Story and Reality

I love faerie tales. I love stories and I know that they have deeply impacted my perspective on life and my role in it. One of my favorite stories is "Sir George and the Dragon." I felt the need to post this timeless classic, in my own words. (There was a second version posted earlier, but it needs more work before it should actually appear on line:)

“Sir George was a good knight. He was brave and courageous and he never ran from anything horrible and evil. His people all loved him and they all knew that he would protect them and help them any time evil beast came into his land.
It happened that one day this brave knight was riding across his country and he saw that all the fields were green and growing, and all the trees were full of singing birds, and all the children were playing around their houses, and he said to himself, ‘My land is safe and happy. Perhaps there is another land where people are not safe and happy; maybe there are people who need my help.’ So the good knight put on his shiny armor and picked up his long lance and sharp sword and left his land.
Sir George traveled many days, until at last he came go a great and dark forest. The road he was on lead into this forest and so Sir George, being brave and adventurous, traveled into the forest. For many days he rode through this dark forest, always following the road that went in front of him (for he knew it would be very dangerous to leave the road in such a dark and dreary forest.) He fought many evil and strange monsters and made the forest a safer place for all the animals that lived there, but his goal was to help people, so at last he continued on.
At last the forest began to thin and Sir George noticed a very curious thing, some of the trees were dark and charred as if someone had planted a bon fire right at their base. At first there were only a few trees like this and Sir George thought they were probably just honey trees, but with time he noticed more and more trees that were burned. “Who has been burning this forest?” he wondered. As he left the trees he noticed that many of the fields were burned and that often large strips of land were totally black and full of ash. Now Sir George knew what the problem was, it was obvious that there was an evil dragon bothering these people.
Sir George continued to follow the road, looking for any people who could tell him where the dragon was to be found. At last he came to the gate of a great city and there he met a person.
She was a young woman, hardly even an adult yet. She was dressed in a beautiful red dress with white bow on it and she was very pretty. She was standing outside the city, timidly looking in every direction. Sir George approached the young woman and asked her, “Why are you outside the city? Wouldn’t it be safer to be behind great walls and a thick gate? There is a dragon out here, you know.”
The girl looked up at him and said, “I know, but the dragon has held my fathers people in their city for so many days, and each day he comes and demands a sheep in payment or else he will kill everyone. We finally ran out of sheep, so the dragon has demanded a person. One young maiden must be sent out every day or else we will all be killed.” The young woman was obviously scared, but her voice remained steady as she spoke. “As the princess of the land I thought I should come first. Perhaps if the dragon killed me he would leave the rest of the city alone for a while.”
Sir George looked kindly at the young woman. “Never fear. I am a knight and I have faced many dangers and many evil beasts. I will kill this dragon and you will not have to die.” The little girl smiled sadly at the good knight. “This is a big and evil dragon, he will certainly kill you and then come and destroy the city. It would be safer for you to go into the city.”
Of course Sir George would not hear of this, for he was a brave and good knight, so he told the young woman to lead him to the evil dragon. The girl started walking down the road away from the city. After a few minutes they turned a corner and there, flat across the road, lay the dragon. The sound of Sir George’s horse woke the dragon and he turned his terrible green eyes on them. Sir George lowered his lance and road strait at the evil dragon, calling out to him, “I will not let you terrorize these people any more!” With that Sir George’s lance pierced into the dragon’s thick stomach and pushed into it heart. The dragon fell dead on the road and Sir George returned victoriously to the young woman.
Sir George used the girl’s sash to make a noose for the dragon and the two of them returned to the city, pulling the dragon behind them. Of course, everyone was thrilled to see the princess alive and they were so grateful to Sir George for saving her life. The king asked Sir George to stay in the city and he and the princess got married and ruled the city fairly and wisely.
Today we call the brave knight Saint George because he was so good and kind, and so brave in fighting evil."