother's sitting up and i'm so tired and you made me promise to see you home and i never knew what it meant or i wouldn't have done it and the boys sat down in the road by the side of the sleeping dragon and cried the door behind them opened a stream of light a loom in the road and sent george who had come out for a stroll in the cool night air caught sight of the two figures sitting there the great motionless dragon and the cheerful little boy what's the matter boy he inquired kindly stepping to his side oh it's this great lumbering pig of a dragon sob the boy first he makes me promise to see him home then he says i'd better do it and goes to sleep might as well try to see a haystack home and i'm so tired and mothers and here he broke down again now don't take on sidson george i'll stand by you and we'll both see him home wake up dragon he said sharply shaking the beast by the elbow the dragon looked up sleepily what a night george what a look here dragon said the saint here's this little fellow waiting to see you home and you know he ought to have been in bed these two hours and what his mother will say i don't know and anybody's been a selfish pig would have made him go to bed long ago and he shall go to bed cried the dragon starting up poor little chap only fancy his being up at this hour it's a shame that's what it is and i don't think so george you've been very considerate but come along at once and don't let us have any more arguing or silly shallowing you give me hold of your hand boy thank you george an arm up the hill is just what i wanted so they set off up the hill arm in arm the saint the dragon and the boy the lights in the little village began to go out but there were stars of the late moon as they climbed to the downs together and as they turned the last corner and disappeared from view snatches of an old song were born back on the night breeze i can't be certain which of them was singing but i think it was the dragon well that's the first time i've ever read that story and thank you for letting me read it to you i hope you enjoyed it as well