The Dragon MEGAPACK ®. Kenneth Grahame

      The Dragon Megapack

Version 1.0

      COPYRIGHT INFO

      The Dragon Megapack is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC. All rights reserved. Cover art © 2014 by Netfalls / Fotolia.

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      “Sympathy for Dragons,” by John Gregory Betancourt, originally appeared in Weird Tales, January-February 2004. Copyright © 1995 by John Gregory Betancourt. Reprinted by permission of the author.

      “The Four Clever Brothers,” by The Brothers Grimm originally appeared in Kinder und Hausmarchen (1823). This version is taken from the 1884 Margaret Hunt translation (published as Household Tales), with paragraphing and punctuation modernized by John Betancourt for this edition.

      “The Fifty-First Dragon,” by Heywood Broun, originally appeared in 1919.

      “The Slaying of the Monster,” by R. H. Barlow and H. P. Lovecraft, originally appeared in 1933.

      “The King of the Fishes,” by Joseph Jacobs, is taken from Europa’s Fairy Book (1916).

      “The Student Who Was Made King” is taken from The Folk-Tales of the Magyars, translated by Rev. W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf (1889).

      “Of Mice & Dragons,” by Gary Lovisi, is copyright © 2011 by Gary Lovisi. Reprinted by permission of the author.

      “The Dragon of the North,” by Andrew Lang, originally appeared in The Yellow Fairy Book (1894).

      “The Reluctant Dragon,” by Kenneth Grahame, originally appeared as a chapter in Dream Days (1898).

      “John the True,” by Joseph Jacobs, is taken from Europa’s Fairy Book (1916).

      “Vernan’s Dragon,” by John Gregory Betancourt, originally appeared in slightly different form as “Vernon’s Dragon” in 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories. Copyright © 1984 by John Gregory Betancourt.

      “How the Dragon Was Tricked,” by J. G. von Hahn, originally appeared in Griechische und Albanesische Märchen. The text is taken from The Pink Fairy Book (1897).

      “Lily and the Lion,” by the Brothers Grimm, originally appeared in Kinder und Hausmarchen (1823). This version is taken from the 1884 Margaret Hunt translation (published as Household Tales), with paragraphing and punctuation modernized by John Betancourt for this edition.

      “The Bit about Dragons,” by Michael Kurland, originally appeared as part of his novel The Unicorn Girl. Copyright ©

      “The Prince and the Dragon,” by Andrew Lang, originally appeared in The Crimson Fairy Book (1894).

      “Why the Red Dragon is the Symbol of Wales,” by W. Jenkyn Thomas, originally appeared in this form in The Welsh Fairy Book.

      “Jabberwocky,” by Lewis Carroll, originally appeared in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871).

      “The Dragon’s Teeth,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is taken from Tanglewood Tales (1853).

      “The Dragon of Wantley,” attributed to Henry Carey, is a 17th Century text reprinted from Reliques of Ancient Poetry.

      “The Last of the Dragons,” by E. Nesbit, is taken from The Book of Dragons (1900).

      “The Dragon of la Trinità,” by Mary Lovett Cameron, originally appeared in Folklore, Vol. 21, No. 3 (1910).

      “The Little Bull-Calf,” by Joseph Jacobs, originally appeared in More English Fairy Tales (1894).

      “Rich Peter, the Pedlar,” by George Webbe Dasent originally appeared in Popular Tales from the Norse.

      “The Two Brothers,” by The Brothers Grimm, originally appeared in Kinder und Hausmarchen (1823). This version is taken from the 1884 Margaret Hunt translation (published as Household Tales), with paragraphing and punctuation modernized by John Betancourt for this edition.

      “The Mandelbrot Dragon,” by Mary A. Turzillo originally appeared in The Ultimate Dragon. Copyright © 1995 by Mary A. Turzillo. Reprinted by permission of the author.

      “Beowulf” (translation by William Morris and A.J. Wyatt) originally appeared in 1895).

      A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

      Dragons have been a vital part of fantasy literature since the days of Greek and Roman myth, surviving through the oral tradition into the adventures of King Arthur and his knights—and thence into the modern times. They are a vital part of fairy tales, children’s stories, and even modern literature and movies (see Smaug from The Hobbit.) My own very first professional short story sale was about a dragon…see “Vernon’s Dragon,” in this volume. (It holds up remarkably well, for a story written by a 15-year-old, if I do say so myself! Though I do admit to some slight editorial tinkering for several recent republications.)

      When you get to “The King of the Fishes” and “The Two Brothers” you may note some similarities. Both share the same basic storyline, but the treatment and details are strikingly different, so we have elected to include both.

      Happy dragon-hunting!

      —John Betancourt

      Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

      www.wildsidepress.com

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      Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has grown to be among our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

      The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)

      A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

      The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

      RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

      Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

      Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

      TYPOS

      Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

      If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

      THE MEGAPACK SERIES

      MYSTERY

      The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The Charlie Chan Megapack*

      The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

      The Detective Megapack

      The Father Brown Megapack

      The Girl Detective Megapack

      The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

      The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

      The First Mystery Megapack

      The Penny Parker Megapack

      The Philo Vance Megapack*

      The Pulp Fiction Megapack

      The Raffles Megapack

      The Sherlock Holmes Megapack

      The