Catch a Dragon by the Tale….

Tags

Asian Dragons, Bamboo Princess, Dragon Jewel, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Japan, Month of the Dragon, Tell-a-Dragon-Tale, WAFDE, Writing

As we head into the last full week in October, MotD activities turn toward the literary. It is Tell-A-Dragon-Tale Week, a time to celebrate our friends – the fierce and the gentle, rampaging and wise – in word, verse, even film. (Thank you, Artists of the Internet!)

Today, since I fear I’ve given our Asian Dragons short shrift this month, I am starting with a tale from ancient Japan, The Bamboo Cutter’s Daughter. The original story is too long and involved for this space, but I did want to share my retelling of the section which is dragon-centric. Enjoy.

THE DRAGON JEWEL

Once upon a time, there was an old Bamboo Cutter and his wife. They were good, kind people who, though not rich, were blessed with everything they could want except a child. One day the old man was on his way home when he saw a stalk of bamboo glowing in the evening shade. He sliced open the stalk and there, inside, stood a radiant little girl, as small as a fairy and twice as lovely. He scooped her up and took her home; and he and his wife adopted the child as their very own.

The years went by and the girl grew into the sweetest, most beautiful young woman in all the Japans. And when it was time for her to be given a name, her parents called her the Bamboo Princess, because she was found in the bamboo and was more beautiful than any princess.

Word of the Bamboo Princess spread across from one end of the land to the other, and, as is the way of these things, five princes came pouring out of the woodwork to seek her hand in marriage. Now, there was just one problem. The Bamboo Princess didn’t want to get married to anyone. She wanted to be left alone to live the simple life in the woods with her parents. So she came up with a brilliant plan: give each of the princes an impossible task, and when they failed, she would have a good reason to turn them away.

The first prince she asked to go to India and bring her the stone bowl of the great Buddha. He failed.

The second prince was to bring her a branch from the jeweled tree on the floating mountain of Horai. He failed.

The third was to fetch a robe made from the skins of the legendary fire rat; the fourth, to bring her the magical shell which swallows hide in their nests. They, too, failed.

Which brings us to the last prince and the part about the Dragon: The fifth prince, Prince Lofty by name, was tasked with getting the great jewel that hung around the neck of Ryun-jin, the Dragon King.

Now, Prince Lofty may have been rich and royal, but he was also a great boaster and a terrible coward. Oh, he promised to get the Dragon’s jewel, but he had no intention of doing such a dangerous deed himself. So he called his servants and soldiers. “I want you to go and get me the jewel from the Dragon King,” he said. “Here is gold for your trouble, and for your widows and children, should you not return. Now go, and don’t come back without my jewel!”

Well, this was too good an offer to turn down. The servants and soldiers pocketed the prince’s gold and took off, but not to confront the Dragon. Some of them didn’t even believe in the Dragon’s gem and those who did believe, well, they weren’t foolish enough to anger Ryun-jin by stealing it. If the Prince wanted the jewel he could get it himself; and if he failed, well, it was no skin off their noses.

Of course, Prince Lofty, being a prince, was used to having his orders followed. He never thought for a moment that they wouldn’t complete his quest and win him the hand of the Bamboo Princess. So sure was he that he would marry her, he spent his time building a wondrous palace for his bride-to-be, with a hundred rooms, great towers, and gardens on every side. His land had never known such a beautiful palace. All the wood was lacquered, carved, or inlaid with gold and precious stones. The walls were hung with silks painted by the finest artists.

Now, while all this building was being done, the prince couldn’t help wondering why his men hadn’t returned with the Dragon’s jewel. He waited a whole year for them to come back and not a single one showed his face again. Prince Lofty got angrier and angrier as it finally dawned on him: they took his money and ran! It wasn’t even the loss of money he minded, but the fact that he would have to go after the jewel himself.

He called together the few servants who were left and told them to get a ship ready. He was going to find the Dragon King! But the servants were frightened and begged him not to go. “The Dragon will destroy us all!” they cried.

“Cowards!” scolded Prince Lofty. “Cowards, watch me. I’ll teach you how to be brave. Do you think I am afraid of a Dragon?”

So they set sail, and for two or three days the sea was calm, the skies fair. All was well. And the prince stood on the deck, with his arms akimbo and bragged at the top of his lungs, “Ha! The Dragon hides below the waves. He doesn’t dare show his face, he’s so afraid of me!”

Of course anyone who knows anything about Dragons knows two things for sure: They have excellent hearing and they are not afraid of anyone, especially not a puny prince.

In his palace deep beneath the sea, the Dragon King heard Prince Lofty’s words and grew angry. With a lash of his tail he stirred the waters and with a mighty roar he ordered the thunder and lightning out of the heavens. The ship rocked and dipped from stem to stern. The great waves broke in foam over the deck and soaked the crew to the bone. The rain poured down in torrents. The lightning flashed and the thunder growled and roared. It was the fiercest storm the sailors had ever known.

Suddenly Brave Prince Lofty wasn’t so brave. He was sure the ship would be dashed to pieces. And if he did not drown, then he knew a bolt of lightning would come down and kill him.

Seasick and scared out of his wits, he begged the pilot and crew to save him. “Why did you ever bring me to this place?” he cried. “Did you wish to kill me? Is this how you care for the life of your prince? Get me out of this at once or I shall shoot every one of you with my great bow.”

The crew could hardly keep from laughing, for it was only at the Prince’s order they’d set sail at all. As for shooting them, they knew he could not lift an arrow, much less pull the bow.

The pilot, who understood Dragons far better than his master, answered: “My prince, it must be the dragon who sends this storm. He has heard you say that you will kill him and steal the jewel from his neck. You must promise that you will not hurt him, and then perhaps he will call back the storm and let us live.”

“Anything,” Prince Lofty said. “Just please, please, please, make the storm stop!” And there and then, he vowed to never touch the Dragon, not so much as a whisker or a hair on the tip of his tail.

Fortunately, the Dragon King took the prince at his word, and his anger faded away. After a while the storm died down, the lightning ceased, and the sea was as still as glass. Prince Lofty was too sick, however, to know what happened until the pilot brought the ship to land. There his men lifted the prince out of the ship and laid him under a tree.

When at last he felt firm ground under him, Prince Lofty wept aloud, and swore that now he had land beneath his feet, he would never leave it. Though he was on an island far from Japan, he would not return on a ship, not for a thousand princesses. “You never know with Dragons,” he said. “He might just change his mind.” And so he stayed on the island, ruling over monkeys and tree crabs, for the rest of his life.

And the beautiful palace which he built for the princess had no one to live in it but the bats and owls, and sometimes a stray mouse or two. And that pleased the Bamboo Princess very well, indeed.

Falkor’s Festival of Lucky Dragons …

Tags

Asian Dragons, Book Giveaway, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Falkor, fesitvals, Flying, Luck, Luck Dragons, Month of the Dragon, WAFDE

All Dragons are lucky, though some are luckier than others. And Falkor is the luckiest of all.

Luckdragons are a branch of the Asian Dragon family. They are long and sinuous, with shaggy heads, some leonine, some more canine in aspect. Like all Asian Dragons, they are wingless mysteries of aerodynamics, soaring playfully through the clouds, even dozing as they fly.

They are not exceptionally strong or magical, but they are, tip to tail, preternaturally lucky. Whether you’ve lost your keys or your way, are taking a chance on love or the lottery, having a Luckdragon on one’s side never hurts. Of course, the help of a Luckdragon comes in many forms, and we mere mortals do not always recognize its benefits right away. Perhaps it is luckier for us to wander from the path now and then. We might just discover wonderful things, even blaze paths previously unimagined. Fortune can be fickle and we just have to trust that Dragons know best.

Back in 2011, during the first Month of the Dragon, Falkor and his Luckdragon kin got one day on our calendar. Now they get three days of frolic, feasting, and pushing the bounds of fortune as far as is draconically possible. How times have changed. Or perhaps it is just our increased longing for luck in a precarious world.

I think I’ll give Falkor a scratch behind the ears and ask him.

---

**In the tradition of Month of the Dragon, everyone who leaves a comment here at Dragon’s Nest has their name go into a hat. At the end of the month, a name will be drawn and the winner will receive a signed copies of my books, The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook and Dragons for Beginners (both from Llewellyn Worldwide). Hope everyone is feeling lucky!

 

Adopt-a-Dragon Week

Tags

Adopt-a -Dragon, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, Month of the Dragon, WAFDE

Adopt-A-Dragon Program

The Adopt-A-Dragon program is an integral part of the Dragon Conservancy. It was started as an offshoot of WAFDE in the relatively peaceful decades following WWII, and came into its own at the end of the last century.

Modeled after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management‘s National Wild Horse and Burro Program and the American Bear Association’s Friend of the Cubs, AAD is a way Dragon lovers around the world can stay connected to these marvelous creatures and feel like they are contributing to the continuance of Dragon welfare on a global scale. From the Tibetan Quad to the forests of Belize, Dragon-loving individuals can “adopt a Dragon.” You get a certificate of fosterage, and a weekend pass to the Dragon Sanctuary of your choice.

A recent adjunct is the KFD (Kids for Dragons) school outreach program, geared at classes of kids from the 6th-grade on up.* With parental consent—of course!—school groups can pool their resources and adopt a young Dragon. The fee is nominal and AAD tries to hook classes up with young Dragons from nearby sanctuary. As an environmental teaching tool and dispeller of negative myths, the program is without equal! And, as a field trip, nothing beats going to see the class adoptee, watching her grow through the years from gangly dragonlet to full-winged, fire-breathing adolescent. If you or your school are interested in partaking of all KFD has to offer, contact your local chapter of WAFDE.

Remember, AAD not only channels much needed support and goodwill into conservation efforts, it also provides dracophiles with a rewarding sense of chipping in. In this age of rampant species extinction, every little bit helps us all.

* Dragons are considered a little too terrifying for younger children. There are enough obstacles to our friends without adding irate parents and the wrath of the psychiatric community worried about youthful nightmares to the mix.

Chipping-In Day

Tags

Autumn, Chipping In, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, goodwill, Harvest, Help, Month of the Dragon, WAFDE

Chipping In Day.

No one understands There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch – or TANSTAAFL, as Larry Niven put it – better than Dragons and their people. Face it, Dragonkeeping is not for shallow pockets. And so we supplement and barter where we can and becoming truly integrated with our larger communities. This time of year there are harvests to be brought in, orchards to be kept warm, not to mention earth works to be wrapped before the heavy frost comes.

This is the time when Dragons make good impressions on their neighbors and rack of brownie points – and provisions – for the winter ahead. Of course, major labor is not required. Baby-sitting or helping with a stubborn writer’s block is just as valuable a way of contributing to the common weal.

Confabulation of Dragons – Scott Gustafson

A couple of things to remember:

1)   Always check with your village council or public-works board to find out where help is most needed. You don’t want to be laboring at cross-purposes. For example, for over a month, now, they’ve been ripping up the center of my village, putting in new storm sewers, sidewalks, and pavement. The true heavy lifting was completed last week, so,  much as the Dragons want to lend a hand, the best they can do today is warm the flag people and try not to get tail-prints in the freshly poured sidewalk. They will be far more helpful at the local apple orchards and giving kids rides through the corn maze.

2)   If working with an official government agency, be sure to have a proper contract guaranteeing proper compensation. TANSTAAFL applies to humans as well as Dragons, though humans – particularly the bureaucratic types – have a tendency to forget the fact.

3)  The more work is fun for Dragons, the more Dragons make work fun for us.

So, whether getting a lift up to clean the gutters or blowing leaves into piles with the whoosh of Dragon wings (no leaf burning! that has a tendency to tick off more people than it wins over; plus autumn winds make it a very risky prospect – we don’t need any more wildfires), have fun.

Get out with your Dragons and give back to your communities. And don’t forget to say “Thank you!”

Fire Festival & U.N. Day

Tags

Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, Fire Dragon, Fire Festival, Himlayas, Month of the Dragon, UN Day, WAFDE

Fire Festival and U.N. Day

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link,
is that we all inhabit this small planet,
we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children’s futures,
and we are all mortal.
….John F. Kennedy

Here in the northern hemisphere, as the nights get longer and colder and frost rimes the pumpkins, we look to Dragonfire to warm our nights and light our path to the Solstice. This is the time for the Fire Festival, two days when we commemorate one of the quintessentially draconic qualities, breathing fire (except down under where there are fires enough and any Aussie Dragons are likely helping as best they can).

The Fire Festival began long ago (3^rd century) on the chilly plateaus of Tibet and Northern India. There the weyrs of the Himalayan Quad celebrated nesting season with flame and flight and sonorous Dragonsong. They roared against the lengthening nights and paid homage to the the Great Fire Dragon, Wang Lung.

This year, the first day of Fire Fest coincides with United Nations Day – a time to look at the world as a Dragon does: without borders or divisions, with an eye and embrace to all species and creeds.

Many Dragons by Jackie Morris

Kick Up Dragon Heels

Tags

Asian Dragons, Dancing Dragons, Dragon festivals, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, Flying, Month of the Dragon, Myth and Legends, WAFDE

Dancing Dragon Day.

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
…Rabindranath Tagore

Dancing Dragons – Wayne Anderson 2009

Dragons, being wise as the Universe is old, love to dance. They feel the rhythms of life rippling through their scales and tickling their whiskers. Dancing with Dragons, sharing their enthusiasm and joy, is a one of the true delights of keeping their company.

In the East, the pleasure of Dragon dancing is a riotous display of public art with festive cloth and bamboo Dragons coursing through the streets. In a tradition dating back to the Han Dynasty, the Dragon Dance is a form of sympathetic magic for the whole community. Traditionally, the dance honors the great Lung, cosmic guardian of the Chinese people, the Children of the Dragon.

A team of dancers brings the Dragon to life, mimicking his serpentine grace and power. With every sinuous twist and turn the mystical nature of the Dragon is invoked, his luck, wisdom, fertility, and dignity. Thus, the Dragon is exalted and her favor entreated for fine harvests and prosperity.

In the West, Dragon dancing is more a family affair yet no less festive. Autumn being mating season, Westies are ever tripping the light fantastic in courtship and amore. It is, of course, unwise to interrupt wooing Dragons, yet you will surely find a plenitude of occasions to take up pipe and tabor – or pump up the volume on your CD player – and frolic with Dragons from dusk to dawn. Western and Feathered Dragons also caper on the wing in aerial balletics that would humble Nijinsky – and the Red Baron.

 Standing on the sidelines or tapping toe to talon, Dancing Dragon Day is fun for all. Dragons know that, as Agnes deMille said, “To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.”

A quick reminder: Tomorrow is Take a Dragon to Work Day. If you plan on an office sojourn, don’t let your Dragon stay up too late tonight cutting a proverbial rug. Weary Dragons tend to be surly Dragons; when around people they do not know, a rested temperament and good manners are essential.

 

October 4: Kiss-a-Dragon Day!

Tags

Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, fesitvals, Kiss-a-Dragon Day, Month of the Dragon, WAFDE

Dragon Kiss – layoutsparks

Happy Kiss-a-Dragon Day.

This is a joyful tradition at WAFDE and Month of the Dragon, a time to show our Dragons how much we love them.

Dragons Kiss Part 1 – DarkuAngel

It is also a day in which we celebrate and recognize that our similarities far outshine our difference, even between Dragons and their humans.

So, go forth today and, in what ever form they take for you, show your Dragons some love.

Spirited Away

10.2013 – Third Annual Month of the Dragon

Tags

Dragon festivals, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, Month of the Dragon, Myth and Legends, WAFDE

It is October again and, as the leaves turn, the Dragons roar.

This year, we at the World Association For Dragons Everywhere – WAFDE – are going to try something a little different. In an effort to expand our horizons and bring more like-Dragon-minded folks, we are home-basing Month of the Dragon 2013 on the new WAFDE Facebook page, with links and shares right back here to our old home. Don’t want anyone to miss out!

So……. Welcome to our third annual Month of the Dragon celebration! Here you will find – and I hope share – a plethora of draconic information on everything from dragon science, spirituality, lore, facts, and fictions. There will be docs, posts, random and organized fun. And pictures. Lots of pictures.

Those of you who wish, will also receive, upon request, a digital Certificate of WAFDE Membership suitable for framing. You can also join in on the Adopt-A-Dragon program. More about all that as the month goes on.

For now….Spread the word to all your Dragon-loving friends and raise a glass (or bowl of tea) to Dragons everywhere. This is their time to shine!

Year of the Dragon Comes to a Close…

Tags

Books, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, Year of the Dragon, Zodiac

What a year it has been, the Year of the Water Dragon!

A year with joys and sorrows and great accomplishments. And every day blessed by the steady benevolence of the Black Dragon.

In celebration of this momentous day, I offer a few bits of Draconic wisdom from near and far:

“Dragons are…elemental, capable of commanding earth, wind, fire, and water. They fly across the face of the moon and dive deep beneath the seven seas. They are loyal, loving, elegant, musical, fierce, and wise. They are weyr builders and enchantment weavers. They know more about this world we share than we humans can hope to glean in a thousand lifetimes. They are wildness and mystery; bringers of death and symbols of eternal life.

This is the gestalt of the Dragon, as absolute and elegant as the Dragons themselves. Dragons are so much more than the simple collection of their parts. Such wonder deserves nothing less than appreciation and understanding in all its brilliantly monstrous complexity.”

…Shawn MacKENZIE, The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook

“People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.”

…Ursula K. LeGuin

“To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.”

…Loren Eiseley, The Night  Country

Dragon Dreams – c3rmen

“Dragons are obscure, mysterious characters described only in broad terms, little more than foils to enhance a hero’s valor. Dragons though are much more than this. They are intelligent and educated creatures who lead enthralling lives.”

…H.G. Ciruelo Cabral

Confabulation of Dragons – Scott Gustafson

“I desired dragons with a profound desire.”

…J.R.R.Tolkien, On Fairy Stories

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”

…Rainer Maria Rilke

“It is now the twenty-first century. By the grace of the Great Dragon, we have made it past the Dark Times and further than many thought possible. Out of the darkness, Dragons roar, reminding us we need them. Reminding us of their right to be. With horns charmed and scales ashimmer, they walk amongst us. They share our lives and lend mystery to the mundane. They fill the skies and sing in thunderous tones for all to hear: ‘We are Everywhere!’

Magic is again in the world. The future rolls out, a grass carpet beneath our feet.

But as we look forward, we must never forget the past. There will always be people who cling to what is safe and familiar, who look at Dragons and see only monsters to fear and slay. The fault, dear reader, is not in our Dragons but in ourselves.

It’s up to us to change. We did it before; we can do it again. It is up to us—Dragons and Dragon lovers alike—to keep the flames of magic, the songs of Dragons, alive.

Here, There Be Dragons, standing with us, alone in one place together. And when we are gone, a Dragon will be here still, shouting to the Universe: I am!”

…The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook

So, happy YotD’s end. Twelve years and Dragon rule will return.

Until then, I’d love to hear how your year was Draconically impacted. Any sightings to report, of particularly Dragonish tales? All are welcome here at Dragonsnest!

A Tale from the East: My Lord Bag of Rice…

Tags

Dragons, Fairy Tales, Fiction, Japan, Month of the Dragon

Dragons are the heart of once-upon-a time and, as such, go hand in hand with faerie tales around the world. On the last day of Tell a Dragon Tale Week, we’re turning to the East and a story of a beleaguered Dragon King from the Isles of Japan.

Note: Today is the last day of Tell a Dragon Tale Week (10/21-27). That means it’s your last chance to leave a comment here and have the possibility of winning a signed limited-edition copy of Shawn MacKENZIE’s short story: “Because the Pleasure-Dragon Whistles.” The lucky winner will be announced on October 28th.

MY LORD BAG of RICE

Once upon a time, when things in the world still made you go “Wow!” there lived in Japan a brave samurai warrior, named Hidesato. He had a wife and three children, and should have been happy, but hanging around the house just wasn’t for him. He wanted adventures! So one day he took up his sword and bow, kissed his family good-bye, and headed out into the world.

He walked and walked until he came to a bridge by a beautiful lake. Coiled around the bridge, right in his path, was a great sleeping dragon. His body was as thick as a giant pine tree, his claws sharp as sabers, and when he snored the ground shook, and smoke poured out of his nostrils.

Now, Hidesato was not about to let a dragon stop him, oh no! He also knew it was very bad luck to hurt a dragon—especially one who wasn’t hurting you—so, one foot after another, he stepped lightly between the dragons toes, across the dragon’s scales, until he’d made it to the other side of the bridge. Then, without looking back, he went on his way.

He hadn’t taken a dozen steps when a voice called out to him: “Noble knight, please wait!” He turned around and there stood not a dragon, but a curious looking man with long red, red hair, wearing a crown shaped like a Dragon’s head and robes of sea-green silk. The man bowed to the warrior and Hidesato knew at once that this was no ordinary human being. Then he wondered, where had the dragon gone? Had it changed into this man? What did it all mean? While these thoughts raced through his mind he walked back across the bridge. “Did you call to me just now?” he asked.

“Yes, yes, I did,” answered the man. “I am the Dragon King of the Lake, and I have a favor to ask of you. Will you grant it?”

“If I can, I will,” answered Hidesato, honored that a Dragon King would think him worthy of such a request. “What can I do for you?”

“Kill my mortal enemy, the Great Centipede, who lives on that mountain,” the King said, pointing to a high peak on the opposite shore of the lake.

“The monster has discovered my home beneath the bridge and, night after night, he comes down with his hundred grasping legs and carries off my children and grandchildren. My heart is broken! I know what you’re thinking: I’m a Dragon—what is a Centipede to me? But I am only a lake Dragon and this beast is far more powerful than I. I thought, a human, one who can face a Dragon without fear, would be able to help me. Many men came this way, but you are the only one who did not shake and quake and run for the hills. You must be very brave. Will you kill my enemy, the Centipede, before it’s too late?”

Hidesato felt very sorry for the Dragon King. Gripping his sword in one hand, his bow in the other, he said, “Where does this monster live? I will attack him at once!”

“Oh, no,” the Dragon King replied. “He lives far up in the mountain. By the time you found him, you’d be too tired to fight. But every night, he comes down to the lake. Wait for him here, in my palace.”

At the Dragon King’s word, the waters parted and he led the warrior down to his home under the lake. Never had Hidesato seen such a beautiful palace, all white marble and crystal. Schools of goldfish, red carp, and silvery trout waited upon the Dragon King and his guest. A great feast was spread before them and there was music and dancing and the warrior quite forgot about the terrible Centipede. But at the stroke of midnight, just as the Dragon King was about to toast his guest’s good health, the palace walls shook with a tramp, tramp, tramp! It sounded like an army of thousands marching their way.

Hidesato and the King rushed to the balcony. From there, the warrior saw two great balls of glowing fire coming ‘round the mountain, nearer and nearer.

“The Centipede! The Centipede!” the Dragon King yelled. “Those two balls of fire are its eyes. It is coming this way. Now is the time to kill it.”

The samurai peered through the night and, behind the two balls of fire, he saw the long body of an enormous Centipede winding from the top of the mountain down to the valley. The light in its hundred feet glowed like lanterns parading towards the lake.

Without a hint of fear, Hidesato called for his bow and arrows. “Don’t worry, good Dragon. I shall kill the monster.” Then he noticed he had only three arrows in his quiver and knew he had to make them count. He took careful aim and shot the first arrow. It hit the beast right in the middle of the forehead! But the Centipede’s shell was thick as armor and the arrow bounced off. Hidesato tried again, and again his arrow fell to the ground.

The Dragon king was beginning to worry. Things were not going as planned. The huge creepy-crawler had wound its horrid body seven times round the mountain. Nearer and nearer came the fireballs of eyes, and the light of its feet began to throw reflections in the lake.

The warrior had only one arrow left. If that one failed they’d be the Centipede’s dinner, for sure. Then he remembered something his father told him: human spit is deadly to centipedes. Hmmmm, he wondered. Could it work on such a giant creature? No guts, no glory: he had to try. So, taking his last arrow, he spit upon the tip, then, fitting the notch to his bow, took aim and let fly.

This time the arrow hit the Centipede right between the eyes, and he crumpled in a heap. The fire in his eyes and hundred feet faded to black, and, with a shudder the hulking body breathed its last. Darkness spread across the heavens, followed by a terrible storm with thunder and lightning and wild winds. Then the sun rose, shining off the lake like a diamond. The centipede was gone from the mountain and it was a beautiful day.

The Dragon King and his family danced with joy! (Dragon love to dance!) They bowed in thanks before Hidesato, and the King proclaimed he was the bravest man in all Japan! There was another feast, more delicious than the first. And when they were finished and very, very full, the King presented the knight with four rare and curious gifts: A large bronze bell was the first; the second was a roll of silk; the third a cooking pot; and the last a bag of rice.

“This is much too much,” the man said. But the Dragon King insisted and you don’t say no to a Dragon. And so, with the gifts bundled neatly in his pack, Hidesato said farewell to the King and his many children and grandchildren and made his way home.

His family came running out to meet him. “Where have you been?” they asked. “What have you done?” He told his story of dragons and centipedes and underwater palaces, and they listened with eyes wide and mouths open.

“And these are the treasures the Dragon King gave me,” he beamed, unloading his pack. And it turned out that the Dragon’s gifts were not in the least common; they were magical. The roll of silk never grew shorter no matter how much was cut from it or how many robes were made. The pot was a cook’s dream: no matter what was put into it, it turned into the most delicious food, exactly what was wanted. And the bag of rice was bottomless! Day after day, scoop after scoop, it fed family and friends and remained always full.

Word of knight’s bravery and good fortune soon spread across the land, and since he did not need to spend money on rice or silk, he grew very rich, indeed, and became known as My Lord Bag of Rice.

As for the bronze bell, it was beautiful but turned out to be quite ordinary, so Hidesato gave it to the local temple. And there it rings out the hours, to this very day.

(retold by S. MacKenzie)

And don’t forget: everyone who leaves a Comment on a Month of the Dragon post this October gets their name put in the hat for a signed copy of either Dragons for Beginners or The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook. Winners to be announced November 1, 2012.