There was an old man with a multitude of children. He had an
underground cave in the forest. He said, 'Make me a honey-cake, for I will go
and earn something.' He went into the forest, and found a well. By the well was
a table. He laid the cake on the table. The crows came and ate it. He slept by
the well. He arose and saw the flies eating the crumbs. He struck a blow and
killed a hundred flies. He wrote that he had killed a hundred souls with one
blow. And he lay down and slept.
A dragon came with a buffalo's skin to draw water. He saw what was
written on the table, that he had killed a hundred souls. When he saw the old
man, he feared. The old man awoke, and he too feared.
The dragon said, 'Let's become brothers.'
And they swore that they would be Brothers of the Cross. The dragon drew water. 'Come with me, brother, to my palace.'
They went along a footpath, the old man first. When the dragon panted,
he drove the old man forward; when he drew in his breath, he pulled him back.
The dragon said, 'Brother, why do you sometimes run forward and sometimes come
back?'
'I am thinking whether to kill you.'
'Stay, brother, I will go first and you behind; maybe you will change
your mind.'
They came to a cherry-tree. 'Here, brother, have some cherries.'
The dragon climbed up, and the old man was eating below. The dragon
said, 'Come up, they're better here.'
The old man said, 'No, they aren't, for the birds have defiled them.'
'Catch hold of this bough.'
The old man did so. The dragon let go of it, and jerked the old man up,
and he fell on a hare and caught it.
The dragon said, 'What's the matter, brother? Was the bough too strong
for you?'
'I sprang of my own accord, and caught this hare. I hadn't time to run
round, so up I sprang.'
The dragon came down and went home. The old man said, 'Would you like a
present, sister-in-law?' [seemingly offering the hare to the dragon's wife].
'Thanks, brother-in-law.'
The dragon said to her aside, 'Don't say a word to him, else he'll kill
us, for he has killed a hundred souls with one blow.' He sent him to fetch
water: 'Go for water, brother.'
He took the spade and the buffalo's hide, dragged it after him, and
went to the well, and was digging all round the well.
The dragon went to him. 'What are you doing, brother?'
'I am digging the whole well to carry it home.'
'Don't destroy the spring; I'll draw the water myself.'
The dragon drew the water, and took the old man by the hand, and led
him home. He sent him to the forest to fetch a tree. He stripped off bark, and
made himself a rope, and bound the trees.
The dragon came. 'What are you doing, brother?'
'I am going to take the whole forest and carry it home.'
'Don't destroy my forest, brother. I'll carry it myself.' The dragon
took a tree on his shoulders, and went home.
He said to his wife, 'What shall we do, wife, for he will kill us if we
anger him?'
She said, 'Take uncle's big club, and hit him on the head.'
The old man heard. He slept of a night on a bench. And he took the
beetle, put it on the bench, dressed it up in his coat, and put his cap on the
top of it. And he lay down under the bench. The dragon took the club, and felt
the cap, and struck with the club. The old man arose, removed the beetle, put
it under the bench, and lay down on the bench. He scratched his head. 'God will
punish you, brother, and your household, for a flea has bitten me on the head.'
'There! do you hear, wife? I hit him on the head with the club, and he
says a mere flea has bitten him. What shall we do with him, wife?'
Give him a sackful of money to go away.'
'What will you take to go, brother? I'll give you a sackful of money.'
'Give it me.'
He gave it. 'Take it, brother, and be gone.'
'I brought my present myself; do you carry yours yourself.'
The dragon took it on his shoulders and carried it. They drew near to
the underground cavern. The old man said, 'Stay here, brother, whilst I go home
and tie up the dogs, else they'll wholly devour you.' The old man went home to
his children, and made them wooden knives, and told them to say when they saw
the dragon, 'Mother, father's bringing a dragon; we'll eat his flesh.'
The dragon heard them, and flung down the sack, and fled. And he met a
fox.
'Where are you flying to, dragon?'
'The old man will kill me.'
'Fear not; come along with me. I'll kill him, he's so weak.'
The children came outside and cried, 'Mother, the fox is bringing us
the dragon skin he owes us, to cover the cave with.'
The dragon took to flight, and caught the fox, and dashed him to the
earth; and the fox died. The old man went to the town, and got a cart, and put
the money in it. Then he went to the town, and built himself houses, and bought
himself oxen and cows.
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From: GYPSY FOLK
TALES BOOK ONE – Illustrated Edition
ISBN: 978-1-907256-XX-X
A percentage of the
profits will be donated to THE RELIEF FUND for ROMANIA
