On a very high mountain in an old abandoned Castle, there lived a big red Dragon named Hurtsurshur. He was a whole thousand years old! He'd spent half his life in this Castle and never cleaned up. One day he realised that there was so much cobweb everywhere and such a thick layer of dust that he was constantly sneezing. And from his loud sneezes, the walls shook and began to crumble.
So that his whole home wouldn't fall apart completely, Hurtsurshur decided to find the most beautiful princess. After all, they always live in the tidiest palaces. That meant when he had one, his whole home would transform at once!
The Dragon went out onto the roof, spread his wings and flew off. He flew and flew, and spotted a new Palace with a picturesque garden, where three beautiful children of the king were walking: two Princesses and one Prince. He flew up to the elder sister, grabbed her in his claws and flew home.
He put her in a lonely tower and said she must make everything beautiful. Then he went off to rest, because he was already quite old and tired from all that flying.
He woke up the next day, went to the tower, and no one was there. He saw tracks of a knight's boots on the dusty floor. He understood that a Prince had come and stolen his captive.
Oh well. Knights always come for these girls. I'll just take the prince for myself!
Hurtsurshur thought.
He flew off after the young Prince. As he flew, he saw that no one was in the garden. He circled the castle, and on the other side was a thick forest. Between the trees, the Prince was galloping on a white horse, hunting. The Dragon waited until the Prince rode out into a clearing, grabbed him and flew home.
He put him in the lonely tower and told him to clean up the Castle. He locked all the doors to the outside and went to sleep.
He woke up the next day, went to check, and again no one was in the room! Only the window was open, with a long rope hanging down to the ground. The Dragon understood that the Prince had escaped from him too.
Right then. They won't trick me a third time! I'll take the youngest Princess and make her live here! I'll lock all the windows so no one can steal her, and she can't escape herself.
Hurtsurshur decided.
He flew again to the tidy Palace. No one was walking in the garden, no one was hunting in the forest. Hurtsurshur got angry and roared! Even the trees shook. The little Princess heard this in her room and became curious about who was making such a racket. She opened her window, and the Dragon saw her, quickly flew up – snap! – and carried her off.
He put the girl in the lonely tower, covered all the windows with thick bars and said that this was now her room. And that she should tidy up everywhere and make it beautiful. Then he went to sleep.
He woke up in the morning – and first thing went to check how clean and beautiful everything had become. He walked through the corridors and halls, and everywhere was dusty, just as before. He entered the lonely tower to see his little captive, and there everything was clean, the bed neatly made, and no dust anywhere. He got angry that only one room was cleaned, and said:
I told you to clean everywhere, why are the other halls still dirty?!
And the Princess replied:
We were taught that you must always say 'please', but you kidnapped me without permission, and you're ordering around the king's own daughter. You should be ashamed. I only cleaned here because you said this was my room. And it's shameful for royalty to live in filth. But the rest of the castle is your home, so you should look after its tidiness yourself. Why did you decide that someone else should clean up instead of you?
The Dragon felt ashamed. He apologised to this clever girl. And asked her to help him with the cleaning.
The Princess was not only very lovely, but also very kind, so she agreed to help the old Dragon.
And so he understood that the beauty of a home depends on the manners of its owner. And the more you look after yourself and your home, the more beautiful everything around you will be.
