and he said, "i don't know how i could ever have liked eating anything but bread and milk. i am a tame dragon now, aren't i?" and when they said that yes, he was, the dragon said: "i am so tame, won't you undo me?" and some people would have been afraid to trust him, but johnnie and tina were so happy on their wedding day that they could not believe any harm of anyone in the world. so they loosened the chains, and the dragon said: "excuse me a moment, there are one or two little things i should like to fetch," and he moved off to those mysterious steps and went down them, out of sight into the darkness. and as he moved, more and more of his rusty plates fell off.