Once upon a time there lived a man who had two sons but they did not get on at all well together, for the younger was much handsomer than his elder brother who was very jealous of him. When they grew older, things became worse and worse, and at last one day as they were walking through a wood the elder youth seized hold of the other, tied him to a tree, and went on his way hoping that the boy might starve to death.
However, it happened that an old and humpbacked shepherd passed the tree with his flock, and seeing the prisoner, he stopped and said to him, ‘Tell me, my son why are you tied to that tree?’
‘Because I was so crooked,’ answered the young man; ‘but it has quite cured me, and now my back is as straight as can be.’
Find the rest of the tale “How the Dragon Was Tricked” from Andrew Lang’s Pink Fairy Book at this link.
And a note, before you dive further into the Dragon’s fairy tale!:
True fairy tales are rooted in moral imaginations meant to awaken and strengthen the forces of the soul; they are not accounts of actual events. It is important to know, then, that the hero is usually on a quest to unite the soul forces with the higher spiritual nature, and the slaying of the dragon represents triumphing over doubt, fear, and hatred. And along the way, false kings are dispensed with as well!
~Mary Stewart Adams, Star Lore Historian, this 8th of October, 2019