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My. Name's Otis Gray and you're

3:45

listening to sleepy? Apologised,

3:53

For I read old books to help you get to sleep.

3:56

and this as a midweek bedtime story

3:58

for you I've

4:05

got a lovely tale from

4:08

one of my favorite authors, Edith Nesbeth,

4:10

tonight. It's a story

4:13

about a dragon, or many dragons.

4:17

And if you're listening to this episode,

4:20

just know that our Sunday

4:22

episodes are where our longer stories

4:24

happen. And

4:26

that's where I thank all of our

4:28

patrons on patreon.com. And these

4:31

midweek stories are a little bit shorter.

4:34

They have a beginning, middle, and an end. And

4:36

just something to help you snooze during the

4:38

week until we get to our Sunday episodes.

4:44

And for now, I would like to

4:46

just thank all of our members on

4:48

patreon.com, which is a website where you

4:50

can go and pledge a couple bucks for an ad-free

4:52

version of the show. So

4:55

if you would like an ad-free version

4:57

of Sleepy, and if you would like

5:00

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5:02

opening credits, you can

5:04

just go to patreon.com/Sleepy

5:06

Radio and donate just a

5:08

couple of bucks. Again,

5:11

that is patreon.com slash

5:14

Sleepy Radio. Thank you.

5:19

And as always, the music you're hearing is

5:21

by my good friend James Lepkowski, and

5:23

the cover of for Sleepy is by Gracie

5:25

Kanan. Tonight,

5:35

I'm going to be reading from

5:37

the wonderful collection called

5:40

The Book of Dragons by Edith

5:42

Nesbeth. I've

5:46

read some of the stories in this book

5:49

before on the show, because

5:51

they're really fantastic short stories. They're

5:55

all about dragons and they're written by Edith Nesbeth.

5:58

Would You ask for more? Well,

6:01

tonight I'm going to be reading

6:03

a really lovely story. Called

6:06

the delivers of their country. That

6:09

is a particularly funny,

6:12

goofy story. My

6:14

two kids and many dragons

6:16

and damn I really loved

6:19

reading and so. I

6:21

really have much you love going to see to it. So

6:27

without further ado, The

6:29

delivers other country. A

6:31

short story on the Book of Dragons

6:33

by either Nesbitt. And

6:37

as the time for you to fluff up

6:39

your pillow, just a lighter. Feel

6:43

yourself now into your bad. Get

6:46

real comfortable. Cause

6:49

your eyes. And

6:52

let me retail. The.

7:07

Deliverers of their country, It

7:12

all began with f he getting something in her

7:14

eye. And her

7:16

very much indeed, And it felt

7:18

something like a red hot spar. Only

7:21

and seem to have legs as well and wings

7:23

like a fly. As.

7:26

He rubbed in crime. Not

7:29

real cry. The kind your

7:31

I does all by itself without you're

7:33

being miserable. Insider mine, And

7:36

then she went to her father dad. the thing

7:38

in her eye taken out. Of

7:42

his father was a doctor. So.

7:44

Of course a new added take things out of

7:47

eyes. He did a very

7:49

cleverly. But the soft paint? brush

7:51

it and castor oil. When.

7:56

He had gotten the thing out. He said.

7:59

this is very curious. Effie

8:02

had often gotten things in her eye before, and

8:05

her father had always seemed to think it was natural.

8:08

Rather tiresome and naughty, perhaps, but still

8:10

natural. He had

8:13

never before thought it curious. Effie

8:19

stood holding her handkerchief to her eye

8:22

and said, I don't believe it's

8:24

out. People always

8:26

say this when they have had something in their

8:29

eyes. Oh

8:31

yes, it's out, said the doctor.

8:35

Here it is, on the brush. This

8:37

is very interesting. Effie

8:41

had never heard her father say that about

8:43

anything that she had any share in. She

8:46

said. The

8:51

doctor carried the brush very carefully across

8:53

the room and held the point

8:55

of it under his microscope. Then

8:57

he twisted the brass screws of the microscope

9:00

and looked through the top with one eye. Dear

9:05

me, he said. Dear

9:07

me, dear me. Four

9:09

well-developed limbs, a long

9:11

caudal appendage, five

9:14

toes, unequal in lengths, almost

9:16

like one of the lesser there, yet

9:18

there are traces of wings. The

9:21

creature under his eye wriggled a little

9:24

in the castor oil and he went on. Yes,

9:27

like a bat-like wing, a

9:30

new specimen undoubtedly. Effie

9:34

ran around to the professor and asked him to be

9:37

kind enough to step in for a few minutes. You

9:41

might give me six pence, Daddy, said Effie,

9:44

because I did bring you the new specimen. I

9:47

took great care of it inside my eye and

9:50

my eye does hurt. The

9:54

doctor was so pleased with the new specimen

9:56

that he gave Effie a shilling and

9:58

presently the professor stepped in. around. He

10:02

stayed to lunch and he and the doctor

10:04

quarreled very happily all the afternoon about the

10:06

name and the family of the thing that

10:08

had come out of Effie's eye. But

10:13

at tea time another thing happened. Effie's

10:16

brother Harry fished something out of his tea,

10:19

which he thought at first was an earwig. He

10:23

was just getting ready to drop it on the floor and

10:26

end its life in the usual way. But

10:28

it shook itself in the spoon, spread

10:30

two wet wings, and flopped onto the

10:32

tablecloth. There

10:36

it sat, stroking itself with its

10:38

feet and stretching its wings. And

10:40

Harry said, Why, it's

10:43

a tiny new. The

10:47

professor leaned forward before the doctor could say

10:49

a word. I'll give

10:51

you half a crown for it, Harry and my lad,

10:53

he said, speaking very fast.

10:56

And then he picked it up carefully on

10:58

his handkerchief. It

11:02

is a new specimen, he said, and finer

11:04

than yours, doctor. It

11:08

was a tiny lizard, about half an

11:10

inch long, with scales and wings. So

11:15

now the doctor and the professor each had

11:17

a specimen and they were both

11:19

very pleased. But

11:22

before long these specimens began to

11:24

seem less valuable. For

11:27

the next morning when the knife boy was

11:29

cleaning the doctor's boots, he

11:31

suddenly dropped the brushes in the boot and

11:34

the blacking and screamed that

11:36

he was burnt. And

11:40

from inside the boot came crawling a

11:42

lizard as big as a kitten with

11:44

large shiny wings. Why,

11:48

said Effie, I know what it is.

11:51

It is a dragon like the one St. George killed.

11:55

And Effie was right. That

11:58

afternoon, Touser was bitten in the garden

12:00

by a dragon about the size of a rabbit, which

12:03

he had tried to chase. And

12:05

the next morning, all the papers were full

12:07

of the wonderful winged lizards that were appearing

12:09

all over the country. The

12:13

papers would not call them dragons, because

12:15

of course, no one believes in dragons

12:18

nowadays. And at

12:20

any rate, the papers were not going to be

12:22

so silly as to believe in fairy stories. At

12:27

first, there were only a few, but

12:29

in a week or two, the country was simply

12:31

running alive with dragons of all sizes, and

12:34

in the air, they could sometimes see them as thick

12:36

as a swarm of bees. They

12:41

all looked alike, except as to size.

12:44

They were green with scales, and they

12:46

had four legs and a long tail, and

12:49

great wings like bat wings. The

12:51

wings were a pale, half-transparent yellow, like

12:54

the gearboxes on bicycles. They

13:00

breathed fire and smoke, as

13:02

all proper dragons must. But

13:04

still the newspapers went on pretending they

13:06

were lizards, until the editor

13:08

of the standard was picked up and carried away

13:10

by a very large one. And

13:13

then the other newspaper had not let anyone

13:15

tell them what they ought not to believe.

13:20

So when the largest elephant in the zoo was

13:22

carried off by a dragon, the

13:24

papers gave up pretending and

13:26

put a alarming plague of dragons at the

13:28

top of the paper. You

13:32

have no idea how alarming it was, and

13:35

at the same time how aggravating. The

13:38

large-sized dragons were terrible, certainly, but

13:41

when once you had found out that the

13:43

dragons always went to bed early because they

13:45

were afraid of the chill night air, you

13:47

had only to stay indoors all day, and

13:50

you were pretty safe from the big ones. But

13:54

the smaller sizes were a perfect nuisance. The

13:57

ones as big as earwigs got in the soap.

14:00

they got in the butter. The

14:03

ones as big as dogs got in the bath, and

14:06

the fire and smoke inside them made them

14:08

steam like anything when the cold water tap

14:10

was turned on, so that

14:12

careless people were often scalded quite severely.

14:18

The ones that were as large as pigeons would

14:20

get into work baskets or corner drawers and bite

14:22

you when you were in a hurry to get

14:25

a needle or a handkerchief. The

14:27

ones as big as sheep were easier to avoid

14:30

because you could see them coming, but

14:33

when they flew in at the windows and curled

14:35

up under your rider down and

14:37

you did not find them until you went to bed, it was

14:39

always a shock. The

14:42

ones this size did not eat people, only

14:45

lettuce, but they always scorched

14:47

the sheets and pillowcases dreadfully. Of

14:52

course, the county council and the

14:54

police did everything that could be

14:56

done. There was no use offering the hand

14:58

of the princess to anyone who killed a dragon.

15:01

This is all very well and old in times.

15:04

There was only one dragon and one princess.

15:08

But now there were far more dragons than

15:10

princesses, although the royal family

15:13

was a large one. And

15:16

besides, it would have been a mere waste

15:18

of princesses to offer rewards for killing dragons,

15:21

because everybody killed as many dragons as

15:23

they could, quite out of their

15:25

own heads and without rewards at all, just

15:27

to get the nasty things out of the way. The

15:32

county council undertook to cremate all dragons

15:34

delivered at their offices between the hours

15:37

of ten and two, and

15:39

whole wagonloads and cartloads and truckloads of

15:41

dead dragons could be seen every day

15:43

of the week standing in a

15:45

long line in the street where the

15:47

county council had their offices. The

15:52

county council had brought barrowloads of dead dragons, and

15:55

children on their way home from morning school would

15:57

call in to leave the handful or two of

15:59

dragons. they had brought in their

16:01

satchels or carried in their

16:04

knotted pocket handkerchiefs. And

16:07

yet there seemed to be as many dragons as ever.

16:10

Then the police stuck up great wood

16:13

and canvas towers covered with patent glue.

16:16

When the dragons flew against these towers

16:19

they stuck vast as flies and wasps

16:21

drew to sticky papers in the kitchen.

16:25

And when the towers were covered all

16:27

over with dragons, the police inspector

16:29

used to set fire to the towers

16:32

and burn them and the dragons and all. And

16:37

yet there seemed to be more dragons than ever. The

16:40

shops were full of patent dragon

16:42

poison and anti-dragon soap and

16:44

dragon proof curtains for the windows. And

16:47

indeed everything that could be done

16:50

was done. And

16:53

yet there seemed to be more dragons than ever. It was

16:57

not very easy to know what would poison

16:59

a dragon because you see

17:02

they ate such different things. The

17:06

largest kind ate dragons as long as there

17:08

were any and then went on

17:10

with horses and cows. Another

17:13

size ate nothing but lilies of the valley

17:15

and a third size ate only prime ministers if

17:17

they were to be had and

17:20

if not would feed freely on

17:22

servants and livery. Another

17:25

size lived on bricks and

17:27

three of them ate two thirds

17:30

of the South Lambeth infirmary in

17:32

one afternoon. What the size Effie was

17:34

most afraid of was about as big as your

17:36

dining room and that size

17:39

ate little girls and boys. At

17:43

first Effie and her brother were quite pleased with

17:45

the change in their lives. It

17:48

was so amusing to sit up all night instead of

17:50

going to sleep and to play in

17:52

the garden lighted by electric lamps. And

17:56

it sounded so funny to hear mother's say when they

17:59

were going to bed. Good

18:01

night, my darlings. Sleep sound all

18:03

day, and don't get up too soon.

18:06

You must not get up before it's quite dark. You

18:09

wouldn't like the nasty dragons to catch you." But

18:13

after a time, they got very tired of it all. They

18:16

wanted to see flowers and trees growing in the

18:19

fields, and to see the pretty sunshine out

18:21

of the doors, and

18:23

not just through glass windows and

18:25

patent dragonproof curtains. And

18:27

they wanted to play on the grass, which they

18:30

knew they were allowed to do in the electric

18:32

lamp-lighted garden because of the night dew. And

18:37

they wanted so much to get out, just

18:39

for once, in the beautiful, bright, dangerous

18:41

daylight, that they had begun

18:43

to try and think of some reason why they

18:45

ought to go out. Only

18:48

they did not like to disobey their mother. But

18:53

one morning, their mother was busy preparing

18:55

some new dragon poison to lay down in

18:57

the cellars, and their father

18:59

was bandaging the hand of the boot boy,

19:02

which had been scratched by one of the dragons

19:04

who liked to eat prime ministers when they were

19:06

to be had. So nobody remembered

19:08

to say to the children, Don't

19:10

get up till it's quite dark. Go

19:15

now, said Harry. They would

19:17

not be disobedient to go, and

19:19

I know exactly what we ought to do, but

19:22

I don't know how we ought to do it. What

19:26

are we to do, said Effie? We

19:30

ought to wake St. George, of course, said Harry.

19:33

He was the only person in this town who

19:35

knew how to manage dragons. The

19:37

people in the fairy tales don't care. But

19:41

St. George is a real person, and

19:44

he is only asleep, and he is waiting

19:46

to be waked out. Only

19:48

nobody believes in St. George now. I

19:51

heard Father say so. We

19:55

do, said Effie. Of

19:58

course we do. And don't you think?

20:00

You see, eh, that that's the very

20:02

reason why we could wake him. You

20:05

can't wake people if you don't believe in them, can you?"

20:10

Effie said no. But where

20:12

could they find St. George? "'We

20:16

must go and look,' said Harry boldly. "'You

20:19

show her a dragon-proof frock made

20:21

of stuff like curtains, and

20:23

I will smear myself all over with the

20:25

best dragon poison and—" Effie

20:29

clasped her hands and skipped with joy and

20:32

cried. "'Oh,

20:34

Harry, I know where we can

20:36

find St. George. In St.

20:38

George's church, of course.' "'Um,'

20:42

said Harry, wishing he had thought of it for

20:44

himself. He gave a little

20:47

sense sometimes for a girl." So

20:50

the next afternoon, quite early, long

20:53

before the beams of sunset announced the

20:55

coming night, when everybody would

20:57

be up and working. The two

20:59

children got out of bed. Effie

21:02

wrapped herself in a shawl of dragon-proof

21:05

music. It was no

21:07

time to make a frock, and

21:09

Harry made a horrid mess of himself with

21:11

the patent dragon poison. It

21:14

was warranted harmless to infants and infants,

21:17

so he felt quite safe. Then

21:23

they joined hands and set out to walk to

21:25

St. George's church. As

21:28

you know, there are many St. George's

21:30

churches, but fortunately they took

21:32

the turning that leads to the right one and

21:35

went along in the bright sunlight, feeling

21:37

very brave and adventurous. There

21:42

was no one about in the streets except dragons,

21:45

and the place was simply swarming with them. Fortunately,

21:49

none of the dragons were just the right

21:51

size for eating little boys and girls, or

21:54

perhaps this story might have had to end there. There

21:58

were dragons on the pavement. dragons

22:00

on the roadway, dragons

22:02

basking on the front doorsteps of

22:05

public buildings, and dragons

22:07

preening their wings on the roofs in the

22:09

hot afternoon sun. The

22:12

town was quite green with them. Even

22:15

when the children had gone out of town and

22:17

were walking in the lanes, they

22:19

noticed that the fields on each side were

22:21

greener than usual, with the

22:23

scaly legs and tails, and

22:26

some of the smaller sizes had

22:28

themselves the bestest nests in the

22:30

flowering hawthorn hedges. Effie

22:35

held her brother's hand very tight, and

22:37

once when a fat dragon flopped against her

22:40

ear she screamed out that a

22:42

whole flight of green dragons rose from the field

22:44

at the sound and sprawled away

22:46

across the sky. The

22:49

children could hear the rattle of their wings as they

22:51

flew. Oh,

22:54

I want to go home, said Effie. Don't

22:58

be silly, said Harry. Surely

23:00

you haven't forgotten about the seven champions

23:02

and all the princes. People

23:05

who are going to be their country's deliverers

23:07

never scream and say they want to go

23:09

home. And

23:13

are we, asked Effie, deliverers, I

23:15

mean? You'll

23:18

see, said her brother, and

23:20

on they went. When

23:23

they came to St. George's church, they

23:25

found the door open, and they walked right

23:28

in. But St. George was

23:30

not there, so they

23:32

walked around the churchyard outside, and

23:34

presently they found the great stone tomb of

23:37

St. George, with the figure

23:39

of him carved and marble outside, in

23:41

his armor and helmet, and with his

23:43

hands folded on his breast. However

23:47

can we wake him, they said, and

23:50

Harry spoke to St. George. But

23:53

he would not answer, and he

23:55

called, but St. George did not

23:57

seem to hear, and then he actually tried to

23:59

wake him. the great dragon slayer by

24:01

shaking his marble shoulders. But

24:04

St. George took no notice. Then

24:09

Effie began to cry, and she

24:11

put her arms around St. George's neck as well

24:13

as she could for the marble, which

24:15

was very much in the way at the back. And

24:18

she kissed the marble face, and she said, Oh dear

24:21

God, kind St. George, please

24:24

wake up and help us. And

24:30

at that St. George opened his eyes sleepily

24:33

and stretched himself and said, What's

24:35

the matter, little girl? So

24:39

the children told him all about it. He

24:41

turned over in his marble and leaned on

24:43

one elbow to listen. But

24:46

when he heard that there were so many dragons, he shook

24:48

his head. It's

24:50

no good, he said. There would

24:53

be one too many for poor old George. He

24:55

should have waked me before. I was

24:57

always for a fair fight. One

25:00

man, one dragon was my motto. Just

25:04

then a flight of dragons passed overhead and

25:07

St. George half drew his sword. But

25:11

he shook his head again and pushed the sword

25:13

back as the flight of dragons

25:15

grew small in the distance. I

25:19

can't do anything, he said. Things

25:22

have changed since my time. St.

25:24

Andrew told me about it. They

25:26

woke him up over the engineer's strike, and

25:29

he came to talk to me. He

25:32

says everything is done by machinery now. There

25:35

must be some way of settling these dragons. By

25:38

the way, what sort of weather have you been having lately?

25:43

This seems so careless and unkind that Harry

25:45

would not answer. But Effie

25:47

said patiently, it has

25:50

been very fine. Father said it's

25:52

the hottest weather there has ever been in this country.

25:57

Ah, I guessed as much, said the

25:59

champion thoughtfully. Well.

26:02

The only thing would be. Dragons

26:04

can't stand when com. That's

26:06

the only thing. As you could

26:08

find the Daves. St.

26:12

George's beginning to settle down again on

26:14

his stones. Your

26:16

name. Very sorry I can't be

26:19

of he said yawning behind us Marblehead.

26:23

Oh, but you can gaddafi. Tell

26:25

us What? dance? Oh

26:28

like in the bathrooms at St. George.

26:31

still more sleepily. Then.

26:33

There's a looking glass do. So

26:35

as you all the world and what's going on. Saint.

26:38

Denis told me about it. Said. It

26:40

was very pretty day. I'm

26:43

sorry I can. You. Know.

26:47

And he fell back into his marble and as fast

26:49

as we began. In a moment. We.

26:53

Shall never find a tab said harry. I

26:56

say. When. The be awful if

26:58

St. George Roka. When. There was a

27:00

dragon. their. The size that he's

27:03

champions. As.

27:06

He pulled off A dragon prevail. We.

27:09

Didn't me any the size of the dining room

27:11

as we came along. Suzanne? I

27:13

dare say we shall be quite say. So

27:18

she covered St. George with the veil. And

27:21

Harry rubbed off as much as he could

27:23

have the dragon poison on the St. George's

27:25

armor. So as to make everything quite

27:27

safe. When.

27:30

My hide in the church till it is dark he said.

27:33

And then. But.

27:36

At that moment a dark shadow fall

27:38

on them. And they saw was

27:40

a dragon exactly the same size of the dining

27:43

room at home. So

27:46

then they knew that all was lost. The

27:49

dragon soup down and caught the two children

27:52

is flawless. He got

27:54

as a buyer, greens success and harry

27:56

by the little point at the back

27:58

of his eaten jacket. And

28:00

then spreading is great yellow wings. He rose

28:02

into the air. Rattling. Like

28:04

a third class carriage when the break is

28:06

hard on. Oh

28:09

harrys it as a. I wonder

28:11

when he will lead us? The.

28:15

Dragon was flying across wouldn't feel to the

28:17

great flaps of his wings. They carried him

28:19

a quarter of a mile that each one.

28:24

Area enough he could see the country below. Hedges

28:27

and rivers and churches and farmhouses

28:29

flowing away from under them. Much

28:32

faster than you see them running away from

28:34

the sides of the fastest express train. And.

28:38

Still, the dragon flew on. The

28:41

children's or other dragons in the air as they

28:43

win. But. The dragon who was as

28:45

big as the dining room never stopped to speak to

28:48

any of them. But. Just flew

28:50

on quite steadily. He

28:54

knows where he wants to go. Scenario: Oh.

28:57

If. You would only drop us before he gets there.

29:02

But. The dragon held on time. And

29:05

he flew and flu and flow until at

29:07

last when the children were quite getty. He.

29:10

Settled down, But. The rattling of

29:12

all his scales on top of the mountain.

29:16

And. He lay there on as great

29:18

greens gailey side panting. And very

29:21

much out of breath. Because. He had

29:23

come such a long way. But.

29:26

His claws are fast and F is-and

29:28

a little plant the back of Harrys

29:30

In Jacket. Then.

29:34

As he took out the nice pair had given her

29:36

on her birthday. That.

29:38

It caused only six pounds to begin with.

29:41

And. She had had a month. And. A

29:43

never could sharpen anything but slate pencils.

29:47

But. Somehow she managed to make that knife

29:49

cutters ash and from when crapped out of

29:51

her. Leaving the dragon with

29:53

only green silk bob one of his

29:55

claws. then

29:58

i would never have cut out

30:00

harry jacket tail off. When Effie had

30:03

tried for some time, she saw

30:05

that this was so and gave it up. But

30:08

with her help, Harry managed to wriggle quietly

30:10

out of his sleeves so that

30:13

the dragon had only an eaten jacket in

30:15

his other cloth. Then

30:18

the children crept on tiptoe to a crack in

30:20

the rocks and got in. It

30:24

was much too narrow for the dragon to get

30:26

in also, so they stayed in

30:28

there and waited to make faces at

30:30

the dragon when he felt rested enough to sit

30:32

up and begin to think about eating them.

30:38

He was very angry indeed when

30:40

they made faces at him and blew out fire

30:42

and smoke at them, but

30:44

they ran farther into the cave so that

30:46

he could not reach them, and

30:48

when he was tired of blowing he went away. They

30:54

were afraid to come out of the cave. So

30:57

they went farther in, and

30:59

presently the cave opened out and grew

31:01

bigger, and the floor was soft sand, and

31:05

when they came to the very end of the cave there

31:07

was a door, and on it was written,

31:10

Universal Taproom, Private,

31:12

no one allowed inside. So

31:16

they opened the door at once just to peep in, and

31:19

they remembered what St. George had said.

31:23

We can't be worse off than we are, said Harry, with

31:25

a dragon waiting for us outside. Let's

31:28

go in. They

31:31

went boldly into the taproom and shut the door

31:33

behind them, and

31:36

now they were in a sort of room cut out of

31:38

solid rock, and all along one side

31:40

of the room were taps, and

31:42

all the taps were labeled with china labels like

31:44

you see in baths, and

31:48

as they could both read words of two syllables,

31:50

or even three sometimes, they understood at once that

31:53

they had gotten to the place where the weather

31:55

is turned on from. There

31:58

were six big taps labeled. Sunshine.

32:01

Wind. Rain Snow. Hail.

32:04

Ice. And lot of

32:06

little ones labeled. Fair. To

32:08

moderate. Sugary. Soft.

32:11

Breeze. Nice. Growing weather

32:13

for the crops, skating. Good.

32:15

Open whether. Southwind.

32:18

Used to end and so on. And.

32:21

The big tab labeled sunshine was

32:23

don't follow. They're.

32:26

Gonna see any sunshine. The.

32:28

Cave was lighted by a skylight. a

32:30

blue glass. So. They suppose the

32:32

sunlight was pouring out by some other way.

32:35

As it does on the top that

32:37

washes out the underneath part of and

32:39

sinks and kitchens. Then.

32:43

I saw that one side of the room was

32:45

just a big looking glass. And when

32:47

you looked into it, he could see everything that was

32:50

going on in the world. And all

32:52

at once to. What? Does not

32:54

like most looking glasses. They.

32:58

Saw the cars delivering the dead

33:00

dragons at the county council offices.

33:02

And. They saw St. George sleep

33:04

under the dragon prevail. When

33:08

they saw their mother home crying because

33:10

or children had gone out and the

33:12

dreadful dangerous daily. And

33:14

she was afraid of the dragon. That it enough.

33:18

And. They saw the whole of England like

33:20

a great puzzle man. Green. In

33:22

the field parts and brown in the towns. And.

33:24

Black and places where they make

33:26

coal and crockery and cutlery and

33:29

chemicals. All.

33:32

Over on the black parts and on the

33:34

brown and on the green. There. Was

33:36

a network of green dragons. And.

33:39

They could see that it was still broad daylight. And

33:42

know dragons had gone to bed. Yeah, As

33:46

he said, Dragons. Do not

33:48

like the goal. And to

33:50

try to turn out the sunshine. But.

33:53

The tap was out of order. And.

33:55

I was why they run so much hot weather. And.

33:58

Why the Dragons have been able to be Her. So

34:02

they left the Sunshine Tap alone. Then

34:05

they turned on the snow and left tab

34:07

for. While. They went to look in a glass.

34:12

Their they saw the dragons running all sorts

34:14

of ways. like and of you are grown

34:16

up to pour water into an empty. Which.

34:19

Of course you never are. And

34:21

the snow fell. More and more. Than.

34:25

A feature in the rain to have quite full on.

34:28

And presently the dragons began to

34:31

regulars. And buy and buy.

34:33

Some of them like points Now. So

34:35

the children new the water put out

34:37

fires inside them. And they were dead.

34:42

So. Then I turned on the hill. Only

34:44

half on for fear of breaking people's

34:46

windows. And after a while,

34:49

there are no more dragons to be seen moving. Then

34:54

the children knew that they were indeed the

34:56

delivers of their country. They.

34:59

Will put up a monument to us said area. As

35:01

high as Nelson's. All the

35:04

Dragons or dare. I

35:07

hope the one that was waiting outside for as

35:10

his dad said Fb. And

35:12

about the monument harry. Though. Not

35:14

so sure. What? Can They

35:16

do? As such, a lot of the dragons. It

35:20

would take years and years to bury them. And.

35:23

They can never be burnt Now they're so

35:25

soaking wet. I

35:27

wish the rain would wash them off and of the see.

35:32

That this did not happen. And

35:34

the children began to feel that they're not

35:36

been so frightfully clever after all. I

35:40

wonder what this old things for said harry. In.

35:43

Find a rusty old to but seemed as

35:45

though in up and use for ages. It's

35:49

china labels quite coated over with

35:51

dirt and cobwebs. When.

35:54

as the I cleaned up with a bit of her skirt.

35:57

For. curiously enough both at the children had come

35:59

out with out pocket hanker chests, she

36:02

found that the label said, waste.

36:06

Let's turn it on, she said. It might

36:08

carry off the dragons. The

36:14

tap was very stiff from not having been used

36:16

for such a long time, but

36:18

together they managed to turn it on and

36:21

then ran to the mirror to see what happened. Already

36:25

a great round black hole had

36:27

opened in the very middle of the map

36:29

of England, and the sides of

36:31

the map were tilting themselves up so

36:33

that the rain ran down toward the hole. Oh,

36:38

hurrah, hurrah, hurrah, cried

36:40

Effie, and she hurried back

36:43

to the taps and turned on everything that seemed

36:45

wet. Showery,

36:47

good open weather, nice

36:50

growing weather for the crops, and

36:53

even south and southwest, because

36:55

she had heard her father say that those winds

36:57

bring rain. And

37:01

now the floods of rain were pouring down on

37:03

the country, and great sheets

37:05

of water flowed toward the center of the map,

37:08

and cataracts of water poured into the great round

37:10

hole in the middle of the map, and

37:13

the dragons were being washed away and

37:15

disappearing down the waste pipe in great

37:17

green masses and scattered

37:19

green shoals, single dragons

37:22

and dragons by the dozen of

37:24

all sizes, from the ones that

37:26

carry off elephants down to the ones that get

37:28

in your tea. Presently

37:32

there was not a dragon left, so

37:34

then they turned off the tap named waste,

37:37

and they half turned off the one labeled

37:39

sunshine. It was

37:41

broken so that they could not turn it

37:43

off altogether, and they turned on

37:45

fair to moderate and

37:48

showery and both tap stuff so

37:50

that they could not be turned off, which accounts

37:53

for our climate. How

37:56

did they get home again? By

37:59

the snowed and rare, of course. And

38:03

was the nation grateful? Well,

38:06

the nation was very wet, and

38:08

by the time the nation had gotten dry again, it

38:11

was interested in the new invention for

38:13

toasting muffins by electricity, and

38:15

all the dragons were almost forgotten. Dragons

38:19

do not seem so important when they are dead

38:21

and gone. Any know, there

38:23

never was a reward offered. And

38:27

what did father and mother say when Effie and Harry

38:29

got home? My

38:31

dear, that is the sort of

38:33

silly question you children always ask. However,

38:36

just for this once, I don't mind telling you.

38:41

Mother said, Oh, my

38:43

darlings, my darlings, you're safe, you're safe.

38:46

You naughty children. How could

38:48

you be so disobedient? Go

38:50

to bed at once. And

38:53

their father, the doctor said, I wish

38:56

I had known what you were going to do. I should

38:58

have liked to preserve a specimen. I

39:01

threw away the one I got out of Effie's eye. I

39:05

intended to get a more perfect specimen. I

39:07

did not anticipate this immediate extinction of

39:09

the species. The

39:13

professor said nothing, but he

39:15

rubbed his hands. He

39:17

had kept his specimen, the one the

39:19

size of an earway that he gave Harry half a

39:21

crown for. And he has it to this

39:23

day. You must

39:26

get him to show it to you. Thank

39:37

you for listening to Sleepy. Good

39:40

night. Thank

39:51

you. you

40:30

you