The Red Dragon and the White Dragon

Long ago, a king named Vortigern wanted to build a strong tower on a hill in Wales. His builders worked hard all day, piling up big gray stones. But the next morning, the walls had fallen down into a messy heap. The builders started again, and the next morning the walls had fallen down again. This happened every single night.

The king was very puzzled, and he called his wise men. They scratched their heads and looked at their books, but they did not know why. “Perhaps there is a clever child somewhere who can tell you,” said one of them. So the king sent his riders all over the land to look.

At last, they found a boy named Myrddin, who lived with his mother. Today, many people know him as Merlin. Myrddin was young, but he was wiser than all the king’s wise men put together. The riders brought him to the hill, and the king asked, “Why does my tower keep falling down?”

Myrddin looked at the hill and listened very carefully. “Deep under this hill, there is a hidden pool,” he said. “And in the pool, two dragons are sleeping.” “Every night they toss and turn in their sleep, and the whole hill shakes.” The wise men laughed, but the king told his builders to dig.

They dug and dug, deeper and deeper. Sure enough, at the bottom they found a pool of dark, still water. When they drained the water away, two great dragons lay curled up inside. One dragon was red, and the other was white.

Suddenly, the two dragons opened their eyes and woke up. They stretched their wings and roared, and they began to push and tumble around the pool. First the white dragon pushed the red one back, and then the red dragon pushed the white one back. The ground rumbled, and everyone held their breath. At last, the red dragon gave a mighty roar, and the white dragon flew away over the hills and did not come back.

The red dragon curled up on the hill, and all was quiet at last. People still call that hill Dinas Emrys, after the wise boy Myrddin Emrys. And the brave red dragon still flies on the flag of Wales to this very day.