The Shepherd and the Dragon

Once upon a time, in Périgord, in a small village, there lived a shepherd named Pierre, who was twenty years old. Pierre was a foundling, a "castaway," as people called those like him. An old priest had found him near the altar in the church and brought the boy to his youngest daughter, Cadette, who was nursing her own baby, Gentil, at the time. She agreed to take in the second infant, the foundling.

The family lived in hardship, and by the age of seven, Pierre was forced to work as a shepherd for a wealthy lord from the castle. From then on, he tended flocks of sheep in the meadows and sandy plains of Périgord.

Whenever he had a free moment, he would hurry to visit his adoptive mother, whom he loved dearly. And with equal tenderness, though in a different way, he cared for his milk-sister, Francille, who spun yarn while watching over a little goat and some lambs.

Francille was a lovely sixteen-year-old girl, and the lovers would meet in some secluded corner whenever they managed to escape the watchful eyes of others.

But one spring day, when the breeze was particularly gentle, the flowers were fragrant, the birds were singing, and the young shepherd and shepherdess had much to share with each other, their flocks wandered onto the lands of the Dragon and began to feast on the fresh grass.

The Dragon was a monster with a human head, bird wings, lion paws with claws, and a serpent's tail. He was known for his vicious temper. He had made his lair in a cave near a pond—bottomless, as the local peasants said—who lived on his vast estate and were forced to work for him.

As the Dragon strolled through his domain, he noticed that strange sheep were trampling the fresh shoots on his land. He flew into an indescribable rage, turned crimson with fury, and let out a terrifying roar. Hearing these cries, our shepherds were frightened, and Pierre, not finding his sheep in their usual place, immediately realized what had happened. He wanted to flee, hoping to avoid the enraged monster, but then he remembered the words of old peasant Ladish, who had often advised him, repeating that a true shepherd never abandons his flock. So, overcoming his fear, he marched straight toward the Dragon's terrible roar. He managed to embrace Francille one last time and sternly ordered her to return to her mother as quickly as possible.

Soon, he found himself near the Dragon, who was frothing at the mouth—the sight of the monster was simply horrifying.

"Forgive me, my lord," Pierre said meekly, hoping to calm the Dragon's anger, "I will take my sheep away at once, and this will never happen again."

"Ah-ha!" sneered the Dragon. "So you're their shepherd? I don't need your apologies; I'm going to eat you right now."

"My lord," pleaded the shepherd, "don't kill me! I will serve you, I will be your slave. Just spare my life."

"Well," said the Dragon, "you're in luck. I'm feeling kind today, so I won't eat you, but on one condition: tomorrow morning, you must return here, and we will compete. First, we'll see who can bring the largest bundle of firewood from the forest; second, who can lift the largest bucket of water; third, who can throw a boulder the farthest; and finally, who can crush a stone in their hand. If you win, I'll let you go unharmed. But if you lose, I'll eat you, and I'll take your mother as a servant in my cave."

Poor Pierre realized that his days were numbered, but he told himself that he still had one day left, and perhaps the Dragon would die of some illness in that time.

He led his flock back to his master, without mentioning a word of what had happened, and then rushed to his adoptive mother, Cadette, who was waiting for him in anxious anticipation.

Pierre told her of his encounter with the Dragon and sadly said that he would not live to see tomorrow.

"Don't be sad, my boy," said Cadette, "I will try to help you."

Now, it must be said that everyone in the area considered Cadette a witch, for she was far braver, kinder, and wiser than her neighbors, and her daughter Francille was always dressed more elegantly than the other village girls. Cadette thought for a moment, then took a ball of yarn from Francille's spindle, grabbed a cheese head that was drying on a shelf wrapped in straw, and caught a tame partridge that was freely roaming the hut.

"Put all of this in your satchel," she told Pierre, "and don't forget to bring your shepherd's staff tomorrow morning. Now listen carefully to what I have to say."

And the kind mother pressed her lips tightly to her adoptive son's ear and whispered something to him for a long time, so softly that even the Giant-Ears, the Dragon's cousin, who could hear the tiniest blade of grass swaying in the field, wouldn't have caught a single word, even if he had pressed his keen ear to the wall of the peasant hut.

The next morning, true to his promise, Pierre set off to meet the Dragon. He carried his satchel on his back and held his shepherd's staff in his hand—a sturdy stick made of blackthorn with an iron blade at the end. With this staff, the young shepherd had often fended off wolves trying to snatch a sheep from his flock.

"Ah, here you are!" the monster exclaimed. "Why aren't you trembling with fear?"

"Because," replied Pierre, "I am sure of my victory."

"We'll see about that," the Dragon answered angrily. "Let's begin!"

He grabbed a huge axe and chopped down many ancient oaks in the area, then tied them all together with a rope as thick as a man's arm, hoisted the bundle onto his back, and carried it to his cave.

"Now it's your turn," he said to Pierre.

Remembering the advice given to him the day before by his kind Cadette, Pierre pulled the ball of yarn from his satchel, tied one end to a tree, and began walking around the forest belonging to the Dragon, unwinding the yarn as he went. The Dragon followed him, growing more and more puzzled by what was happening.

"What are you planning to do?" he finally asked.

"I'm tying up everything I want to take with me," replied Pierre, "and I want to take this entire forest to my mother's house."
- Stop immediately! - shouted the Dragon. - I will have nothing to heat the stove this winter, and I will freeze from the cold! So be it, you have won. But we shall see if you can triumph in the second trial.

The Dragon grabbed a stone vat of immense size, placed it near the spring, filled it to the brim with water, and then carried the vat to the entrance of his cave.

Then Pierre approached the spring and slowly began to dig around it from all sides with his staff, which had an iron shovel at the end, throwing clumps of dug-up earth far to the side.

The Dragon watched and watched, and finally, unable to bear it, shouted:

- What are you up to now?

I want to dig up all the earth around the spring to take it whole to my mother's house.

- Stop immediately! I will run out of water and die of thirst. Fine, so be it, you have won again. But now you won't fool me!

Grabbing a huge boulder, the Dragon held it in his hand for a second, then threw it with such force that the boulder crashed to the ground about three hundred paces away, sending a cloud of dust into the sky.

Then Pierre rummaged in his bag, grabbed a partridge, and tossed it into the air. The partridge, noisily flapping its wings, flew straight to Cadette's hut, over five hundred toises (a toise is about 2.134 meters) away, and entered the room through a small opening that the mistress always left open for it.

The Dragon thought it was a stone that Pierre had thrown with such force—and once again had to admit his defeat. However, his fury knew no bounds. Grabbing a hefty boulder, he crushed it into small pieces and shouted at the shepherd:

- Let's see if you can do the same!

Then Pierre took a reserved head of cheese, as if it were a large stone—so skillfully that the Dragon did not notice the substitution—and began to squeeze his fingers until water spurted from the under-dried cheese.

- You are stronger than I am, - the Dragon shouted in rage, - if you can squeeze water from a stone!.. You have won again. And yet, I am your master. If you cannot repeat what I do, I will surely swallow you!

He took his golden hammer and threw it so far that the hammer disappeared from sight. When the Dragon and the shepherd found it, the monster said:

- Now let's see what you are capable of.

Pierre grew despondent, as the Dragon had not offered him such a trial the day before, and Mother Cadette had not been able to suggest a way to win this time either.

But Pierre was a true Périgordian, with a head on his shoulders, and it was not so easy to confuse him.

Grabbing the golden hammer by the handle, he shouted loudly—so loudly that the echo repeated his words:

- Barghièra delà lo mar, vira votra de bor, que lu martèu do Dragon va arriba!

In the Périgord dialect, this meant: "Shepherds on the other side of the sea, run quickly away from the shore—the Dragon's hammer is coming your way!" - Where do you want to throw my hammer? - the Dragon asked warily. - To the other side of the sea, - replied Pierre.

- Stop now! - roared the monster. - I won't be able to find it there... You win again!

Pierre did not make the Dragon repeat himself twice and took off running as fast as he could... Hearing a rumble behind him, he turned and just managed to see the Dragon, blinded by rage, plunge into a bottomless pond, where he disappeared forever.

Curiosity proved stronger than fear—Pierre stopped and waited for a long time to see if the monster would emerge from the shore, until he was finally convinced that the Dragon had drowned.

Humming happily, he took the golden hammer and returned to Cadette, whom he thanked with all his heart. Then he sold his trophy, and with the proceeds bought a large estate where they all lived together—Mother Cadette and Pierre with his Francil, whom he had married.

Both of them were happy, had many children, and died in old age.

This tale was told by Monsieur Miner in Saint-Martin-de-Gurson, Dordogne, and recorded by Monsieur J. Roller, a primary school teacher. The storyteller learned this tale from his grandmother's family relatives, and she—from her own grandmother, who was born during the time of Louis XV (Guyenne province).

↑ To the top

The Shepherd and the Dragon

More fairy tales