The Useful Dragon

Once upon a time there lived a dragon whose name was Komodo. He could breathe fire, and all the people who lived nearby were afraid of him. When they heard him or saw him, they ran away and hid. They could always hear him because he had six feet, and wore three pairs of shoes, and each of his shoes creaked.

One day he met a little girl who wasn't afraid of him.

"Why are you so fierce?" she said. "Why do you breathe fire when you see anybody?"

"Well," said Komodo, "I never really thought about it. Shall I stop it?"

"Yes, please," said the little girl whose name was Susie.

"All right," said Komodo. "I'll try."

They said good-bye to each other, and Susie went home. It was beginning to get dark. Susie was surprised because all the lamps in the town were not lit. She found out that it was because of the lamplighter whose name was Charlie.

He hadn't lit the street lamps.

He was still in bed. He was tired after lighting the lamps the night before.

The mayor of the town was very angry. "What must I do about that?" he thought.

Then Susie had an idea. She ran to Komodo's cave, brought him to the town, and he breathed fire on each lamp and lit it.

How glad the people were! Now they were not afraid of the dragon. They could see he was a friendly animal. And after that Komodo came and lit the lamps every time when Charlie had his holiday.