"Inhabitants of Belmont, Abbot Mael, our venerable father, informs you through
my mouth that neither by strength nor skill in arms shall you prevail against

the dragon; but the beast shall be overcome by a virgin. If, then, there be
among you a perfectly pure virgin, let her arise and go towards the monster;

and when she meets him let her tie her girdle round his neck and she shall
lead him as easily as if he were a little dog."

And the young monk, replacing his hood upon his head, departed to carry the
proclamation of the blessed Mael to other villages.

Orberosia sat in the amorous straw, resting her head in her hand and
supporting her elbow upon her knee, meditating on what she had just heard.

Although, so far as Kraken was concerned, she feared the power of a virgin
much less than the strength of armed men, she did not feel reassured by the

proclamation of the blessed Mael. A vague but sure instinct ruled her mind and
warned her that Kraken could not henceforth be a dragon with safety.

She said to the neatherd:
"My own heart, what do you think about the dragon?"

The rustic shook his head.
"It is certain that dragons laid waste the earth in ancient times and some

have been seen as large as mountains. But they come no longer, and I believe
that what has been taken for a dragon is not one at all, but pirates or

merchants who have carried off the fair Orberosia and the best of the children
of Alca in their ships. But if one of those brigands attempts to rob me of my

oxen, I will either by force or craft find a way to prevent him from doing me
any harm."

This remark of the neatherd increased Orberosia's apprehensions and added to
her solicitude for the husband whom she loved.

X. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)
The days passed by and no maiden arose in the island to combat the monster.

And in the woodenmonastery old Mael, seated on a bench in the shade of an old
fig-tree, accompanied by a pious monk called Regimental, kept asking himself

anxiously and sadly how it was that there was not in Alca a single virgin fit
to overthrow the monster.

He sighed and brother Regimental sighed too. At that moment old Mael called
young Samuel, who happened to pass through the garden, and said to him:

"I have meditated anew, my son, on the means of destroying the dragon who
devours the flower of our youth, our flocks, and our harvests. In this respect

the story of the dragons of St. Riok and of St. Pol de Leon seems to me
particularly instructive. The dragon of St. Riok was six fathoms long; his

head was derived from the cock and the basilisk, his body from the ox and the
serpent; he ravaged the banks of the Elorn in the time of King Bristocus. St.

Riok, then aged two years, led him by a leash to the sea, in which the monster
drowned himself of his own accord. St. Pol's dragon was sixty feet long and

not less terrible. The blessedapostle of Leon bound him with his stole and
allowed a young noble of great purity of life to lead him. These examples

prove that in the eyes of God a chaste young man is as agreeable as a chaste
girl. Heaven makes no distinction between them. For this reason, my son, if

you believe what I say, we will both go to the Coast of Shadows; when we reach
the dragon's cavern we will call the monster in a loud voice, and when he

comes forth I will tie my stole round his neck and you will lead him to the
sea, where he will not fail to drown himself."

At the old man's words Samuel cast down his head and did not answer.
"You seem to hesitate, my son," said Mael.

Brother Regimental, contrary to his custom, spoke without being addressed.
"There is at least cause for some hesitation," said he. "St. Riok was only two

years old when he overcame the dragon. Who says that nine or ten years later
he could have done as much? Remember, father, that the dragon who is

devastating our island has devoured little Elo and four or five other young
boys. Brother Samuel is not go presumptuous as to believe that at nineteen

years of age he is more innocent than they were at twelve and fourteen.
"Alas!" added the monk, with a groan, "who can boast of being chaste in this

world, where everything gives the example and model of love, where all things
in nature, animals, and plants, show us the caresses of love and advise us to

share them? Animals are eager to unite in their own fashion, but the various
marriages of quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and reptiles are far from equalling in

lust the nuptials of the trees. The greatest extremes of lewdness that the
pagans have imagined in their fables are outstripped by the simple flowers of

the field, and, if you knew the irregularities of lilies and roses you would
take those chalices of impurity, those vases of scandal, away from your

altars."
"Do not speak in this way, Brother Regimental," answered old Mael. "Since they

are subject to the law of nature, animals and plants are always innocent. They
have no souls to save, whilst man--"

"You are right," replied Brother Regimental, "it is quite a different thing.
But do not send young Samuel to the dragon--the dragon might devour him. For

the last five years Samuel is not in a state to show his innocence to
monsters. In the year of the comet, the Devil in order to seduce him, put in

his path a milkmaid, who was lifting up her petticoat to cross a ford. Samuel
was tempted, but he overcame the temptation. The Devil, who never tires, sent

him the image of that young girl in a dream. The shade did what the reality
was unable to accomplish, and Samuel yielded. When he awoke be moistened his

couch with his tears, but alas! repentance did not give him back his
innocence."

As he listened to this story Samuel asked himself how his secret could be
known, for he was ignorant that the Devil had borrowed the appearance of

Brother Regimental, so as to trouble the hearts of the monks of Alca.
And old Mael remained deep in thought and kept asking himself in grief:

"Who will deliver us from the dragon's tooth? Who will preserve us from his
breath? Who will save us from his look?"

However, the inhabitants of Alca began to take courage. The labourers of
Dombes and the neatherds of Belmont swore that they themselves would be of

more avail than a girl against the ferocious beast, and they exclaimed as they
stroked the muscles on their arms, "Let the dragon come!" Many men and women

had seen him. They did not agree about his form and his figure, but all now
united in saying that he was not as big as they had thought, and that his

height was not much greater than a man's. The defence was organised; towards
nightfall watches were stationed at the entrances of the villages ready to

give the alarm; and during the night companies armed with pitchforks and
scythes protected the paddocks in which the animals were shut up. Indeed, once

in the village of Anis some plucky labourers surprised him as he was scaling
Morio's wall, and, as they had flails, scythes, and pitchforks, they fell upon

him and pressed him hard. One of them, a very quick and courageous man,
thought to have run him through with his pitchfork; but he slipped in a pool

and so let him escape. The others would certainly have caught him had they not
waited to pick up the rabbits and fowls that he dropped in his flight.

Those labourers declared to the Elders of the village that the monster's form
and proportions appeased to them human enough except for his head and his

tail, which were, in truth, terrifying.
XI. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)

On that day Kraken came back to his cavern sooner than usual. He took from his
head his sealskin helmet with its two bull's horns and its visor trimmed with

terrible hooks. He threw on the table his gloves that ended in horrible
claws--they were the beaks of sea-birds. He unhooked his belt from which hung

a long green tail twisted into many folds. Then he ordered his page, Elo, to
help him off with his boots and, as the child did not succeed in doing this

very quickly, he gave him a kick that sent him to the other end of the grotto.
Without looking at the fair Orberosia, who was spinning, he seated himself in

front of the fireplace, on which a sheep was roasting, and he muttered:
"Ignoble Penguins. . . . There is no worse trade than a dragon's."

"What does my master say?" asked the fair Orberosia.
"They fear me no longer," continued Kraken. "Formerly everyone fled at my

approach. I carried away hens and rabbits in my bag; I drove sheep and pigs,
cows, and oxen before me. To-day these clod-hoppers keep a good guard; they

sit up at night. Just now I was pursued in the village of Anis by doughty
labourers armed with flails and scythes and pitchforks. I had to drop the hens

and rabbits, put my tail under my arm, and run as fast as I could. Now I ask
you, is it seemly for a dragon of Cappadocia to run away like a robber with

his tail under his arm? Further, incommoded as I was by crests, horns, hooks,
claws, and scales, I barely escaped a brute who ran half an inch of his