The dragon began to tell Bowen his clever idea.
At the same time, down below them, the peasants worked hard in Sir Felton's
fields. Sir Felton was one of King Einon's rich knights.
One of the boys suddenly stopped his work and looked up at the sky.
'Father, father!' he cried. 'Look! Up there!'The peasants looked at the boy. Then
they looked up at the sky. There, abov| them, was the dragon!
'Help! He's coming down!' they shouted.'Look at that fire! It
coming out of his nose! It's going to burn us! Run! Fast!'
The dragon flew down to the ground. He started to burn down Sir
Felton's fields and buildings - there was fire and smoke everywhere. Sir Felton
heard the peasants and quickly ran out of? his house. But before he could say a
word, somebody behind him said, 'Look at that! Those dragons! Can I help?'
Sir Felton was very, very angry. He looked round and saw Sir Bowen with a
smile on his face. 'Stupid dragon!' he shouted. 'Look! My fields! And my
buildings! They're burning!'
'Well, I can help you,' answered Bowen. 'But you'll have to pay me — it'll cost
a lot of money.'
'I won't pay you anything,' shouted back Sir Felton. 'Do you
hear me?'
He turned and started to go back into his house. But the
use was also on fire. 'No, no! Not my house too! Don't burn beautiful house!
Help!' Sir Felton cried. And he ran back to Bowen fast. 'Here. Take this money.
Quickly. Do something.'
Minutes later, Bowen and the peasants were ready. When the dragon flew
over them, they started to throw things at him. This was the dragon's wonderful
idea! He cried, 'Oh ... oh ... oh!' Then he slowly fell down from the sky and into
a river near Sir
Felton's house.
'He's dying! He's dying!' shouted the peasants. 'Look, he's in the river!' They
all laughed happily, but Sir Felton looked very
angry.
'Get my money back,' he shouted at them. 'Run after that knight. He's got
my money.' The peasants ran after Sir Bowen as
fast as they could.
Bowen didn't wait. He quickly jumped on to his horse near the river and
rode away. With Sir Felton's money in his hand, he laughed loudly. 'We did it! It was
easy! Clever dragon!' He looked down at the money. 'Now let's see. How much
have we got?'
A long way down the river, the dragon's head came up out of the water. He
swam round and round and waited for Sir Bowen. When the knight saw him, he
called, 'Well, Dragon, your idea was wonderful! They think you're dead. And
we made a lot of money.'
There's a lot of money in the world, Knight,' answered the dragon sadly.
'You'll find it all, and then you won't want me.'
No, Dragon,' answered Bowen. 'I'm a Knight of the Old Code. I'll never
forget you.'
Thе dragon swam round in the river. He looked up at the night on his
horse. 'You've got Sir Felton's money. But do you eel bad now?' he asked. 'You
didn't really kill me.'
Bowen looked down at the dragon. 'No, I don't feel bad. Sir Felton doesn't
live by the Old Code - he's cruel to the peasants.'
'Yes, but when you took his money, he was angry. And he'll be angry with the
peasants now. They'll have to work harder and harder. And he won't pay them a
penny,' answered the dragon.
'That's not my problem,' shouted Bowen. 'You don't understand the Old
Code. You're only a dragon!'
'All right, don't be angry, Knight,' said the dragon quietly. 'I do know about
the Old Code. And I know you tried to live by it.'
'Yes, but nobody wanted to listen to me. So now I'm not going to try,'
answered Bowen sadly. 'I can't change the world, Dragon.'
The dragon's eyes were as sad and tired as Bowen's. They started moving
down the river again.
When evening came, the dragon and Bowen stopped for dinner. They
were near cruel King Einon's castle. Bowen was hungry and ate quickly.
The dragon waited and then asked, 'Why do you hate dragons,
Knight?'
'I don't hate all dragons,' Bowen answered. 'I hate one dragon and I wanted 8
to kill him. But I never found him. And now I'll never find him. You're the last
dragon, so he's dead.'
'Tell me,' said the dragon quietly, 'why did you hate that dragon?'
'He only had half a heart, 'Bowen answered. 'He gave the other half to King
Einon. But it made Einon cruel and bad. When he had the dragon's heart, he
forgot the Old Code. He killed peasants and he was as cruel as his father, King
Freyne.'
The dragon listened and he began to look very angry. 'Einon was bad before
he met that dragon,' he shouted. 'He was cruel before he got half the dragon's
heart.'
Bowen stood up quickly. 'How do you know that?' he asked. The dragon
knew because he was the Great Dragon in the mountain. He gave Einon half his
heart. But he didn't want to discuss that with Bowen. 'Well .. . urn ... all dragons
know that,' he said. 'They know that Einon was a cruel child. And now he's a cruel
king.'
Bowen didn't like this. The dragon's words made him unhappy. 'No! I knew
Einon when he was little! He was a good boy. I taught him the Old Code,' he
cried.
'Then he was cruel to you too,' said the dragon. He stood nose-to-nose with
Bowen. 'He broke your heart. And he broke the kind dragon's heart too.'
'No, Dragon, he didn't,' shouted Sir Bowen.
'Oh, stop calling me "dragon"! I've got a name, you know!'
'What is it then, Dragon?' asked Bowen.
'Well, uh, I can't say it in your language,' answered the dragon.
'Go on. Try,' said Bowen.
'Arr ... er ... awrr ... ow-w-wsh-s ...'
'You're right, 'laughed Bowen. 'I can't say that.'
He turned to put some more wood on the fire. With his back to the
dragon, he suddenly heard a sad sound. He turned and saw the dragon on the
ground.
'Aah. It hurts,' said the dragon. He closed his eyes and put his hand on
his heart. Bowen could see a red light near the dragon's heart. He quickly put
some water on the light, and the dragon slowly opened his eyes.
'Thank you. I'm all right now,' he said.
'What was it?' asked Bowen. 'Oh nothing. I had a bad accident
once, and it hurts sometimes.'
'I hope our conversation didn't make you unhappy,' said
Bowen.
'It wasn't you,' said the dragon. 'Not you
That night Bowen sat next to the dragon for a long time. He watched the
red light near the dragon's heart. The colour got slowly weaker and weaker. In
the middle of the night the dragon opened his eyes.
'Why aren't you asleep?' he asked, when he saw Bowen.
'I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to think of a name for you,' answered
Bowen. 'And I found a name. Up there. Can you see those stars?'
The dragon looked up at the sky. 'Yes,' he said.
'We call those stars Draco,' said Bowen. 'In our language, "draco" is the
same as "dragon".'
'And would you like to call me Draco?' laughed the dragon.
'No, you're right. It's a stupid idea,' said Bowen, with his head down.
'No,' said the dragon kindly. 'It's not stupid. I like the name Draco.
Thank you, Knight. And have you got a name?'
‘Yes, my name’s Bowen’