Long ago, halfway between a small English village and the shoulder of the Downs (a hilly area where there is a lot of chalk) a shepherd lived with his wife and young son. When the son, known only as Boy in this story, wasn’t helping his father he was reading books loaned to him by the “affable gentry.” HIs parents thought it was a fair division of labor for them to have practical knowledge and their son to have book-learning, for knowledge found in books might come in handy at times – even if the book-learning came mostly from natural history and fairy tales.
One day the shepherd came home trembling and exclaimed he would never go to the Downs again. For the past few nights he’d heard strange noises coming from a cave – loud sighs, grunts and snoring. That morning he saw a dreadful creature at the mouth of the cave. It was as large as four cart horses, covered with shiny scales, and when the creature breathed there seemed to be flickering fire coming from its mouth.
The Boy looked up from his book and told his father there was nothing to worry about, it was just a dragon. He would go up and talk with the creature, for he knew all about them.
When the Boy walked up the Downs summit he found the dragon lounging in front of the cave. He said hello, but the dragon declared he was not to hit him or throw stones. The Boy said he wouldn’t do such a thing, and asked if the dragon was planning on staying long. The dragon said he wasn’t sure, but it seemed a nice quiet place for such a lazy creature as himself. Other dragons liked to fly about, get into skirmishes, and chase after knights, but he preferred just sitting around, pondering different things, and trying to come up with poetry verses. He would like to have friendly people come visit him and listen to his poetry. Alas, Boy had to tell the reluctant dragon that when the villagers learned of his existence they would be coming after him with swords and spears, for they do enjoy a good fight – especially when they aren’t the ones doing the fighting.
The Boy went home and told his parents about the peace-loving dragon, and they took his word for it, for their son knew more about dragons than they did. The Boy introduced his father to his large new friend, and the shepherd was agreeable to exchanging pleasantries with the dragon. But his mother didn’t want to formally meet him, because they didn’t really know anything about him, and it wasn’t quite proper to become friends with just any random creature that happens by. However, she was willing to cook an occasional meal for the dragon, and perhaps tidy up his cave when he’d spent too much time working on poetry and had let things get messy. Best of all, she was agreeable to the Boy visiting with the dragon, so long as her son was home by nine o’clock at night.
It didn’t take long for the villagers to learn that a dragon had moved into the area, and men gathered at the local tavern to discuss the need to exterminate the fierce beast. It’s true there were no reports of the newcomer causing any trouble, but it just wasn’t right to have a dragon in the neighborhood. No one came forward volunteering to slay the dragon, but something had to be done.
One day the Boy went into the village and found everyone in a festive mood, with church bells ringing and flowers strewn on the street, even though it was not a holiday. He asked a friend what was happening, and was told that St. George was coming to slay the dragon, and it would be a splendid fight. The famous dragon-slayer arrived, and he was a sight to see. He was wearing glistening armor, and his handsome face appeared to be gentle, though his eyes were stern.
The Boy ran up the slopes of the Downs and shouted at the dragon that St. George was coming to slay him and he must stop being lazy and fight him. The dragon was polishing his scales with a flannel cloth the Boy’s mother had lent him, and he replied that he did not want to fight anyone. The Boy would need to explain things to St. George and tell him to go away. He was sure the Boy could manage everything, so he would leave it entirely up to him. The Boy was not in a good mood as he walked back to the village, and he thought how “The dragon treats the whole affair as if it was an invitation to tea and croquet.”
The Boy went to the inn, and politely asked St. George if he could talk to him about the dragon, if he wasn’t too tired. St. George spoke to him kindly, and asked if the dragon had killed a kind parent, or a tender brother and sister. The Boy assured the man that he was a friend of the good dragon, who was kind to both of his parents, even though his father tended to fall asleep when the dragon began reciting poetry.
St. George said he appreciated a person who remains loyal to his friends, but he’d just been listening to stories of murder and mayhem caused by the dragon, so even if the beast had his good qualities he still needed to be exterminated. The Boy explained how the villagers were always making up stories, and they loved fights, whether it involved dogs, dragons or badgers. They were also gamblers, and they were betting on the upcoming fight six to four in the dragon’s favor.
The saintly knight was saddened to hear about the gambling, but suggested that the dragon had misled the lad about his true character. Perhaps there was a hapless princess imprisoned in the dragon’s cave. But the Boy insisted that the dragon was a true gentleman. At last he was able to convince St. George to stroll up to the Downs, meet the dragon, and talk things over with him.
The Boy introduced St. George to the dragon, and the dragon said he was pleased to meet him, but when the saint declared they needed to fight the dragon refused to do so, and said he’d hide out in a hole in his cave until the saint got tired of waiting for him and went away. St. George declared there just had to be a fight. He could spear him in some place that wouldn’t hurt much, declare the dragon had been vanquished, lead him to the marketplace, and state that the dragon had been reformed. That would be followed by rejoicing, speeches, and the usual banquet.
The dragon was interested in such an outcome, for he getting rather bored with staying near the cave. He wanted to enter Society, and meet more people he could entertain with stories of long ago. As long as St. George promised to be very careful when he speared him, he would be willing to put on a great fight, with lots of showy rushing about, and breathing fire, though he was rather out of practice with fire breathing.
It was getting rather late when the Boy and St. George walked back towards the village, and the Boy knew his mother would be waiting up for him to return home. But then St. George suddenly remembered he had forgotten something important. There had to be a terror-stricken princess chained to a rock to make the fight worthwhile. Could the Boy arrange for a princess to be endangered?
Well, that was just too much for the Boy. His good friend the dragon turned out to be a lazy coward who’d been willing to have him tell the dragon-slayer to just go away, and now St. George wanted to make him responsible for providing a terror-stricken princess. The Boy was just a child, with a mother waiting up for him, and book-learning did not prepare him for choreographing a battle between a dragon and a saintly knight in shining armor.
Will the battle be a success? Will the lazy reluctant dragon put on a good enough show to entertain and impress the villagers? Will St. George remember to just give the dragon a harmless little spear wound, and will the villagers accept the “vanquished” poetry-reciting dragon into local Society?
Kenneth Graham, best known for his 1908 children’s novel The Wind In the Willows, published Dream Days in 1898. The last chapter of the 1898 book is the story The Reluctant Dragon. I found the tale charming and amusing, and learned an important lesson about not believing everything I’ve been told about dragons…or about other villains who may not be as bad as their reputation paints them out to be. Over the centuries there have been many versions of the legend of St. George, who slew dragons, plus converted dragon-plagued communities to Christianity. (Some claim he also converted communities that had no troublesome dragons causing havoc.) I was pleased to learn that good St. George was open to the idea of chatting with a dragon before a scheduled fight, in order to learn if it were possible that some dragons could be harmless.
A friend sent me a copy of a 1983 picture book of The Reluctant Dragon, and I’m sure there have been other printings of the story as a stand-alone book. If you are unable to obtain a printed copy The Reluctant Dragon it can be read, free of charge, via the ebook Dream Days found at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/270