Smokey the Dragon and the Knight
Illustration © 2023 Susan Fleming
Smokey is a dragon who lives in a cave near a village. He is a very friendly dragon and all the villagers likes him. He used to frighten everyone because, when he was excited, he breathed fire and smoke from his mouth; but he learned to control his excitement.
One day a Knight rides on his horse into the village and says he has come to fight the dragon, because this is what Knights do. This upsets the villagers, because they all like Smokey very much. While the villagers are talking to the Knight, the Mayor of the village tells a couple to young men to run to Smokey and tell him to stay in his cave out of sight. Smokey is not sure that he wants to, because he tells the two young men that dragons fight Knights; that is what they do.
So Smokey and the Knight meet each other. Just then the Mayor of the village steps between them and asks why they have to fight.
The Knight says, “If I don’t fight a dragon when I see one all the other Knights will laugh at me, because our code of honour says we must fight dragons.”
The Mayor turns to Smokey who just shrugs and says, “Whatever!”
The Mayor asks the Knight just what the code of honour says, and the Knight tells him that he must do battle with dragons and win.
The Mayor thinks about this and says, “You will do battle together …. on a Snakes and Ladders board!”
The Knight thinks about this. He says that, if Smokey really is nice, he would not want to hurt him; so he agrees. It is decided to play the best of three games. Smokey wins the first, and the Knight wins the next two. Smokey is a bit confused because he cannot count very well. He thinks he may not have counted properly when he was swallowed by a long snake which meant that the Knight won. However, Smokey is glad that it is all over. The Mayor declares that the Knight has done battle with the dragon and won. He gives the Knight a special piece of paper to confirm this.
The Knight and Smokey find that they like each other but it is soon time for the Knight to ride away. Just then he discovers that his horse had lost one of its shoes. He has to go to the village blacksmith, who is not working that day and his fire has gone out. Smokey askes some children to tickle him so that he gets excited and flames came out of his mouth to light the blacksmith’s fire. The blacksmith works hard and soon the horse has a new shoe.
As the Knight rides away he says he has a new respect for dragons, because not only are they nice, but also very useful.