her throat, just as she had been about to do for him, and put her body
in the oven. Then he snatched up the covering and carried it to the
king.

The king was seated on his throne when the youth appeared before him and
spread out the covering with a deep bow. 'That is not enough,' said his
majesty; 'you must bring me the dragon himself, or I will have you hewn
into a thousand pieces.'

'It shall be done,' answered the youth; 'but you must give me two years
to manage it, for my beard must grow so that he may not know me.'

'So be it,' said the king.

And the first thing the young man did when his beard was grown was to
take the road to the dragon's house and on the way he met a beggar, whom
he persuaded to change clothes with him, and in the beggar's garments he
went fearlessly forth to the dragon.

He found his enemy before his house, very busy making a box, and
addressed him politely, 'Good morning, your worship. Have you a morsel
of bread?'

'You must wait,' replied the dragon, 'till I have finished my box, and
then I will see if I can find one.'

'What will you do with the box when it is made?' inquired the beggar.

'It is for the young man who killed my wife, and stole my flying horse
and my bed covering,' said the dragon.

'He deserves nothing better,' answered the beggar, 'for it was an ill
deed. Still that box is too small for him, for he is a big man.'

'You are wrong,' said the dragon. 'The box is large enough even for me.'

'Well, the rogue is nearly as tall as you,' replied the beggar, 'and,
of course, if you can get in, he can. But I am sure you would find it a
tight fit.'

'No, there is plenty of room,' said the dragon, tucking himself
carefully inside.

But no sooner was he well in, than the young man clapped on the lid and
called out, 'Now press hard, just to see if he will be able to get out.'

The dragon pressed as hard as he could, but the lid never moved.

'It is all right,' he cried; 'now you can open it.'

But instead of opening it, the young man drove in long nails to make it
tighter still; then he took the box on his back and brought it to the
king. And when the king heard that the dragon was inside, he was so
excited that he would not wait one moment, but broke the lock and lifted
the lid just a little way to make sure he was really there. He was
very careful not to leave enough space for the dragon to jump out, but
unluckily there was just room for his great mouth, and with