The Tale of the Drakon

There is a kind of demon which is called drakon in Greek. If it is hit by a sword no harm will come to it, unless [the attacker] is also born of a drakon. There was one who was born from [the union of] a princess and a drakon, a kind of demon. And that drakon, who used to have intercourse with the king’s wife, said: “I’m afraid of nothing but that drakon who is the princess’s son.” And he [the son of the drakon and the princess] was in prison. The king said to that son of a princess: “I shall let you free and go out of prison.” He then went and took his father’s sword, and sat under the bed of the king’s wife. The demon immediately noticed his smell and said, “I smell the one of whom I am afraid. Nevertheless,” he said, “I shall not refrain from having intercourse.” He went ahead and had intercourse. The one under the bed came out and waited. After the intercourse, [when the demon] descended from the bed, he hit him and wounded him. The demon said, “Hit me again,” because he who is hit once will die, but if he is hit a second time, he shall live and will have several heads and cause harm to many. The one who hit him said, “My mother gave birth to me only once, not twice, therefore I shall not hit you again.” The king’s wife went out, and the one who was hit, the one who had intercourse with her, died, and his flesh was swollen so much that it filled the room, and they could not bring him out through the door. The king then ordered that the roof of the room be broken open, and they cut him into many pieces and loaded several carriages full of the drakon’s flesh and took him away. And the queen did not tell that the drakon had had intercourse with her, for if she had, the king would have died and she would have become poor and humble without any prospect of luck throughout her life. But she said, “He came to me in the image of the king, with the kingdom’s crown on his head.” That is the custom [of such a demon]: in the beginning he assumes the image of the husband, and it is thus that he is revealed to the wife, while [in fact] he is a drakon. As long as he [the drakon] is at his own place or inside a house he does no harm, but as soon as he comes out that place is burnt.