March 13 Dragons

For Western cultures, the classic hero is the Warrior. The hero must prove he is a Warrior, usually by killing a dragon. When we encounter a dragon, the implication is that we only have two choices: kill the dragon or be killed.
But after a while, that story gets old. Eventually we have found every possible way to kill dragons. We become weary of patching up the Warriors who return alive but burned, gored or hobbling. We start to wonder whether the battle is worth the cost, or if there is another way for the hero to prove his worth.
If we have more than one kind of hero, there must be more than one way to handle a dragon. And so it was for Jerome the frog.
In Philip Ressner’s children’s book Jerome, he is turned into a prince by a witch. The townspeople inform him that since he is now a prince, they expect him to slay the greasy, smelly dragon that is burning up their houses and forests.
(I believe the description of dragons as greasy and smelly is supposed to make us more willing to kill them. But I digress.)
Jerome finds the cave where the dragon lives and announces that he plans to slay him. But the dragon protests, saying that he can’t help himself. He says that breathing fire is what dragons do.
This puzzles Jerome, who did not expect an assertive dragon. He thinks for a while, and then proposes a deal.
Now the dragon burns the town garbage on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other days he rests and tells lies.