In the popular legend of St. George and the Dragon, a courageous soldier rescues a princess chosen as tribute (and next meal) for a marauding dragon. This witty, light-hearted tale from Kenneth Grahame is a parody of this legend. However, there is no princess and the dragon in question is friendly, cultured and, as he admits himself, lazy. The major theme is that the best way to resolve a problem is to sit down and talk about it. Other themes: friendship, daring to be “different” (Boy and dragon); judging by appearances, bloodsports (the villagers); maintaining face/reputation, compassion (St. George).
Abridged Text / PDF / Audio (8,663 words)
The story reproduced above is the one most commonly found in children’s books. It is the inner story of a “frame story” of the same name. The frame adds nothing to the story of the dragon, and 1,300 unnecessary words for children to wade through before they get to it. For anyone interested, we have provided a link to the full story below.
Original Text / PDF (10,250 words)