The Little Princess and the Great Dragon

Once upon a time, in a land inlaid with silver and gold, lived a Little Princess who held a dear secret very close to her heart, and this secret was a remarkable gift that has only ever been given to a lucky few.

You see, this gift allowed her to read all the books in the world. The Little Princess knew that with her books she could be anyone, or go anywhere! And best of all, this gift allowed her to escape her malicious father, the Evil King, and his shameful lust for wealth that covered their entire kingdom.

Now, Dear Reader, the Little Princess clearly loved her books. She had whole towers dedicated to them and would visit them every day with the little keys dangling on her belt. The Little Princess knew that it was the books themselves that were so precious, and vastly preferred their company to the riotous parties that her father held in the castle halls. Despite her many stories, the Little Princess often felt as if she were all alone in the world, and that no one valued reading like she did.

But this was not true.

For you see, there is one character of the story I have not yet told the tale of. This character is not, as one might presume in these sorts of stories, a love interest. No, this is not the romantic sort of character. This character is a Great Dragon! This Great Dragon also held a secret. A secret bigger than himself if that could perhaps be believed. For you see, this Great Dragon loved to read as the Little Princess did. He saw the value of books and considered them to be more valuable than any gem.

Now, this Great Dragon was fierce and powerful, but he was also a very sad Great Dragon. For, you see Dear Reader, this Great Dragon could not read. Not because he was illiterate by any means, no! Dragons are clever creatures, but he feared his fiery breath would burn the books. The Great Dragon collected and protected the books and perhaps one might say that his entire collection was altogether greater in number than the Little Princess’.

This Great Dragon had many distant relatives, all of them with the usual craving for gold, and the tendency of killing people and various animals. Not one had his love for books, and he was shunned because of it. However, dragons feel very strongly for their kin no matter how estranged they might have become. Thus, when the Great Dragon received word that his distant northern cousins had been slain by an Evil King, the Great Dragon flew into a terrible frenzy. (Although his rampages did not disturb any of the books, of course.) The Great Dragon found the location of the Evil King and swore vengeance.

As you might have guessed, this Evil King happened to be the father of the Little Princess. Did you ever stop and think upon how the Evil King might have accumulated his terrible wealth? Through the slaying of dragons, of course.

And it was all very cowardly business as well, for the Evil King would kill the dragons in their sleep! The Evil King would then take all the cursed gold and riches from the dragons’ lair and add them to his own.

In his quest to find the king, the Great Dragon had also found out about the king's daughter. Thus, the Great Dragon slipped into the palace of the Evil King and stole away the unsuspecting Little Princess asleep in her bedroom tower in the dead of night. "Clearly," he thought as he swooped away from the undisturbed palace, "the Evil King will be in fits over the loss of his Little Princess."

Finding herself awake in the arms of a Great Dragon, the Little Princess was very frightened, more so than she ever had been in her entire life. She did her best to remember all the brave heroines from her books and drew her strength from them.

When the Great Dragon swept her down into his lair, the Little Princess looked upon the Great Dragon and drew up her courage…though her knees were knocking together, and she had begun to lose feeling in her left pinky.

Taking a deep breath, she asked him in a meek voice, thin but as strong as a hard piece of copper: “O, Great Dragon, what is the meaning of this? Why have you stolen me away from my homeland?”

The Great Dragon turned to her fearsomely - but saw to his surprise that the little girl did not flinch. Where had she learned such bravery? “I have stolen you from your father. He has killed my kin, and now he shall never see you again.”

The Little Princess then sorrowed for the Great Dragon. “But sir,” she said, “surely you must know that my father cares little for me, and my mother died at childbirth, as did my little brother. There will be no one to mourn me gone.”

The Great Dragon felt a touch of pity for the Little Princess. “You mean to tell me that you truly have no friends in all the world that would help you?”

“No, they are too busy with their own affairs to bother with mine, not that I blame them in any way.” The Little Princess looked down at her feet. “I am afraid books are my only company, you see.”

At this, the Great Dragon was astonished. He could not have possibly heard right. He could relate entirely; he understood being friendless and alone and having only stories and his books for company. “You have no company but what, you said?”

“Books. I have so many of them, you see. They are up in the spiraling towers of my father’s house, for he cares not. He thinks I am as crazy as my mother. But books are more valuable than all the jewels he owns, this I know for certain.” The Little Princess said this with pride.

Then she looked around, a question forming in the back of her curious mind. “O, Great Dragon I have read much of your kind. Where is all of your treasure?”

The Great Dragons’ scales gleamed as he shifted on his feet, debating with himself. His mind was rolling with possibilities and saw no lies in the Little Princess’ face. He then knelt in front of the Little Princess and told her all the stories and tales that he had heard long ago, and the Little Princess listened with wide eyes and a rapt fascination.

It was in the wee hours of the night before the Great Dragon had stopped talking. The Little Princess was still wide awake, and she asked to see his library. “Certainly,” the Great Dragon said, “I trust you love them as much as I.”

The Great Dragon led her deep down into the cave, and he showed her the hundreds of thousands of books of all sorts that he had collected. Adventures about heroes, novels about romance and love, books that gave information, books upon great, hundred-foot shelves, and books meticulously piled in stacks in bright corners lit by dragon-fire lamps. (For, as You know, dragon fire needs no fuel and can burn for many years if needed.)

This was not even a quarter of it, Dear Reader! Words do not describe how many books there were, exquisite and worn and loved as only a dragon could love. They were the most beautiful things the Little Princess had ever seen, and she wept for joy at finding someone with the love of books that she had. She no longer had any fear of the Great Dragon, and they became fast friends.

The first thing the Little Princess did was sweep up a copy of one of her favorite books and beckon to the Great Dragon to come and sit with her. The Little Princess read many wonderful stories to the Great Dragon, and together they rejoiced in the captivating beauty that the words described.

The Great Dragon then vowed to himself that this Little Princess would remain with him no longer. He could not keep such a bright soul as hers left in a little cave while a father who did not love her wasted away. There had to be a solution!

The Dragon decided that he would take the Little Princess wherever she wished to go, away from the Evil King.

The Dragon immediately proposed what he had in mind, but the Little Princess smiled and said “Where else on earth is a soul that loves books as much as I? I could not leave now, not for the greatest treasures in the world. For the greatest treasures are found here,” she gestured around them, “and here.” She pointed to the Great Dragon’s heart. “I have found the greatest treasures I could hope for. I could not possibly leave.”

The Great Dragon shook his head. “My Little Princess, that is kind and noble of you. I would not deny myself of your companionship for I sorely need one. But then what of your books? What of your home, and your people? Your people need you to save them more than I.”

The Little Princess frowned. She had not thought about all the people she had kept from her father’s cruel hand. Who would save them if she left?

“Very well,” she said. “But I will not leave forever. Promise me you shall come to find me once a week so we may read together. I should love to have your company.”

The Great Dragon consented and brought the Little Princess back to her home. As the Little Princess suspected, no one missed her, and she slipped quietly to her room.

The Great Dragon and the Fair Princess continued to be the closest of friends, and so it went on for many years. As this time passed, the Little Princess was turning into a very Fair one, with blonde hair and sparkling green eyes.

Then the news came: The Fair Princess’ father had been killed in a most gruesome manner in the south, though no one could say that they cared much. By this time, almost all of the Fair Princesses’ books had been moved to the Great Dragon’s cavern, and she had opened her towers to the sick and needy.

At the death of her father, the Fair Princess was crowned Queen of the land, which prospered under her reign. The curses set upon the dragon’s gold stolen by her father so long ago were released by the Great Dragon, and the Fair Queen gave generously to all. But she would still disappear from time to time, and no one would quite know where she went or when she would be back.

Except You and I, of course. And this tradition went on for generations. The Fair Queen’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren carried on the tradition of reading to the Great Dragon, for there is always another story to tell.