On a very, very high mountain in an old abandoned Castle there lived a large red Dragon named Hurtsurshur. He was a whole thousand years old! He had spent half his life in this Castle and had never tidied up. And one day he realised that there were so many cobwebs 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 house wouldn't collapse 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 house would be transformed at once!
The Dragon went out onto the roof, spread his wings and flew off. He flew and flew, and saw 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 that she must make everything beautiful. And 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 there was no one there. And he saw the tracks of a knight's boots on the dusty floor. He realised that a Prince had come and stolen his captive.
Oh well. Knights always come for those girls. I'll take the prince for myself instead!
Hurtsurshur thought.
He flew off after the young Prince. He flew and saw that there was no one in the garden. He circled the castle, and on the other side was a dense forest. And 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 tidy 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 there was no one in the room! And only the window was open, with a long rope hanging down to the ground. The Dragon realised that the Prince had escaped from him too.
Right then. They won't fool 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 became angry and roared! Even the trees shook. The little Princess heard this in her room and became curious about who was making such a noise. She opened the 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. And then he went to sleep.
He woke up in the morning – and the first thing he did was go to check how clean and beautiful everything had become. He walked through the corridors and halls, and everywhere was dusty, just as before. He went into the lonely tower to his little captive, and there everything was clean, and the bed was neatly made, and there was no dust anywhere. He became angry that only one room was tidied, and said:
I told you to tidy everywhere, why are the other halls dirty?!
And the Princess replied:
We were taught that one must always say 'please', but you kidnapped me without permission, and you're even giving orders to the king's own daughter. You should be ashamed. I only tidied 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 tidy up instead of you?
The Dragon felt ashamed. He apologised to this clever girl. And asked her to help him with the tidying.
And the Princess was not only very pretty, 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 upbringing of its master. And the more one looks after oneself and one's home, the more beautiful everything around will be.
