Gachina,
The Net-maker.
Dragon.
A king had a son who was called Dragon. He was as debauched as it is possible to be. All the money that he had he had spent, and still more; not having enough, he demanded his portion from his father. The father gives it him immediately, and he goes off, taking with him a companion who had been a soldier, and who was very like himself.[32] Very quickly they spent all their money. While they were travelling in a forest they see a beautiful castle. They enter and find there a table ready set out, and a magnificent supper prepared. They sit down to table and sup. Nobody appears as yet, and they go up-stairs to see the house, and they find the beds all ready, and they go to bed. They pass a very good night. The next morning Dragon gets up and opens the shutters, and sees a dazzling garden.
He goes down into the garden, still without seeing anybody; but in passing under a fig tree, a voice says to him:
“Ay! ay! ay! what pain you have put me to, and what suffering you are causing me!”
He turns on all sides and finds nothing. He says:
“Who are you? You! I do not understand it. Appear!”
The voice says to him, “I cannot to-day; but perhaps to-morrow you will see me. But in order to do that you will have to suffer severely.”
He promises to suffer no matter what for her. The voice says to him:
“To-morrow night they will make you suffer every kind of torture, but you must not say anything; and if you do that, you will see me to-morrow.”