Die ersten Texte in dieser Reihe sind Auszüge aus ‘Dragon Story’, einer nicht veröffentlichten (unvollendeten) Geschichte. Die Auszüge sind mit Fragen zum Textverständnis versehen.
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DRAGON STORY (7.-8.Klasse)
Chapter 1
It was the year 770 a.d. in the Kingdom of Rowania, in what is now known as England. The dragons had all they wanted to eat. They had a large area to live in. And they got lots of attention. Every day crowds of people came to see them. Children, especially, loved them. For many years they had enjoyed their new life on the reservation. They could sleep late. They didn’t have to hunt for their food. If they got sick there was a dragon doctor to take care of them. And – with all the attention – they felt like Hollywood stars.
But one day – no one knows exactly when – the mood on the reservation changed. From happy to unhappy. The doctors called it depression. It spread quickly. At first only a few of the dragons were affected by it, but every day there were more and more. Soon almost all of them were walking around with hanging heads and shoulders. Shan, the head dragon, called a meeting to talk about the problem. There was a long discussion. Some of the dragons said it was just a passing phase, it would soon go away, and they would be happy again. Others said it was because they were bored, there wasn’t enough to do on the reservation. Still others were of the opinion that it was because of bad living conditions. Shan followed the discussion closely.
After a while, when the dragons had run out of arguments, they turned their eyes to him. He waited a long moment. When he finally spoke, his words came out slowly. He said he had thought long and hard about their problem. He often thought back to the time before they started living in the reservation, when they were wild and free, feared and respected throughout the land. Many in the crowd were smiling now. They remembered, too. Shan smiled back. After a pause, he began again. Their life on the reservation was easy, he said, but it came at a high price: their freedom! Now they were nothing better than monkeys in a zoo! Many heads nodded at this. Shan noticed the angry look on many faces. Again, he paused. When he began to speak again, his voice was stronger. There was only one way to change this, he said. They had to run away and start a new life, the way they lived before they were put in the reservation. When Shan finished his speech, there was a strange silence. The dragons seemed shocked.
Finally, someone asked what the King would say. After all, it was King Rowan who had given them the reservation. He surely wouldn’t want them to leave it. Of course he wouldn’t, Shan said. The King Rowan Dragon Reservation was a huge tourist attraction, a very profitable business. Besides, the King was a national hero. After sending heralds throughout the land to spread the word that dragons had become very dangerous, he and his army had rounded up the dragons and put them in that reservation. Of course, the King wanted them to stay there. It was no good to ask his permission to leave. But they had no choice, Shan said. If they stayed there they would only become more depressed. Their only choice was to break out!
Chapter 2
When the news of the missing dragons spread to the palace, everyone was shocked.
Important people hurried from all ends of the palace to the King’s chambers. The
King had called a meeting. He needed advice.
The meeting grew very loud. The King grew angry. He threw out the important
people, one after another. In the end, he sat alone in the chambers 5 with his son,
Prince Cuthbert.
‘You’ve heard the story about how I led my army into battle against the dragons
and won. About how I rounded them up and put them in a reservation,’ the King said.
He sighed and shook his head. ‘That was over ten years ago. I wish I could do it
10 again. But I’m too old for that sort of thing now.’ Suddenly, he looked into his son’s
eyes. ‘But you, Cuthbert – you can take my place! My advisors all say that you are
too inexperienced for something like this, but I know better. You’re young and strong
– and you’re not afraid of anything. You can do it, can’t you?’
The Prince’s eyes were wide open. ‘Thank you, Father,’ he said, ‘for putting your
15 trust in me.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’ll do my best.’
The old King smiled. He took his son in his arms. ‘I knew I could count on you,
Cuthbert,’ he said. Suddenly, he stepped back. ‘Wait a moment,’ he said. ‘There’s
something I want to give you.’ The King called his servant and whispered something
to him. The servant hurried off. When he returned a moment later, he was carrying a
20 huge sword. He handed it over to the King. The Prince’s mouth fell open.
‘This,’ said the King importantly, ‘is the sword my father gave me when I was your
age. It’s the sword I used in the battle against the dragons. I want you to have it. It
will bring you good luck.’
The Prince shook his head. ‘But Father, I – I – I don’t know what to say.’
25 ‘Don’t say anything, Cuthbert. Listen! You are a skilful fighter. You’ve had the best
teachers. I’ve watched you. You can do magic things with a sword.’ The King smiled
a warm, fatherly smile. ‘I can’t think of anyone who deserves this sword more than
you. Now take it and use it well – as I did!’
The Prince took the sword from his father’s hands and stared at it for a moment.
30 His hands were shaking.
‘Cuthbert?’
‘Yes, Father?’
Dragon Story Ch.2
The King pointed at the wall. ‘Look at those pictures of me. Over there – the one
with me standing next to the dead dragon. And there: the one with me speaking to
my soldiers. What do you notice 35 about them?’
‘Uh, they’re well done. They’re, uh, realistic.’
‘Yes, yes, but what about me? Take a closer look. What do you notice about me?’
The Prince took a step forward. ‘You look – powerful!’
The King laughed. ‘That’s it, Cuthbert! That’s right! That’s the look I had!’ The King
40 put his arm on his son’s shoulder. ‘And that’s the look you must have. Believe me,
when you lead an army you’ve got to look tough, talk tough and walk tough. The
soldiers must know who the boss is. And it’s the same when you face a dragon. You
must show the dragon who is stronger. You must face them without fear. But
remember! We don’t want to kill them all. It’s enough to kill the leaders. Then you
45 won’t have any problems with the others. They’ll do what you say and return to the
reservation.’ There was a little smile on the King’s face. He placed his arm on his
son’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. ‘Without the dragons there would be no
more tourists. No more tourists and no more tourist dollars. Got it?’
‘I understand, Father.’
50 ‘Go, my son, and may God be with you! I’m sending two experienced fighters to be
at your side, my good friends Lord Cornwell and Lord Dornby.
When the news of the missing dragons spread to the palace, everyone was shocked. Important people hurried from all ends of the palace to the King’s chambers. The King had called a meeting. He needed advice. The meeting grew very loud. The King grew angry. He threw out the important people, one after another. In the end, he sat alone in his chambers with his son, Prince Cuthbert. ‘You’ve heard the story about how I led my army into battle against the dragons and won. About how I rounded them up and put them in a reservation,’ the King said. He sighed and shook his head. ‘That was over ten years ago. I wish I could do it again. But I’m too old for that sort of thing now.’ Suddenly, he looked into his son’s eyes. ‘But you, Cuthbert – you can take my place! My advisors all say that you are too inexperienced for something like this, but I know better. You’re young and strong – and you’re not afraid of anything. You can do it, can’t you?’
The Prince’s eyes were wide open. ‘Thank you, Father,’ he said, ‘for putting your trust in me.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’ll do my best.’ The old King smiled. He took his son in his arms. ‘I knew I could count on you, Cuthbert,’ he said. Suddenly, he stepped back. ‘Wait a moment,’ he said. ‘There’s something I want to give you.’ The King called his servant and whispered something to him. The servant hurried off. When he returned a moment later, he was carrying a 20 huge sword. He handed it over to the King. The Prince’s mouth fell open. ‘This,’ said the King importantly, ‘is the sword my father gave me when I was your age. It’s the sword I used in the battle against the dragons. I want you to have it. It will bring you good luck.’ The Prince shook his head. ‘But Father, I – I – I don’t know what to say.’ ‘Don’t say anything, Cuthbert. Listen! You are a skilful fighter. You’ve had the best teachers. I’ve watched you. You can do magic things with a sword.’ The King smiled a warm, fatherly smile. ‘I can’t think of anyone who deserves this sword more than you. Now take it and use it well – as I did!’ The Prince took the sword from his father’s hands and stared at it for a moment. His hands were shaking. ‘Cuthbert?’ ’Yes, Father?’ said the boy. The King pointed at the wall. ‘Look at those pictures of me. Over there – see the one with me standing next to the dead dragon? And there: The one with me speaking to my soldiers? What do you notice about them?’ ‘Uh, they’re well don. They’re, uh, realistic.’ ‘Yes, yes, but what about me? Take a closer look. What do you notice about me?’ The Prince took a step forward. ‘You look – powerful!’ The King laughed. ‘That’s it, Cuthbert! That’s right! That’s the look I had!’ The King put his arm on his son’s shoulder. ‘And that’s the look you must have. Believe me, when you lead an army you’ve got to look tough, talk tough and walk tough. The soldiers must know who the boss is. And it’s the same when you face a dragon. You must show the dragon who is stronger. You must face them without fear. But remember! We don’t want to kill them all. It’s enough to kill the leaders. Then you won’t have any problems with the others. They’ll do what you say and return to the reservation.’ There was a little smile on the King’s face. He placed his arm on his son’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. ‘Without the dragons there would be no more tourists. No more tourists and no more tourist dollars. Got it?’ ‘I understand, Father.’ ‘Go, my son, and may God be with you! I’m sending two experienced fighters to be at your side, my good friends Lord Cornwell and Lord Dornby.
Chapter 3
The next day, the Royal Army rode all day. They were heading for the hills where the dragons had last been seen. They reached them just as darkness was falling. The Prince ordered his men to make camp for the night. When the soldiers had heard that Prince Cuthbert would lead them and not King Rowan, some of them had laughed. But they weren’t laughing any more. The Prince looked every bit a leader. The way he spoke to them, the way he rode his horse – he was a copy of the King himself. And he had King Rowan’s sword! The men were tired and soon fell asleep. But not the Prince. Excited and unable to sleep, he went for a walk. He walked for hours. Suddenly, he felt very tired. He decided to rest a few minutes before returning to camp. He lay down. Before he knew what was happening, he fell into a deep sleep. The sun was rising when he woke up. Shocked to see where he was, he jumped up and shook himself. The first thing he noticed was that his sword wasn’t beside him, where he had put it. He looked around and to his great surprise found it lying next to a nearby rock. He also noticed some strange marks in the sand where he had slept. He took a closer look. They – were – dragon tracks! His heart seemed to stop beating. His knees began to shake. A dragon – a very large one – had been there in the night – had stood over him. But hadn’t killed him! Why not? It would have been easy.The whole way back to camp, the Prince thought about what had happened. As he approached the camp, Lords Cornwell and Dornby hurried to meet him. They seemed very worried. ‘Thank God, Your Highness! You’re safe! What happened? Where were you?’ said Lord Cornwell.
The Prince put on his tough look. ‘No need to worry. I was up early. I’ve been looking for signs of the dragons.’
Lord Cornwell seemed doubtful. He studied the Prince’s face and said, ‘And – did you find any?’
‘Yes, I did.’The lords looked at the Prince. They were both surprised at his short answer. After a moment, Lord Cornwall said, ‘Your Highness, the men are up and ready to go. What shall we tell them?’ ‘Tell them that the Prince wants to speak to them before we start off.’ ‘Very well, Your Highness.’ Lord Cornwell rolled his eyes and gave Lord Dornby a knowing smile. Then they hurried back to camp. The soldiers stared at the Prince as he returned to camp and went into his tent. A few minutes later, they saw Lord Cornwell enter his tent. They were still staring a few minutes later when the two of them came out. The Prince announced that he had something important to say, then got up on his horse so everyone could see him. In a short but moving speech he told them about what had happened in the night. He said it had changed his thinking about dragons. It made him think that he could trust them. He had decided to talk with them. He was going to try to talk them into returning to the reservation. If that didn’t work he was prepared to use force, but he hoped that talking to them would make military action unnecessary. The soldiers were looking at the Prince with open mouths. They had never heard anything like that before. TALK WITH THE DRAGONS? They didn’t say it out loud, but it was the question written all over their faces. Now Lord Cornwell got up on his horse. He smiled at the men and raised his hand to get their attention. ‘Prince Cuthbert plans to leave camp immediately to search for
the dragons. He has promised to be back within three days. It is his wish that we remain here and wait for his return. If he is not back by then he wants us to start searching for him.’ The lord turned to the Prince and smiled. ‘I – we – all of us – wish you the best of luck!’ The Prince thanked everyone and went back to his tent. A few minutes later he came out, got on his horse, and rode off. As he was leaving the camp, he turned and waved goodbye to everyone. The soldiers waved back. Lords Cornwell and Dornby didn’t watch him leave. They had gone into their tent where they could be alone and talk.
Chapter 4
Two days later, the two lords called the soldiers together. ‘Get ready to move. We leave camp in one hour,’ Lord Cornwell said. The soldiers looked at each other in surprise. They shook their heads. ‘That’s an order!’ cried the lord. ‘But – but,’ began a young soldier, ‘the Prince said to wait three – ‘ ‘The Prince has changed his plans. We received a message from him last night. The dragons have got him. He is in great danger! Now go and get ready!’ The soldiers did as they were told. An hour later, the 1000-man army was ready to ride.
High up in the hills, the Prince had just seen something that made him stop. He looked again. Was it fog or was it smoke? Yes, yes. It was smoke. He smiled. Where there was smoke, there was fire. And where there was fire, there were probably dragons. He hurried on. Shan saw him in the distance and went to meet him. When the Prince saw the huge dragon coming towards him, his heart stood still. He put his hand on his sword and waited. As the dragon got closer, the Prince couldn’t believe his eyes. There was a warm smile on his face. Was that the dragon who had spared his life? ‘Hello!’ called the dragon as he came near. ‘Uh, hello!’ The dragon kept coming until he was face to face with the Prince. Neither of them spoke. The dragon continued to smile. The Prince was very nervous at first but gradually began to relax.
‘Come with me!’ said the dragon after a while. Without saying another word, he turned and started off. The Prince followed him. There was a buzz of excitement when they arrived at the dragons’ hiding place. Shan signaled for quiet and began to speak. ‘This is the young man I told you about, the one I found asleep. As you can see from the sword, he is none other than Prince Cuthbert, son of King Rowan!’ When Shan said the words, ‘King Rowan’, there came cries of fear from the crowd. ‘It’s all right,’ Shan said quickly. ‘The Prince has come to us as a friend. He wants to talk to me. If anyone has a problem with that say it now.’ He paused and looked around at the faces before him. When no one spoke, he took the Prince by the hand and led him through the crowd to a quiet place.
They had almost finished their talk when they heard someone cry, ‘The Royal Army is coming! The Royal Army is coming!’ They looked around. The cry was coming from one of the dragons who had been keeping watch. Shan turned to the Prince. ‘You – ‘ ‘No. I told you the truth, believe me! I told my men to wait three days! They are acting against my orders!’ Shan looked him deep in the eye. ‘I believe you,’ he said finally. Then he turned to face the dragons. They were all looking at him with wide-open eyes. Shan could see that they were very nervous. He smiled and said there was nothing to worry about. He told them to stay calm but be prepared to follow his orders.
Then he turned and waited for the army to appear. The Prince tried to look cool but his feelings were running strong. He was very angry at the two lords. Why had they disobeyed his orders? What game were they playing? Just then there was a loud cry, ‘There they are!’ and the Prince saw the soldiers coming towards them in the distance. Shan watched them. The other dragons were growing nervous again but he remained calm. Finally, when they had come near, he called out to them to stop right where they were. He underlined his words by taking a deep breath and blowing out a huge ball of fire.
Several of the soldiers were so shocked that they almost fell off their horses. Lords Cornwell raised his arm and ordered the soldiers to stop. He pointed his lance at Shan and cried, ‘You kidnapped the Prince! We’ve come to take him back!’ ‘The Prince came to us freely.
You know that!’ said Shan.
‘If you don’t hand over the Prince immediately we’ll attack!’
‘The Prince told you to wait three days!’ cried Shan.
Lord Cornwell laughed. ‘You’re lying. The Prince changed that to two days. We got his message! You have one minute to hand him over.’
Chapter 5
Suddenly, the Prince stepped forward. He looked past the two lords to the soldiers behind them. ‘Listen to me, men! Lord Cornwell is the one who’s lying. My order was to wait for three days. I didn’t change that order.’ ‘Ha!’ laughed Lord Cornwell. ‘They are forcing you to say that.’ ‘You heard what Lord Cornwell said,’ shouted Lord Dornby. ‘You must let the Prince go – at once!’ The Prince was surprisingly calm. He felt good about standing with the dragons, at Shan’s side. Shan had explained to him why the dragons had run away. The Prince had understood Shan’s words and promised to help the dragons. When he became King, he promised, he would give them more freedom. He would change the reservation into a place where the dragons would be free and feel at home. He was ready to fight for them now. ‘I’m warning you! Give us the Prince now! This is your last chance!’ cried Lord Cornwell. ‘No! Go back to the palace! That ‘s an order!’ ‘You hear that, men? He’s saying what he’s been told to say. It’s no good waiting any longer. Get ready to attack!’ The soldiers looked at each other, not sure what to do. ‘You heard me! Get ready to attack!’ Lord Cornwell shouted. He and Lord Dornby turned and stared at them. Finally, they did as they were told. Shan turned to the dragons. ‘Fire up!’ he said. The dragons began to breathe deeply. Almost immediately, smoke came out of their mouths, then fire. ‘Advance!’ cried Shan. When they saw hundreds of fire-breathing dragons coming at them, the soldiers were filled with fear. ‘Attack!’ cried Lord Cornwell to the soldiers. But the soldiers didn’t move. ‘Attack, you idiots!’ cried Lord Dornby. But most of the soldiers didn’t seem to hear him. They turned and rode off as fast as they could. A moment later, Shan, the Prince and the rest of the dragons were standing in front of the two lords and the few soldiers who hadn’t run away. Lord Cornwell looked at the Prince. His eyes were bright with fear. Lord Dornby was looking at the ground. ‘Well, Lord Cornwell, Lord Dornby,’ said the Prince. ‘What do you have to say for yourselves?’ ‘I – we – what we did was wrong,’ said Lord Cornwell. ‘Why did you do it?’ asked the Prince. The two lords looked at each other. For a moment, it looked like they were about to say something, but then they fell silent. The Prince stared hard at them. ‘I have a theory about why you did it. Correct me if I’m wrong. Your plan was to kill two birds with one stone: Shan, the head dragon, and me. Then you were going to return to the palace with the rest of the dragons. You would tell the King that the dragons got me. The King would be sad about that, but very happy to get the dragons back. So happy that he would promise to leave you his kingdom when he died. Am I right?’ More silence. ‘Your silence is louder than words. I will speak for you. When we return, I will tell my father everything. You know what happens to traitors.’ Lord Cornwell’s face turned white, Lord Dornby’s whiter. ‘But I don’t believe in the death sentence. I will ask my father to send you far away where you can’t make trouble for us again.’ ‘What about us?’ one of the soldiers said. The Prince smiled. ‘You have done nothing wrong. You were only following orders. You couldn’t know that the lords lied to you.’
Chapter 6
The Prince along with Shan and the dragons arrived at the palace late that evening. The Prince told the King about everything that had happened. The King was very angry at Lord Cornwell and Lord Dornby. He told them that they would be taken to a faraway island where they would have lots of time to think about what they did wrong. He was very pleased with his son, especially for bringing back the dragons. The Prince explained to him that he had talked with Shan, the leader of the dragons, and promised to improve the living conditions on the reservation. The King was surprised at this and asked what he meant by ‘improve’. The dragons felt like prisoners on the reservation, the Prince said. They wanted more contact with the outside world. They wanted to be free to leave the reservation occasionally to visit the places they came from. The King shook his head. There was an unhappy look on his face. Nervous now, the Prince hurried on to say how important these things were to the dragons. He had told Shan that his father would realize that and accept the dragons’ wishes. The King didn’t say anything for a full minute. The Prince grew even more nervous as he waited. He watched the King walk back and forth and pull on his long white beard.
Suddenly, the King stopped and turned to face him. There was a little smile on his face. In the name of the King, he said, the Prince could go tell his dragons that the King had agreed to improve living conditions on the reservation and give them more freedom. The happy Prince thanked his father and hurried out. Still smiling, the King watched from his window as the Prince ran across the courtyard on his way to the reservation.
Shortly afterward, on the reservation, Shan called together the dragons. He had just talked with the Prince, who stood at his side. Both of them were smiling. When Shan announced the good news there was a moment of silence. The dragons were too surprised to speak at first. They just looked at each other, hardly able to believe their good luck. But then they all joined hands and did a wild and happy dance. Shan took the Prince in his arms and gave him a big squeeze. The dragons enjoyed their new freedom. Hanging shoulders and heads were a thing of the past. Each of them was allowed to leave the reservation for a month every year. They had to report when they left and again when they returned. Shan, of course, was the one they reported to. He was a good administrator. He knew exactly how many dragons were away at any given time, how long they were allowed to stay away, and when they had to return to the reservation. So he was the first to notice it when Shem, his younger brother, didn’t return on time. For three long days he worried. On the fourth day, he couldn’t stand it any longer and went to see the Prince about it.
