Read Online Digory The Dragon Slayer by Angela McAllister - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Angela McAllister
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speech!’ shouted the crowd.
The Squire pushed Digory forward. All the villagers hushed to hear his words. Digory stared at their eager faces.
‘I think... I think... I... eeuuurgh...’
And he swayed and he swooned and he fainted on the spot.
At that moment Digory’s mother arrived. She pushed her way through the crowd with a hot poker.
‘Make way, make way! Where’s my boy? Where’s my little Digory?’ And, with a sweep of her strong arms, she picked Digory up off the ground, shook the dust off him and heaved him over her shoulder. The crowd cheered again.
‘You should be very proud of your son, Betsy,’ said the Squire. ‘He’s a great hero. He has saved this village from the jaw-dripping, flesh-ripping, bone-crunching, snout-snarling, bloodthirsty dragon. We’ll have a feast in his honour. Why, we’ll make him a knight and name him ‘Sir Digory the Dragon Slayer’!’
Digory’s mother beamed brighter than a furnace, and a hot tear sizzled down her face.
‘That’s my boy,’ she sniffed proudly. ‘I didn’t know he had it in him.’ Then, curtseying to the Squire in her leather apron, she carried Digory off home to dunk him in the water barrel.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT CLEVERNESS
Now, the name of Digory’s village was Batty-by-Noodle, which may give you some idea of the sort of people who lived there. No one from Batty had ever done anything clever.
One night Farmer Ragwort saw a shooting star fall into the pond but, though he fished all night, he never caught it. And Meg the cowgirl claimed she could talk to cows, but nobody was interested to hear what a cow had to say, so they didn’t think much of that.
People thought Squire Paunch was the cleverest man in the village because he was the Squire. But none of them was clever enough to know how clever he really was. And the Squire himself, if he was clever, didn’t know anyone cleverer to compare himself to, so how could he tell? Well, you get the picture.
So, when Digory came home with a dragon’s tooth in his hat no one thought too hard about it. Somehow it slipped their minds that Batty-by-Noodle never had dragons living nearby. In fact, it was quite the wrong sort of a place for dragons altogether. There were no rocky caves, the forest was thin and weedy and most days it drizzled with rain, which of course is not healthy for a dragon’s fiery breath. Who’s going to be afraid of a dragon that only snorts steam from its nostrils?
But, you see, you would need to be clever to know this sort of thing.
So when the Batty villagers saw a tooth and heard it came from a dragon they believed without doubt that they’d all been spared a horrible fate.
THE UNHAPPY DAY
Meanwhile, a feast was arranged, with a ceremony to make Digory a knight, and nothing Digory could say would persuade anybody otherwise. If he tried to explain the truth people just thought he was being modest, which made him even more of a hero.
Arthur and Tom were very jealous that their younger brother had fought with a dragon. They tried to make Digory tell them about it by twisting his arm in twelve painful ways. But, as there was nothing to tell, Digory didn’t say a word. At last they gave up and shook his poor numb hand in admiration.
‘You’re a good chap, brother Digory,’ they said.
‘Nobody likes a person who boasts about what he’s done. You deserve to be a knight. We’re proud of you.’
And so he even won the respect of his bold, tough brothers.
But poor Digory didn’t want to be a knight. In fact, he didn’t even know what knights were expected to do.
He asked his father, who was collecting eggs in the garden. His father sat down and scratched his head.
‘Well now, Digory,’ he puzzled, ‘I could tell you what the baker does, or the miller, but I’ve never met a knight, son. They say knights are always chivalrous, but I don’t know what chivalrous is.’
‘It sounds like the sort of thing you feel when you have coughs and sneezes,’ said
The Squire pushed Digory forward. All the villagers hushed to hear his words. Digory stared at their eager faces.
‘I think... I think... I... eeuuurgh...’
And he swayed and he swooned and he fainted on the spot.
At that moment Digory’s mother arrived. She pushed her way through the crowd with a hot poker.
‘Make way, make way! Where’s my boy? Where’s my little Digory?’ And, with a sweep of her strong arms, she picked Digory up off the ground, shook the dust off him and heaved him over her shoulder. The crowd cheered again.
‘You should be very proud of your son, Betsy,’ said the Squire. ‘He’s a great hero. He has saved this village from the jaw-dripping, flesh-ripping, bone-crunching, snout-snarling, bloodthirsty dragon. We’ll have a feast in his honour. Why, we’ll make him a knight and name him ‘Sir Digory the Dragon Slayer’!’
Digory’s mother beamed brighter than a furnace, and a hot tear sizzled down her face.
‘That’s my boy,’ she sniffed proudly. ‘I didn’t know he had it in him.’ Then, curtseying to the Squire in her leather apron, she carried Digory off home to dunk him in the water barrel.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT CLEVERNESS
Now, the name of Digory’s village was Batty-by-Noodle, which may give you some idea of the sort of people who lived there. No one from Batty had ever done anything clever.
One night Farmer Ragwort saw a shooting star fall into the pond but, though he fished all night, he never caught it. And Meg the cowgirl claimed she could talk to cows, but nobody was interested to hear what a cow had to say, so they didn’t think much of that.
People thought Squire Paunch was the cleverest man in the village because he was the Squire. But none of them was clever enough to know how clever he really was. And the Squire himself, if he was clever, didn’t know anyone cleverer to compare himself to, so how could he tell? Well, you get the picture.
So, when Digory came home with a dragon’s tooth in his hat no one thought too hard about it. Somehow it slipped their minds that Batty-by-Noodle never had dragons living nearby. In fact, it was quite the wrong sort of a place for dragons altogether. There were no rocky caves, the forest was thin and weedy and most days it drizzled with rain, which of course is not healthy for a dragon’s fiery breath. Who’s going to be afraid of a dragon that only snorts steam from its nostrils?
But, you see, you would need to be clever to know this sort of thing.
So when the Batty villagers saw a tooth and heard it came from a dragon they believed without doubt that they’d all been spared a horrible fate.
THE UNHAPPY DAY
Meanwhile, a feast was arranged, with a ceremony to make Digory a knight, and nothing Digory could say would persuade anybody otherwise. If he tried to explain the truth people just thought he was being modest, which made him even more of a hero.
Arthur and Tom were very jealous that their younger brother had fought with a dragon. They tried to make Digory tell them about it by twisting his arm in twelve painful ways. But, as there was nothing to tell, Digory didn’t say a word. At last they gave up and shook his poor numb hand in admiration.
‘You’re a good chap, brother Digory,’ they said.
‘Nobody likes a person who boasts about what he’s done. You deserve to be a knight. We’re proud of you.’
And so he even won the respect of his bold, tough brothers.
But poor Digory didn’t want to be a knight. In fact, he didn’t even know what knights were expected to do.
He asked his father, who was collecting eggs in the garden. His father sat down and scratched his head.
‘Well now, Digory,’ he puzzled, ‘I could tell you what the baker does, or the miller, but I’ve never met a knight, son. They say knights are always chivalrous, but I don’t know what chivalrous is.’
‘It sounds like the sort of thing you feel when you have coughs and sneezes,’ said
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