Dragonology 101 - Lesson Three

Back in lesson one – or the intro, I mentioned that September was the best time to befriend a dragon. Even though September is long gone, I thought it was time to discover why that was the preferred month.

Seems dragons love apples. So much so that they’ll gorge themselves. Unfortunately, apples upset their stomachs. Hmmm…gorging a favorite food sounds a lot like a human trait to me and with the holidays fast approaching I know I’ll be repeating “put down the fork and step away from the table” more than once.  Where was I?  Oh -- Just like the thorn in the lion’s paw, a dragon will be ever so grateful if you can supply a remedy to relieve their suffering.

However, you don’t want to try to tame the dragon. Befriend him/her,  yes. Tame them, no.  If a dragon realizes that he/she has been tricked in any way, the trickster will be in a mess of trouble—the sort of trouble that nobody wants to face.

The best proven remedy is lettuce leaves. Lots and lots of lettuce leaves. Barring that, because face it, nobody goes hunting with a wagonload of lettuce, try giving the distraught beast some alka seltzer, pepto, bicarb – whatever you have on hand to help.

Just remember that  your goal is to make friends.  The one thing you need to keep in mind while chatting up the dragon, is that they love, that’s LOVE, riddles. If you caught any of the latest Merlin episodes you know exactly what I mean. Getting straight talk out of a dragon is a hopeless task.

You’ve got nearly an entire year to bone up on riddles. I can start you off, so you know what kind to look for – they really aren’t all that complicated:

Round like an apple, deep like a cup, but all the King’s horses can’t pull it up.

Or:

Black within, red without, with four corners round about.

One more:

A hill-full, a hole-full, you cannot catch a bowl full.   

While you’re boning up, be sure to have a wonderful Halloween!

Take care,

Denise Lynn

Pregnant By The Warrior - Harlequin Historical - Jan. '10
www.denise-lynn.com