Дни грёз
The Reluctant Dragon
“Well,notTO-DAY,Ithink,”repliedSt.George,pleasantly.“Yousee,thatcanbedoneatANYtime.There’snohurryatall.Ithinkwe’llallgodowntothevillagefirst,andhavesomerefreshment,andthenI’llgivehimagoodtalking-to,andyou’llfindhe’llbeaverydifferentdragon!”
AtthatmagicwordREFRESHMENTthewholecrowdformedupinprocessionandsilentlyawaitedthesignaltostart.Thetimefortalkingandcheeringandbettingwaspast,thehourforactionhadarrived.St.George,haulingonhisspearwithbothhands,releasedthedragon,whoroseandshookhimselfandranhiseyeoverhisspikesandscalesandthings,toseethattheywereallinorder.ThentheSaintmountedandledofftheprocession,thedragonfollowingmeeklyinthecompanyoftheBoy,whilethethirstyspectatorskeptatarespectfulintervalbehind.
Thereweregreatdoingswhentheygotdowntothevillageagain,andhadformedupinfrontoftheinn.AfterrefreshmentSt.Georgemadeaspeech,inwhichheinformedhisaudiencethathehadremovedtheirdirefulscourge,atagreatdealoftroubleandinconveniencetohim-self,andnowtheyweren’ttogoaboutgrumblingandfancyingthey’dgotgrievances,becausetheyhadn’t.Andtheyshouldn’tbesofondoffights,becausenexttimetheymighthavetodothefightingthemselves,whichwouldnotbethesamethingatall.Andtherewasacertainbadgerintheinnstableswhichhadgottobereleasedatonce,andhe’dcomeandseeitdonehimself.
