Princess Cristobal and the Dragon


Far away where winters are long and snow covers the ground, there was a palace of ice. There in it lived the beautiful Princess Cristobal. She had a silver carriage in which she travelled over her land.
Many princes had tried to win her hand in marriage, but none of them had succeeded, for the palace of ice was guarded by a fierce dragon. It was difficult to see him, for he was white and only when he felt that the princess was in danger, he would emerge to defend her. None of the princes had ever managed to get past the dragon.
This made the Princess very lonely. She had no friends and she was afraid that she would never be able to marry if the dragon chased away all the princes.
One day, Princess Cristobal decided that she would try to talk to the dragon. She summoned him and he came to one of the windows, as he was too large to come into the palace.


“I wished to thank you, sir, for the care you take of this palace and of me,” said Cristobal, being very polite.
The dragon looked surprised at her words, but he bowed meekly.
“Do you speak, sir?” asked the Princess.
“I do,” replied the dragon gruffly. But a flame flickered out of his mouth as he spoke and a part of the window melted! “That’s why I don’t speak!” he explained, pointing to the melted window.
“Could you tell me your name?” said Cristobal.
The dragon signalled her to come to the window and look out. Princess Cristobal saw he had written his name in the snow: Fire-Flash! The Princess was surprised that he could write.
“I think we can be friends if you will write all that you wish to say. Will you do that?” she asked eagerly.
“Yes,” he wrote.


She asked him how he could write.
“I was the King of this kingdom. My name was Lucian. I had become very arrogant, and spoke very rudely to people. One day, I made the Witch of the North very angry and she cursed me. I became a dragon, condemned to guard my own palace!
“Your father came here and I requested him to take care of the palace. He could not stay here for long, because he had to look after his own kingdom. So, he left you to rule here and asked me to make sure that no unworthy prince should trouble you.”


“Is there no way to break the enchantment and make you human again?” asked Princess Cristobal.
The dragon told, “There is, but it is difficult. To the east is a lake with a golden swan in it. That swan sings every night. When it sings, five feathers must be plucked from its wings and given to me. Then a potion will be made with water taken from the lake on a moonlit night, a drop of honey and the feathers. To it some scales from my back have to be added and I am to drink it. So that the spell cast by the Witch of the North will break and I shall change into my real form again.”
“Why did she make it so difficult for you to transform?” asked Cristobal.
“Only someone with a caring heart will do so much,” wrote the dragon, “And no one can care for a dragon, can they?”
Cristobal told him that she would do all that he had told her. She set off in her silver carriage to look for the lake with the golden swan. She waited near the lake till she heard the swan singing. Creeping close to it, she plucked five feathers from its wing.
Immediately the song stopped and the swan turned into a beautiful golden fairy who flew off into the night. Princess Cristobal had made sure that it was a moonlit night and she filled up a small crystal jar with water from the lake.


When Cristobal got back to the palace, she added a drop of honey and then put in the five feathers. The water turned golden. She called Fire-Flash and, taking some scales, added them to the glowing potion. Pouring it into a goblet, she gave it to the dragon to drink. As soon as he had drunk the potion, he stood before her as a handsome young man, dressed as a prince. He knelt before the Princess and asked her to marry him.
Princess Cristobal was so happy that she readily agreed. So, they married and went to meet her father who blessed them both. They lived very happily in their own palace of ice!

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