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Long ago on a mountain by the sea, there lived a dragon. He was a mighty beast, with a golden tail stretching the distance of the sandy beach below. Silver scales lined his monstrous back and two great horns poked out from above his large, green eyes. His very presence caused the bravest knight to shiver from fear. No one, even the people who lived in the village below, feared go out by day, for not a sound came from the cave. But in the dark of night great roars and moans echoed from the mountain, fierce enough to shake the ground. Children ran to their parents’ beds, afraid of the angry roars.
As time went on, the villagers made up stories about the dragon in the cave, who waited to one day come and devour all the people in the city. No one knew the truth. Despite the dragon’s monstrous size and fearsome roars, he led a very sad life. For you see, the dragon was afraid of the dark.
Each night as the sun disappeared behind the green-gray ocean, the dragon would curl up in a ball, to hide from the coming darkness. But the darkness came anyway, as it always did. So the dragon would roar and growl at the darkness, but it never disappeared until the first light of morning. The poor dragon never slept.
One day he decided to find out how he could scare the dark away. So as the sun’s light slowly began to illuminate the silvery sea, the dragon left his cave and flew out across the meadows. Far he flew until he came to a great valley surrounded by mighty rocks; in the middle of this valley stood a giant tree, with arms stretching high enough to touch the clouds. This magnificent tree was the oldest and wisest of all the trees of the world.
“Oh mighty tree of the great valley, please help me,” the dragon asked.
The old tree opened his large, wise eyes and smiled down at the dragon.
‘How can I help you, my friend?”
“I have a question that only you can answer.”
“Ask me your question and I will try to answer it,” the tree said.
“I haven’t slept for many nights because of my battle with my only enemy. I do not know what I must do.”
“Who is your enemy?”
“The darkness,” answered the dragon. “I want to know how I may scare the darkness away.”
The tree stared at the dragon for a long time. Then he wrinkled his already wrinkly brow and frowned.
“I know many things of earth, but I do not know the answer to your question. Of the great things of the earth, nothing is large enough to scare the darkness away. The darkness covers everything when it comes, even my giant arms.” The tree shook his massive branches above, causing a great wind to blow.
“But you are the wisest being on the earth, how will I ever be able to sleep?”
“Perhaps the answer to your question lies in the depths of the dark ocean. Go to the Great Whale on the edge of the horizon. He knows all the secrets of the deep. Maybe he can answer your question.”
The dragon thanked the tree for his advice, and quickly flew toward the place where the sea meets the sky. When the dragon reached the edge of the horizon, he saw a giant burst of water spray up into the air. A dark, silky blue mass rose from the water, shimmering against the light of the sun. It was the Great Whale.
“Oh, Great Whale of the Dark Deep, please help me.”
The Great Whale, who hardly ever spoke to anyone from above the waters, saw the sadness in the dragon’s eyes and stopped his dive.
“How can I help you, my sad friend?” he sang in a low voice. The sound of his monstrous song caused the waves to move around him.
“The Mighty Tree of the Valley told me to come and ask for your help. I need to know how I might scare the darkness away.”
The whale let out a surprised gust of air from his spout and groaned.
“Scare the darkness away?” he repeated, loudly, and the waves around him grew a little larger. “I have been asked many questions since I was born in the deepest places of the sea, but none like this. The deep world I live in is full of darkness and not even the Giant Squid, who dwells in the darkest parts of the sea, can frighten it away.”
The dragon almost began to cry and the Great Whale felt sorry for him.
“I do not know the answer to your question. Perhaps if you ask the Man in the Moon, who sees all things about air, space, and time, he can help you.”
With those words, the Great Whale lifted his glimmering blue tail and disappeared underneath the water.
The sun was getting ready to set and the dragon knew he must hurry before the darkness surrounded him. He flew as fast as he could high up into the massive sky. Past the milky white clouds and the twinkling stars he soared, until his feet landed on the cold moon.
Just at the moon’s edge, where the dark side meets the light, sat an odd looking cave surrounded by silver moon dust. It shone like diamonds or sunlight on water.
“Hello,” the dragon called into the cave.
Suddenly, a cloud of moon dust circled about him like a tornado and out of it appeared the strangest looking man he’d ever seen. A purple, pointy cap sat on his head, a silver robe fell to his purple-booted feet, and his long white beard hung down to his knees. His blue eyes twinkled with delight and he placed a silver pipe up to his mouth, blowing circling smoke into the air.
“Are you the Man in the Moon,” the dragon asked.
“Yes, I am,” he replied with a smile.
“The Great Blue Whale sent me to find you. He thought you might help me.”
“I will try,” said the Man in the Moon. “You have traveled very far to talk with me, so your question must be important.”
“It is very important,” cried the dragon. “I have asked the Mighty Tree of the Valley and the Great Blue Whale of the Sea, but neither of them knew the answer.”
“Well, I know all things of space, air, and time, perhaps I can help you.”
“I wish to know how I can scare the dark away.”
The Man in the Moon frowned and began to blow smoke squares from his pipe as he thought.
“The darkness is so big,” The Man in the Moon said. “It is larger than even my moon. Not even the greatness of space can escape it.”
“Then you don’t know either,” the dragon cried.
The Man in the Moon shook his head, sadly and told the dragon good-bye.
The poor dragon felt so alone and sad, that he began to cry. He flew back toward his cave, watching the sun begin to disappear behind the mountains. His giant tears fell hard against the ground as he flew over the countryside.
“Stop crying, please,” a voice called from below him.
The dragon looked down and saw a little girl hiding under a tree.
“Did you say something,” the dragon asked.
“Yes, please stop crying. You are making me wet.” The little girl watched the dragon’s face.
“I’m sorry,” the dragon said, but he began to cry all over again.
The little girl felt so sorry for the dragon that she wasn’t afraid to walk close to him. She even placed her hand on his scaly cheek.
“What is wrong, dragon?”
“Oh, I’m so sad. No one can help me,” he cried.
“Maybe I can help you, dragon,” the little girl said, pushing a tear away from the dragon’s eye with both of her hands.
“If the Mighty Tree of the Valley can’t help me, and the Great Blue Whale of the Sea can’t help me, and the Man in the Moon can’t help me, I know a little girl like you can’t.”
“I can try,” the little girl whispered.
The dragon sighed.
“The sun has disappeared behind the mountains and the darkness is here. I’m so afraid and I don’t know how to scare the darkness away.”
“Is that all,” the little girl said, with a laugh. “Silly dragon, I know how to scare the darkness away.”
“You do? How?” the dragon asked, wiping his tears away.
The little girl reached into her brown, leather bag and pulled out a candle. She struck a match and lit the candle. To the dragon’s surprise, the darkness ran away from the light. No matter where the little girl turned the light, the darkness ran away from it.
From then on, the mountain-top stayed peaceful and quiet. For the dragon always kept a candle lit in his cave. Because the people realized how kind the dragon was, they came to visit him and he shared great stories to them about his many adventures. The dragon never forgot the little girl and her knowledge. As time passed he always told others about how the greatest fears can be conquered by the smallest faith.
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