Once upon a time, there was a kingdom far, far away, where a princess named Eva lived. The kingdom of Princess Eva was a magical place, where extraordinary things happened.
Princess Eva was very good and that is why all her servants loved her very much, she always gave them gifts or had fun with them and her servants always said:
“How good is our Princess Eva, she is the best of all princesses.”
But one day something happened in that magical kingdom. A great dragon, with sharp fangs and long wings, appeared. The dragon, who was a glutton, ate the fruits of the kingdom's trees, which were the largest and most delicious in the entire world. And when the dragon was thirsty, he drank almost all of the river's water, leaving the inhabitants and animals with no water to drink. And when he got bored, he scared the people of that kingdom.
“Something must be done with this dragon” The Princess said one day “otherwise, we will have to leave our kingdom…”
Hearing the words of Princess Eva, many knights with shining armor decided to go and face the dragon. But always happened the same thing: the knights left in the morning, ready to face the great enemy of that kingdom but then they returned in the afternoon, full of blows, dirty and tired, for not having been able to defeat the dragon.
Certainly that dragon was powerful, each and every one of the knights in the service of Princess Eva tried to defeat him, but none managed to do so.
The inhabitants of that kingdom worried more and more, because they would have to leave their homes in that beautiful and magical place and they didn’t want to leave.
One day Princess Eva decided that she had to do something too. So she told herself that she should be the one to face the dragon. Her entire court, her knights, even her servants objected to her going, but she had already decided. So The Princess braided her long golden hair and put on a heavy golden armor, made for the bravest knights. She wielded a great sword made by the best blacksmith and addressed her people:
“The duty of a princess is to take care of her kingdom and right now my kingdom needs me. I will save our kingdom from the dragon and bring peace again” The princess said before leaving.
When she had traveled a few miles, she removed her heavy armor, placing it, along with a sword, next to a stone. The princess knew that all the knights of the kingdom, even with the best weapons and armor, had not been able to defeat the dragon, therefore, she had to think a different strategy.
The princess walked to the place where the dragon lived, but she couldn’t find it anywhere.
“Where is the dragon?” The Princess thought.
Then she realized that she could find the dragon by her trail, since wherever she went she left a trail of scales. Princess Eva followed the trail, which led her to a large cave where inside she heard screams of pain.
“Oh, my paw hurts!” someone shouted inside the cave.
“Whose voice is that?” The Princess thought.
Then the princess lit a torch and cautiously went into the cave, to find that the great dragon remained seated, looking at one of its paws, which looked red and swollen.
“You have something on your paw, you can see that it is hurt” The Princess said.
The dragon, who had not noticed her presence, stood up and looked grumpy and terrifying again.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my domain?!” The dragon yelled at her, showing his sharp teeth.
Princess Eva was afraid of that great dragon, but then she thought of her kingdom, which gave her the courage to step forward and say to the dragon:
"I am The Princess Eva and this is my kingdom” she said with great courage.
“I don't care, I'll beat you like I beat all the knights before you!” The dragon replied.
The princess then thought that she could not face the dragon, since she had no sword or armor, instead, she thought of proposing a deal.
“How about we make a deal, dragon? It is obvious that something is wrong with your paw, I can help you but, in return, you must stop bothering my kingdom and my people” the princess proposed.
The dragon, sure that the princess could never help him with his pain in the paw, accepted the deal. Then he sat down and extended his paw to the princess. This was difficult for Princess Eva, for inside the cave there was not very good light. But suddenly she realized that, right in the middle of the dragon's paw, there was a very small splinter, so small that the dragon probably couldn't see it. Carefully the princess began to remove it, realizing that it was not just any splinter, but the tip of a tree branch, which was very thin, but also very long.
After removing that from the dragon's leg, she bandaged the leg and the dragon, surprised, thanked him.
“A deal is a deal and you have kept your promise, I will leave this kingdom…” the dragon said, a little sad.
“But you don't have to leave the kingdom” The Princess replied “As long as you don't do bad things, like drink all the river water or eat all the fruits, you can stay. There’s room for everyone in my kingdom” the princess told him.
The dragon nodded and promised the Princess that he would be good. So much so that he flew her to the castle, where her servants were waiting for her, worried about what had happened to the princess.
When she was in front of her servants, she spoke:
“Inhabitants of the kingdom, many knights tried to defeat the dragon in a duel but never succeeded. However, after talking, we have been able to make a deal for him to never do bad things again and to stay in our kingdom” the princess said, very happy.
Thus the inhabitants of the kingdom learned their lesson: fights never fix anything and it is always better to talk. Since then, the dragon stopped doing bad things and everyone could live in harmony in that wonderful kingdom, which had a very good princess and where extraordinary things happened.
THE END
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