But the old dragons were foxy fellows, very cunning and crafty. So they kept out of the way of the knights and heroes, with their swords and spears, and arrows, and bow guns: and even from the fairies, who cast spells over them. It was only once in a while, that a lucky fellow, like Saint George, could stick his spear clear down the monster’s throat. It happened, only rarely, that one like Sigurd, the Norseman, or Susanoo, the Japanese, was able to slay one of the big, clumsy, crawling creatures, with their trusty swords.
Happily there came, once in a while, a good natured dragon; that is, the right sort of a fellow, jolly in disposition, and kind to boys. Such a dragon would even invite a well-behaved man to take dinner with him, and even point out what food on the dragon’s table tasted best.
Of course, the man would not always like what was served up before him to eat; for a mortal cannot always enjoy what comes out of the dragon’s kitchen, nor can he be sure of what he may be swallowing. Nobody enjoys chewing up his grandmother, or his aunts, or cousins, or sisters, even though he might, once in a great while, feel like doing so.
So when one goes to see a dragon, and does not, himself, get swallowed up, he had better take [[68]]a sandwich or two with him, and not taste the dragon’s delicacies.
No pretty girl, or plump young lady, ought ever to pay a visit to a dragon’s cave, because, however kind and polite the monster would wish to be, to his guest, his appetite might be too strong for him. Moreover, the very sight of the lovely maiden might make his mouth water, and then, after roaring out, “um, um,” he would be very apt to gulp her down, at one mouthful. This might happen so quickly, that she would not know where she was, or even think what her mother would say, when she missed her, on ironing day. So, even in the case of a well-behaved dragon, or one supposed to have a good character, any person had better be careful about visiting a dragon’s cave.
Now there was a man in Switzerland, a cooper, who made tubs and buckets, and, once in a great while, a hogshead or a bath tub. His shop sign was a well-hooped barrel, set over his doorway. He was especially expert at making and mending milk churns. Some of the girls used to declare that butter came more quickly, and with less hard work, in churns made by him, than in any others.
His name was not Rip Van Winkle, whose father, by the way, was born in Germany, but he had a wife with a bad temper. She had a great [[69]]reputation for scolding. It was said that her “tongue, which was only three inches long, could kill a man six feet high.” In fact, some folks declared that she did not need a sword, but she could fight a dragon with her fiery tongue alone. Let her but open her mouth, and such a volley of abuse would be shot out, at the monster, that, no matter how big, or how hungry he was, he would curl up his tail and run, or else flap his wings, like a frightened chicken, and be off.
Now when this cooper was asked how he felt, about having such a scold for a wife, he used to make apologies, and say, “Well, it was not always so. Once, she was so sweet and lovely, that I wanted to eat her up.”
Then, after a minute or two, he would add, “And I have always been sorry, ever since, that I did not do it.”
When his wife heard of this, she called him “the son of a dragon, and a woman-eater.”