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This is a rather puzzling story; puzzling in the sense that it has three tricky riddles in it. It’s also about a rather unusual dragon who has a human grandmother who is even trickier than he is, but who has a kinder heart. The story was originally by the Brothers Grimm and also appeared in the Yellow Fairy Book of Andrew Lang. We’ve slightly adapted the riddles drawing on the famous riddle of the Sphinx from Oedipus Rex and a couple of old rhyming riddles which we hope you will find fun.
Read by Natasha. Duration 14.61. Sponsored by AudibleKids
There was once a great war, and the King had a great many soldiers, but he gave them so little pay that they could not live upon it. Then three of them decided to run away from the army.
One of them said to the others, ‘If we are caught, we shall be hanged on the gallows; how shall we set about it?’ The other said, ‘Do you see that large cornfield there? If we were to hide ourselves in that, no one could find us. The army cannot come into it, and to-morrow it is to march on.’
They crept into the corn, but the army did not march on, but remained encamped close around them. They sat for two days and two nights in the corn, and grew so hungry that they nearly died; but if they were to venture out, it was certain death.
They said at last, ‘What use was it our deserting from the army? We must die here miserably.’
Whilst they were speaking a fiery dragon came flying through the air. It hovered near them, and asked why they were hidden there.
They answered, ‘We are three soldiers, and have deserted because our pay was so small. Now if we remain here we shall die of hunger, and if we move out we shall be strung up on the gallows.’
‘If you will serve me for seven years,’ said the dragon, I will lead you through the midst of the army so that no one shall catch you.’ ‘We have no choice, and must take your offer,’ said they. Then the dragon seized them in his claws, took them through the air over the army, and set them down on the earth a long way from it.
He gave them a little whip, saying, ‘Whip and slash with this, and as much money as you want will jump up before you. You can then live as great lords, keep horses, and drive about in carriages. But after seven years you are mine.’ Then he put a book before them, which he made all three of them sign. ‘I will then give you three riddles,’ he said; ‘if you guess them, you shall be free and out of my power.’ The dragon then flew away, and they journeyed on with their little whip. They had as much money as they wanted, wore grand clothes, and made their way into the world. Wherever they went they lived in merrymaking and splendour, drove about with horses and carriages, ate and drank, but did nothing wrong.
The time passed quickly away, and when the seven years were nearly ended two of them grew terribly anxious and frightened, but the third made light of it, saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, brothers, I wasn’t born yesterday; I will guess the riddles.’
They went into a field, sat down, and the two pulled long faces. An old woman passed by, and asked them why they were so sad. ‘Alas! what have you to do with it? You cannot help us.’ ‘Who knows?’ she answered.
Then they told her that they had become the servants of the Dragon for seven long years, and how he had given them money as plentifully as blackberries; but as they had signed their names they were his, unless when the seven years had passed they could guess a riddle. The old woman said, ‘If you would help yourselves, one of you must go into the wood, and there he will come upon a tumble-down building of rocks which looks like a little house. He must go in, and there he will find help.’
The two melancholy ones thought, ‘That won’t save us!’ and they remained where they were. But the third and merry one jumped up and went into the wood till he found the rock hut. In the hut sat a very old woman, who was the Dragon’s grandmother. She asked him how he came, and what was his business there. He told her all that happened, and because she was pleased with him she took compassion on him, and said she would help him.
She lifted up a large stone which lay over the cellar, saying, ‘Hide yourself there; you can hear all that is spoken in this room. Only sit still and don’t stir. When the Dragon comes, I will ask him what the riddle is, for he tells me everything; then listen carefully what he answers.’
At midnight the Dragon flew in, and asked for his supper. His grandmother laid the table, and brought out food and drink till he was satisfied, and they ate and drank together. Then in the course of the conversation she asked him what he had done in the day, and how many souls he had conquered.
‘I haven’t had much luck to-day,’ he said, ‘but I have a tight hold on three soldiers.’
‘Indeed! three soldiers!’ said she. ‘Who cannot escape you?’
‘They are mine,’ answered the Dragon scornfully, ‘for I shall only give them three riddles which they will never be able to guess.’
‘What sort of a riddles are it?’ she asked.
“The first is like this,” said the dragon, “What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?”
The old lady looked quite baffled and said: “Tell me my fiery grandchild. What does go on four legs in the morning, on two legs and noon, and on three legs in the evening?”
“Why?” laughed the dragon. “A person does. He crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with two legs and a stick in old age.”
‘And the old lady exclaimed “Noone else has riddles as cunning as yours. They are unlikely to guess the answer to that one for sure. But if they do, what is your second riddle?”.
And the dragon replied that his second riddle was just as devious and even prettier for it was in the form of a rhyme that went like this:
Though of great age,
I’m kept in a cage,
Having a long tail and one ear,
My mouth it is round,
And when joys do abound,
O, then I sing wonderful clear.
What am I?
“Can’t you guess the answer? Why I am a bell of course DONG! ” said the Dragon.
The old lady shook her head in wonderment at her grandson’s ingenuity. “Oh you are quite the most cunning dragon who ever lived and breathed fire !” she exclaimed. And what do you have for your final and most difficult riddle?”
“oh just some simple arithmetic” said the dragon.
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits -
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
And as the old lady could not answer he said “Only one was going to St. Ives. All the others were going the other way ! HA ! The souls of the three soldiers are mine for sure” And then the dragon ate his supper of hot coals and soup made from boiling oil and went to bed.
When the Dragon was soundly asleep, his old grandmother pulled up the stone and let out the soldier.
‘Did you pay attention to everything?’
‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘I know enough, and can help myself splendidly.’
Then he went by another way through the window secretly, and in all haste back to his comrades. He told them how the Dragon had been outwitted by his grandmother, and how he had heard from his own lips the answer to the riddles.
Then they were all delighted and in high spirits, took out their whip, and cracked so much money that it came jumping up from the ground. When the seven years had quite gone, the fiendish dragon came to the soldiers with his book, and, pointing at the signatures, said, And now you must answer my riddles or your souls shall be mine for all eternity. What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs and noon, and on three legs in the evening?”
And first soldier replied, “A person.”
The Dragon was much annoyed, and hummed and hawed a good deal, and asked the next riddle.
Though of great age,
I’m kept in a cage,
Having a long tail and one ear,
My mouth it is round,
And when joys do abound,
O, then I sing wonderful clear.
What am I?
“A bell” said the second soldier.
The Dragon-made a face, and growled again three times, ‘Hum, hum, hum,’ and said to the third, ‘
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits -
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
“Only One” replied the third soldier.
Then the Dragon flew away with a loud shriek, and had no more power over them. But the three soldiers took the little whip, whipped as much money as they wanted, and lived happily to their lives end.
107 Comments
The second riddle is good,but why it is the ear,not the tongue?
Here is another riddle: What instrument can you hear,but can’t touch and can’t see?
Hi Meng, I don’t know, what instrument can you hear but can’t touch and see?
very nice story. they are very lucky on the ather hand this story is a bit diffrent from the common because elders are black and the youngers are white but it is not the same in this story. many thanks
puzzling
funny and great.But weird.
I will tell the answer if nobody comes up with it till tomorrow morning.
nice
at 8 o cioc mac a cac at 4 o cioc mac a poi
i liked robin hood and the part win they held the archery contest.
I think I know, meng. I think it’s a person sing.
Yeah,right,Red aju,you’ve hit the bull’s-eye.The answer is your voice.You can’t see and touch it,but when you sing a song,everybody can hear it.
(This riddle is quoted from Diamond Castle)
WOW!I hope I can be as clever as the dragon’s grandmom.Did you know that the dragon of sickness and chaos is Wavern?!?!
I LOVE the story!
What worries me about this story is that the soldiers were cheaters. They were deserters from the army, they accepted the dragon’s offer of the good years but then they cheated him of his part.
And they got away with it.
Dear Kenneth, I see your point, but would you rather that the Dragon (in the role of mephistophiles ) got their souls?
Bertie,
Im going to give you a little riddle….
Drink wine.. said a rich man
drink juice…said a merchant
drink water..said a beggar
drink ???? …said a farmer
please reply me bertie!the answer is only four letters
bye bye!
Limin, is the answer milk?
coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll…………………………………………………………………………………………………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
great stories. Do more.
Here’s a RIDDLE
I have no arms only legs. You use me for millions of things.
I am a(n) *****
i listen to
i like it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what says happy birthday
in the winter and is made out of
snow walks and talks and melts out
of heat
I luv this story
I could imagine what was going on in my head
I luv this story
I could imagine what was going on in my head
fabulus story! Bertie can you guess this riddle??
Great marble walls inclose the gold but white soft as silk strong as steel but still you can break me.
The answer has three letters.
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An egg!
Sophie, that’s a lovely poetic riddle.
those stories are really diffcult for our chinese students
remenber。(╯﹏╰）
HI. I think it’s the older translations that are harder to understand – The Dragon and His Grandmother was by Andrew Lang who wrote in the 19th Century. We have quite a difficult story coming up this weekend – but after that there will be more of our own writing and adaptations that should be easier to understand.
I LOVE your stories
Another riddle
What animal can fly higher than a house?
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all flying animals because houses don’t fly…..
puzzling and awesome
I have a drawing of the three soldiers and the dragon
Hi I’m Bisi . How are you? Can you show me where your house is Natasha? Do you have any kids Natasha and are you single cause any boy would like like you. You know sssshhhhh! love hahahehe cause your voice is awesome You are so cool!
^,_,^
good story
It is the best story Iv herd
I loved this story very very much and I already new the first riddle.
it was great aggggggggg sorry my mum was grabing me
it is a good story.
snorynory rules
hi.how do you get this one your mp3 player? thank you send back.
it was so coollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Savannah, one way to get our stories onto your iPod player is to use iTunes by clicking here
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=94571049
Another is to download the story to your desktop, open iTunes, and use File / AdD to Library
If you have a another MP3 Player, you will have to download the story, plug in you MP3 player via USB, then just drag it in to your MP3 player disk via My Computer on PC or finder on mac
very weird story
This is for you Bertie….
I am NOT an animal but I have the same name.What am I?
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A mouse!!!!!
Thanks kevan, I couldn’t have guessed that one.
It was a great story. The grandma saved the soldiers!!!!!!
There is no mp3 file which follow the link of this story. Please check the mp3 file. Thanks~
Hi Marty, I’m pretty sure this works
the riddles were fantastic I love the one wich is this :I am the most lightest thing in the world but the strongest man in the world can only hold me for about a minute what am I
answer:BREATH
I couldent even understand the last two they were really hard they were amazing
it would be great if there were more stories about riddles and jokes
love
drishti
funny history
I HATED THIS IT IS SOOO BOGUS!!!!!
I live it
omg! i love this story its so nice i always read this story becuse it my favorite story i love it!
It was a very good story. The grandmother was very clever for the soldier, so they could know the answer of the riddle.
iliked thestory because the dragons grandma was vary nice to the soldiers and the dragon was very not helpful with the soldiers and a the riddlesare not a job i have a better riddle what nut drinks cocoa
mines are better
can somebody guess
Vanessa, I don’t know, what nut does drink cocoa?
hi birti !!! long time no see!! here’s two riddles.
1. what is brown and comes in a wrapper?? cholate. 2.what hase four legs and when it lays down you can’t see them???????? a dog !!!!!!! love, pgirl.
Hi Pearl, Thanks for the riddles.
It is cool as you would read it yo
Gucci!!! Really,how many rude and crude people do we have in the world?
Bertie, can you give me a riddle?
“”Please reply”"
Dear Kevan, here’s your riddle
What goes up and down the stairs without moving?
this is a nice story
Vanessa,Is it a coconut?And Bertie,is it a stair-rail?
Hi Kevan, That’s a good answer. I was thinking of a carpet though.
More riddles please!!
I love this story it’s meaningful but i dnt know what the moral is talking about.
Bertie,I asked for another riddle
Thanks
well it was usre a long story
This is a cool story!
i like the story
There was a pink single story house, everything inside the house was pink,the shades were pink the TV was pink the floor was pink. What color were the stairs?
A.pink
B.blue
C.there was none
D.both A&B were correct
Answer. C ( a pink SINGLE story house)
Bertie please reply to my riddle!
__________Love Lauren____________
Hi Lauren, Thanks for the riddle. I think that if the house only had one storey, then perhaps there weren’t any stairs….
Hi Lauren, a single story house doesn’t have any stairs. … I think that’s the answer. Thanks for the riddle !
Dear Bertie,
YOUR RIGHT!!!!
Everyone!!!!See if you can guess this.
There was a blue house with blue bricks,a red house with red bricks,a yellow house with yellow bricks.What was the green house made of?
the geeen house is made of
glass
That’s right!!GRRRR!!!
Great story
I think that the dragon was nasty and the dragons grand mother was extremly kind
but the 3 soldiors were cowerds1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the dragon was horrible
Hi Jade, I think you summed up the characters well !
The first riddle came from mytholgy! A sphinx told it! Bertie I think that you should do some stories from greek or roman mytholgy. Here’s a riddle for you, what is so fragile a whisper can break it? (there are two answers; I’ll take either)
Hi Katie, I think the answer to your riddle is “silence”. And if you would like some Greek myths, we’ve got them here.
http://storynory.com/category/greek-myths/
story nory rocks
story nory has the most amazing and fun stories for all ages. did i mention story nory rock
Hey good job Bertie! The other one is a secret, if you’d like to know. I will definetly check out the Greek myths! Huirama, story nory does rock!
(Kayla) Katie, can you do have any other cooooooooolllllllll riddles? Hey Bertie, listen to this riddle: Why did the octopus join the army? I will answer soon!
Now let me think, why did the Octopus join the army…..? something to do with his arms and army, but not exactly sure. Go on, please tell me, what’s the answer? Thanks for the riddle.
Kayla,is it because he had many arms?
And YOU,BERTIE,two more riddles!!!!!
it is too funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Little Miss Twindle has one eye and a tail. Whenever she goes to a narrow pass,some of her tail comes off.Who is she?
Cattien,you are impossable!!!!
AWWW THE DRAGON IS SOOOOO CUTE LOL:) WELL ANYWAYS NEEDS SO SCARY ONES:) PLZ
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IT IS GOOD STORY FOR A DRAGON THEN HE WAS HUNGRY
Hey people!!!More riddles for you!
(1) When does a tiger lose his srtipe?
(2) How do you change cold sleet into a cold sheet?
I’ll give the awnser in 3 days if no one gets them.Happy guessing!!!!!
Awnser to riddle (1) :You take away the e and the stripe becomes a strip!!!!!LOL!!!
Awnser to riddle(2):Change the l into a h and sleet becomes a cold sheet!!!!!!!!LOL!!!
what is it about
i like your storys vary much
I liked the riddles, I would pause the story after the riddle so I could figure it out before I heard the answer.
i love sophie sdimt
im going to tel you about the drogen it is fat the name is weierd so tttttttrrrrrriiiiiieeeeeee to read the book it seem cool thought so if you did not read it read it know will you mind to read it she says army alot three solders my oppinon is i hat the dragons