Stan and the Dragon: (Romania)

There was once a husband and wife who had everything they could wish for—except children. They were so unhappy the husband decided to consult a magician. After seeing his distress, the magician said, “Go home. Your wish is granted.”

Imagine Stan’s surprise when he opened the front door and saw oodles of children of every size, shape, color, and personality. “How will we feed all our children?” he asked his wife.

“We’ll make a garden. You go and see what you can find,” she said

The next morning he left to find work but no one would hire him. Stopping to rest, he saw a shepherd tending his sheep. All he could think about was the fine dinner even one sheep would make. Suddenly he heard a horrendous noise, so loud the ground shook. A dragon swooped down, scooped up a lamb in each claw and flew away.

Stan helped the shepherd gather the frightened sheep and in return, the shepherd gave him half his dinner. He told Stan how worried he was. “If this keeps up, I’ll soon have no more sheep.”

“Hmm,” said Stan, “If I rid you of the dragon, how will you reward me?”

“It’s not likely you can, but if you do, I’ll give you enough sheep to start your own herd.” For the rest of the day and most of the next, as he herded sheep Stan tried to think of ways to stop the dragon from stealing them but memories of the dreadful noise drowned out his thoughts. 

After dinner, when the dragon appeared, rushing toward the sheep, the sound was even more horrible than the night before. Terrified, Stan shouted, “Stop your atrocious noise or I will . . .”

The dragon was so startled it stopped in mid-flight, landed and asked, “Who are you?”

Stan’s fear spoke for him. “I am Stan, the mighty man. I eat dragons for breakfast. These sheep are mine. Leave now or I will eat you.”

“Go ahead, eat me.”  Stan stepped forward, knife and fork in hand. “Well,” said the dragon, “if these sheep are yours, I better look elsewhere.” He flapped his wings, ready to leave.

“Just a moment,” snarled Stan. “You’ve eaten a lot of my sheep. You need to pay me for my losses. That man over there,” he said, pointing to the shepherd, “knows the exact amount due. Pay up or else!”

“I don’t have any money, but my mother does. If you come with me and prove you’re stronger than I am, and if she likes you, she’ll give you more gold than you can carry.”

Stan’s terror turned to amazement. He felt himself grow strong and bold. “Lead me to her,” he growled as best he could.

The dragon’s mother was bigger and more fearsome than her son. Stan was terrified but thinking about his children gave him courage. “I heard you say you’re stronger than my son. Show me!” She gave her son an enormous barrel. “Throw it as far as you can.” It fell so far Stan could hardly see it. “Your turn,” said the dragon.

“Oh,” said Stan, thinking quickly. “It’s a pity I might kill you with this barrel.”

“What?” yelped the dragon. Stan explained how a magician had given him a gift. Anything he threw would come back and hit the owner. “Well,” said the dragon, not wanting to die, “in that case, my mother will give you another test. Stan agreed, pretending he was annoyed.

The dragon told his mother she needed to give them another test. “Very well,” she said. “The one who is stronger will carry the most water.” The dragon lifted the heavy pail, filled it up and was back in an instant. “Your turn,” he said to Stan.

Stan bent down. With his pocketknife he began to dig up earth. “No sense carrying a pail when I can dig a new well close by.”

“Stop!” yelled the dragon. That well was dug by my great-great-grandfather. It mustn’t be disturbed. “I’ll carry the water for you.” Stan kept digging. “I’ll give you twice the gold I promised if you’ll stop digging. He filled and emptied the pail twice. When the dragon’s mother saw how much water she thought Stan had carried she devised another plan.

The next morning the dragon’s mother said, “Let’s see who can collect the most wood in the next hour.” The dragon had no trouble lifting huge oaks out of the ground, but Stan climbed to the top of the highest tree and noticed a vine creeping up toward him. He tied it to a strong branch, then climbed to the top of a second tree. 

When he noticed the dragon watching him, Stan explained, “It’s too much trouble uprooting one tree at a time. I’ll tie all of the tallest trees with this vine and pull them up all together.”

“No!” yelled the dragon. “My great-great grandmother planted this forest you mustn’t ruin it.”

“Very well, but this is the last time I’m going to stop. Once I start something I finish it.”

The dragon’s mother decided it didn’t matter who was stronger. She wanted him gone. ‘Very well,” said Stan, “but if you want me to leave, your son will have to carry me and the gold back to my home.” Quicker than an eye can blink, the dragon loaded up the gold, put Stan on his back, and flew down to earth.

As they approached the house, Stan heard his children laughing. “Maybe you better stop here,” he said to the dragon. “I have lots of children and they’re all stronger . . . Before he could say another word, the dragon dumped him and the gold and flew off. Stan laughed. Hmm, he thought, there’s enough gold here to feed and clothe my children for the rest of their lives. Not bad for three days work.

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December monthly stories