The Dragon of the North
The Language of Birds
A young man in a forest listening to birds with a magician nearby
Long, long ago there lived a terrible Dragon who came out of the cold North and began to lay waste the land, eating up all the animals he could find-and all the men and women too. This Dragon of the North had a body like a giant ox, legs like a frog, and a serpent's tail sixty feet long. No one could kill him, for his scales were harder than iron.
A young man with a good heart decided to find a way to stop the beast. On his journey, he met a famous Magician who taught him to understand the twittering language of the birds. "If you find King Solomon's Ring," the Magician told him, "bring it to me. Without my help, you will not be able to read the secrets written in the Ring."
One evening, while sitting under a tree, the young man heard two birds chatting. They spoke of a Witch Maiden who possessed the Ring and visited a Magic Pool every full moon to wash her face. Delighted by this secret, the young man followed the birds until he found the Witch Maiden at the edge of the pool.