Running towards the tuft of trees , he beheld the head and fiery eyes of an immense serpent or dragon , with the widest jaws that ever a dragon had , and a vast many rows of horribly sharp teeth . Before Cadmus could reach the spot , this pitiless reptile had killed his poor companions , and was busily devouring them , making but a mouthful of each man . It appears that the fountain of water was enchanted , and that the dragon had been set to guard it , so that no mortal might ever quench his thirst there . As the neighboring inhabitants carefully avoided the spot , it was now a long time -LRB- not less than a hundred years or thereabouts -RRB- since the monster had broken his fast ; and , as was natural enough , his appetite had grown to be enormous , and was not half satisfied by the poor people whom he had just eaten up . When he caught sight of Cadmus , therefore , he set up another abominable hiss , and flung back his immense jaws , until his mouth looked like a great red cavern , at the farther end of which were seen the legs of his last victim , whom he had hardly had time to swallow . But Cadmus was so enraged at the destruction of his friends that he cared neither for the size of the dragon 's jaws nor for his hundreds of sharp teeth . Drawing his sword , he rushed at the monster , and flung himself right into his cavernous mouth . This bold method of attacking him took the dragon by surprise ; for , in fact , Cadmus had leaped so far down into his throat , that the rows of terrible teeth could not close upon him , nor do him the least harm in the world . Thus , though the struggle was a tremendous one , and though the dragon shattered the tuft of trees into small splinters by the lashing of his tail , yet , as Cadmus was all the while slashing and stabbing at his very vitals , it was not long before the scaly wretch bethought himself of slipping away . He had not gone his length , however , when the brave Cadmus gave him a sword thrust that finished the battle ; and creeping out of the gateway of the creature 's jaws , there he beheld him still wriggling his vast bulk , although there was no longer life enough in him to harm a little child . But do not you suppose that it made Cadmus sorrowful to think of the melancholy fate which had befallen those poor , friendly people , who had followed the cow along with him ? It seemed as if he were doomed to lose everybody whom he loved , or to see them perish in one way or another . And here he was , after all his toils and troubles , in a solitary place , with not a single human being to help him build a hut . `` What shall I do ? '' cried he aloud . `` It were better for me to have been devoured by the dragon , as my poor companions were . '' `` Cadmus , '' said a voice but whether it came from above or below him , or whether it spoke within his own breast , the young man could not tell -- `` Cadmus , pluck out the dragon 's teeth , and plant them in the earth . '' This was a strange thing to do ; nor was it very easy , I should imagine , to dig out all those deep-rooted fangs from the dead dragon 's jaws . But Cadmus toiled and tugged , and after pounding the monstrous head almost to pieces with a great stone , he at last collected as many teeth as might have filled a bushel or two . The next thing was to plant them .
This , likewise , was a tedious piece of work , especially XXXXX Cadmus was already exhausted with killing the dragon and knocking his head to pieces , and had nothing to dig the earth with , that I know of , unless it were his sword blade .
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