The Fiery Dragon] · page 31 2 3201She took the dragonproof bottle, made of burnished brass, and ran back to the wood, and to the dell, where Elfin was sitting among his sleek black pigs, waiting for her.202"I thought you were never coming back," he said. "203You have been away a year, at least."204The Princess sat down beside him among the pigs, and they held each other's hands till it was dark, and then the dragon came crawling over the moss, scorching it as he came, and getting smaller as he crawled, and curled up under the root of the tree.205"Now then," said Elfin, "you hold the bottle."206Then he poked and prodded the dragon with bits of stick till it crawled into the dragonproof bottle.207But there was no stopper.208"Never mind," said Elfin. "209I'll put my finger in for a stopper."210"No, let me," said the Princess.211But of course Elfin would not let her.212He stuffed his finger into the top of the bottle, and the Princess cried out: "The sea--the sea--run for the cliffs!"213And off they went, with the five and seventy pigs trotting steadily after them in a long black procession.214The bottle got hotter and hotter in Elfin's hands, because the dragon inside was puffing fire and smoke with all his might--hotter and hotter and hotter--but Elfin held on till they came to the cliff edge, and there was the dark blue sea, and the whirlpool going around and around.215Elfin lifted the bottle high above his head and hurled it out between the stars and the sea, and it fell in the middle of the whirlpool.216"We've saved the country," said the Princess. "217You've saved the little children.218Give me your hands."219"I can't," said Elfin. "220I shall never be able to take your dear hands again.221My hands are burnt off."222And so they were: There were only black cinders where his hands ought to have been.223The Princess kissed them, and cried over them, and tore pieces of her silky-milky gown to tie them up with, and the two went back to the tower and told the nurse all about everything.checked by a teacher224And the pigs sat outside and waited.225"He is the bravest man in the world," said Sabrinetta. "226He has saved the country and the little children; but, oh, his hands--his poor, dear, darling hands!"227Here the door of the room opened, and the oldest of the five and seventy pigs came in.228It went up to Elfin and rubbed itself against him with little loving grunts.229"See the dear creature," said the nurse, wiping away a tear. "230It knows, it knows!"231Sabrinetta stroked the pig, because Elfin had no hands for stroking or for anything else.232"The only cure for a dragon burn," said the old nurse, "is pig's fat, and well that faithful creature knows it----"233"I wouldn't for a kingdom," cried Elfin, stroking the pig as best he could with his elbow.234"Is there no other cure?" asked the Princess.235Here another pig put its black nose in at the door, and then another and another, till the room was full of pigs, a surging mass of rounded blackness, pushing and struggling to get at Elfin, and grunting softly in the language of true affection.236"There is one other," said the nurse. "237The dear, affectionate beasts--they all want to die for you."238"What is the other cure?" said Sabrinetta anxiously.239"If a man is burnt by a dragon," said the nurse, "and a certain number of people are willing to die for him, it is enough if each should kiss the burn and wish it well in the depths of his loving heart."240"The number!241The number!" cried Sabrinetta.242"Seventy-seven," said the nurse.243"We have only seventy-five pigs," said the Princess, "and with me that's seventy-six!"244"It must be seventy-seven--and I really can't die for him, so nothing can be done," said the nurse, sadly. "245He must have cork hands."246"I knew about the seventy-seven loving people," said Elfin. "247But I never thought my dear pigs loved me so much as all this, and my dear too--and, of course, that only makes it more impossible.248There's one other charm that cures dragon burns, though; but I'd rather be burnt black all over than marry anyone but you, my dear, my pretty."249"Why, who must you marry to cure your dragon burns?" asked Sabrinetta.250"A Princess.251That's how St. George cured his burns."252"There now!253Think of that!" said the nurse. "254And I never heard tell of that cure, old as I am."255But Sabrinetta threw her arms round Elfin's neck, and held him as though she would never let him go.256"Then it's all right, my dear, brave, precious Elfin," she cried, "for I am a Princess, and you shall be my Prince.257Come along, Nurse--don't wait to put on your bonnet.258We'll go and be married this very moment."259So they went, and the pigs came after, moving in stately blackness, two by two.260And, the minute he was married to the Princess, Elfin's hands got quite well.261And the people, who were weary of Prince Tiresome and his hippopotamuses, hailed Sabrinetta and her husband as rightful Sovereigns of the land.262Next morning the Prince and Princess went out to see if the dragon had been washed ashore.263They could see nothing of him; but when they looked out toward the whirlpool they saw a cloud of steam; and the fishermen reported that the water for miles around was hot enough to shave with!264And as the water is hot there to this day, we may feel pretty sure that the fierceness of that dragon was such that all the waters of all the sea were not enough to cool him.265The whirlpool is too strong for him to be able to get out of it, so there he spins around and around forever and ever, doing some useful work at last, and warming the water for poor fisher-folk to shave with.266* * * * *267The Prince and Princess rule the land well and wisely.268The nurse lives with them, and does nothing but fine sewing, and only that when she wants to very much.269The Prince keeps no hippopotamuses, and is consequently very popular.270The five and seventy devoted pigs live in white marble sties with brass knockers and Pig on the doorplate, and are washed twice a day with Turkish sponges and soap scented with violets, and no one objects to their following the Prince when he walks abroad, for they behave beautifully, and always keep to the footpath, and obey the notices about not walking on the grass.271The Princess feeds them every day with her own hands, and her first edict on coming to the throne was that the word _pork_ should never be uttered on pain of death, and should, besides, be scratched out of all the dictionaries.1 2 3← previousThe Dragon Tamers]next →Kind Little Edmund]↑ back to The Book of DragonsThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/13/page/3/