A Fairy Tale in a Faraway Land

Part of the One Page Series

There was a dragon who lived on a hill. The dragon’s breast was covered with golden scales. Just one scale was worth a fortune and could make a man rich, if only he could get the scale off the dragon in the first place. The knight, in his plate with his shield said, “I will climb the hill and strike the beast with my sword. I will stab its heart and twist my blade and all the scales will be mine,” he declared. The knight climbed the hill and was never seen again.

The mage, protected by his enchantments and spells, said, “I will climb the hill and hex this creature. It will be frozen in time and I shall pluck each scale off its breast and even a fang to add to my collection of beastly treasures.” The mage climbed the hill and was never seen again.

The fool, dressed in beaver pelt and soft skin boots said, “I will climb the hill and tell the dragon a joke. He will laugh so hard his scales will fall off.” The fool climbed the hill and at the top, he saw the dragon and two charred bodies at its feet. The dragon said, “Let me guess, you’re here for my scales.” The fool was a nervous wreck looking at the blackened bodies of the knight and mage.

“W-well,” the fool stammered, “I usually hate being upstaged, but it seems these two are even bigger fools than I am.” The dragon smirked at that. “These men tried their best, what could you do to succeed where they failed,” the dragon asked with a rumble in his voice.

The fool said, “I was going to tell a joke that would make you laugh so hard your scales would fall. Now I see the real joke was climbing up this hill.” The dragon howled with laughter, spitting fire into the air. “I like you, little fool,” the dragon said. And with that the dragon peeled a single scale off his breast and handed it to the fool. “Take this and tell all the knights at court and mages in their huts just how easy it is to take one of my scales,” the dragon smiled malevolently. “Well, I would, but, who would believe a fool?”