dragon ! dragon ! if anyone asks you what has become of your horse , you can say that I have got him ! ' But the king said , ` The flying horse is all very well , but I want something more . You must bring me the covering with the little bells that lies on the bed of the dragon , or I will have you hewn into a thousand pieces . ' ` Is that all ? ' answered the youth . ` That is easily done . ' And when night came he went away to the dragon 's house and climbed up on to the roof . Then he opened a little window in the roof and let down the chain from which the kettle usually hung , and tried to hook the bed covering and to draw it up . But the little bells all began to ring , and the dragon woke and said to his wife , ` Wife , you have pulled off all the bed-clothes ! ' and drew the covering towards him , pulling , as he did so , the young man into the room . Then the dragon flung himself on the youth and bound him fast with cords saying as he tied the last knot , ` To-morrow when I go to church you must stay at home and kill him and cook him , and when I get back we will eat him together . ' So the following morning the dragoness took hold of the young man and reached down from the shelf a sharp knife with which to kill him . But as she untied the cords the better to get hold of him , the prisoner caught her by the legs , threw her to the ground , seized her and speedily cut 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 XXXXX 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 .
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