SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON
A true knight is one who fearlessly offers himself in defence of the helpless, particularly women and children.
There was a rich king who had a daughter that he loved better than anything else in the world. She was very beautiful and everybody in the kingdom loved her dearly. Though she was the king’s daughter, yet she always thought of and helped the poorest of his subjects.
One day there came from the mountains a dragon with his mouth wide open to devour everything. The dragon’s breath was like fire, and his scales rattled as if they were made of tin. He was dreadful to behold. The king’s soldiers and knights were sent for to kill or drive away the dragon, but nothing could be done. Every time a knight went out to fight the dragon, the terrible monster knocked him down with a blow of his tail, and devoured him, armor and all.
The dragon demanded that every morning a young girl should be tied to a tree by the river where he could find her and eat her. There was great grief in the kingdom over this, but everybody knew it had to be done, or the dragon would come into the town and eat every one.
When the king’s daughter heard of the demand of the dragon and the grief of the people, she said, “Let me go. If the dragon must devour a young woman every day, he shall take me the very first morning.”
All the people begged her not to go, but she insisted. The high priest decided to take a pigeon into the court yard and set it free. If it flew to the East the king’s daughter was to go to the dragon.
When the pigeon was set free it flew to the East for a great distance. Finally it came to a knight on his horse. The pigeon lit on the knight’s shoulder and cooing tried to tell the knight of the trouble. Then it flew in the direction it wanted the knight to go. The knight understood and followed the pigeon.
He found the princess tied to a tree and the dragon close by. He told the princess not to be afraid for he was going to kill the dragon. She kept very still and the dragon lashed his tail in a fury as the knight came near to where he was.
Now, this knight knew that no ordinary methods would conquer the dragon. All the other knights who had attacked the dragon had been slain by its poisonous fangs. He quickly called for some pitch. The people ran to their houses and brought him a bucket full of pitch. He made a large ball of it, and put it on the end of his spear.