The Dragon and The Mouse

Long ago, according to our legend, there lived a great dragon. He was the mightiest of creatures - as tall as a tree and as strong as a mountain. He could breathe fire, and though he did not have wings, he could run on the wind. He was also kind, offering his wisdom and protection to any who asked. But while the great dragon considered himself a friend to all, his best friend was the mouse. The unlikely pair had always been close and could be found together most every day. Except for the winter. 

As the winter months came, the air carrying an icy chill and the ground becoming frozen and barren, the mouse found himself too cold. And so, every year, the mouse spent that time below ground in his hole while his friend, the great dragon, spent that same time riding the wind and enjoying the snow. 

One year, while preparing for the coming winter, the mouse asked, “Great Dragon, why is it that you are able to endure the winter’s cold while the rest of us must hide? Even the bear, with his warm fur, stays in his den.”

The great dragon coiled himself in response, the sun glinting off of his scales. “My scales protect me from the cold, and my fire keeps me warm. Together, they let me enjoy the winter months while others must hide.”

The mouse nodded in response, but in his heart, jealousy grew. The friends said their farewells and departed, the dragon to his mountain cave and the mouse to his hole. But the mouse did not go to his hole. Instead, he went and gathered the other creatures of the forest. He told them what the great dragon had said, and then proposed his plan. 

“The great dragon has two things to keep him warm - his fire and his scales, while we, without fire and scales, suffer in the cold. I say we take his scales. That way, him with his fire and us with his scales, we will all be warm for the winter.”

The other forest creatures cheered in agreement and together, went up the mountain to the great dragon’s cave. By the time they reached the cave, night had fallen and the great dragon was asleep. They poured a concoction into his mouth that would keep him asleep for a week. Then they began their work on removing the great dragon’s scales. The creatures did their best to be kind and gentle, not wanting to hurt their friend, but desperate to not be cold in the winter. One by one, the scales fell away until every single one had been removed. Every creature took a single scale and departed from the mountain, leaving the great dragon, now scaleless, alone. 

The great dragon slept for one week, and during that time, winter came. The air carried an icy chill and the ground became frozen and barren. As the cold wind swept through the open cave, it cooled the dragon’s fire, no longer protected by the scales. By the time he began to stir, his fire was gone, and for the first time in his life, the great dragon felt cold. He awoke shivering. He tried to breathe fire to warm himself, but not even a puff of smoke came out. He then noticed that he was missing his scales and felt the true absence of his fire. He was suddenly filled with a different fire - rage - and let out a mighty roar. Despite the biting wind, the great dragon left his cave and jumped on the wind, determined to find the mouse. 

In his anger, the great dragon did not realize how cold the winter truly was. By the time he took to the wind, it was too late. In the sky, high above the cover of trees and now far from the slight protection of the cave, the air and wind were even colder. His teeth began chattering so hard that they fell out, one-by-one, leaving only his protruding fangs. His body began to freeze, contacting and shrinking until he was no more than the size of a tree branch. His legs froze completely in the bitter cold, turning black before breaking off. Without his legs, the once great dragon could no longer run on the wind, and suddenly plummeted to the ground. Luckily, the freshly fallen snow broke his fall, and he quickly slithered towards the mouse’s hole. 

Inside his hole, the mouse was getting quite frustrated. Despite having one of the scales, he still felt the cold and was forced to stay put. His irritation grew as a cold wind swept through the tiny space, causing him to shiver. Suddenly, a creature fell into his hole with a loud thud. The mouse saw the writhing form and quickly scurried back. He held the scale in front of him like a shield, crying out, “Who are you?”

The once great dragon shook his head, trying to recover from his second fall of the day, when he caught sight of what the mouse was holding. “My scale!” the once great dragon seethed, though the lack of teeth forced it to become more of a hiss.

“Great Dragon?” The mouse timidly stepped forward to take in the sight of his friend, now a shadow of his former self. “What happened to you?”

“What happened to me?! You stole my scales!? Because of you, the cold has destroyed me!”

“But you have your fire! I thought you would be warm...” the mouse trailed off as the once great dragon reared up. 

“I lost my fire to the cold wind! My fire provided me heat and kept me warm, but my scales protected my fire by keeping out the cold. I told you this and yet you took my scales from me!”

“You never said that was how it worked! I thought if we took the scales, we would be warm too!”

“I said they worked together!” the once great dragon roared. Then, in a quiet, but deadly voice, he added, “But you didn’t listen. And you didn’t ask.” The mouse reared back with tears in his eyes. The once great dragon shook his head, eyes glinting with anger. “I came here to ask for help from my friend. Instead I find a traitor and thief.”

“No! I’m still your friend. We can fix this!”

“How?”

The mouse ran back to the scale. Picking it up, he ran back to the once great dragon and placed it on his curled form. “We can put the scales back!”

The once great dragon knocked the scale away with his tail. The scale crashed into the wall and clattered to the floor, the broken sound echoing in the tense silence. “You fool! No one can reattach scales, and they no longer fit me, even if you could!”

“Your fire…”

“My fire is gone! Put out by the wind. You really don’t listen, do you?” With that, the once great dragon seized his former friend in a coil, squeezing him in place. 

“Wait, wait! We’ll figure out something, I promise!”

“What can you figure out? How to make me big again? How to restore my teeth and legs, which won’t grow back? How to reignite my inner flame? Or how to return the scales that you stole?!”

The mouse squeaked in terror. He tried to escape the coiled grip but found that he could barely wriggle. He was squeezed tighter and tighter as the once great dragon’s rage grew.

“Please! Let me go, and I promise I will find some way to make this up to you! Please, my friend!”

The once great dragon raised himself up and looked his former friend directly in the eye. “You are no friend of mine. This is a mistake you cannot fix. And now, you will pay for it.”

And with that, the once great dragon ate the mouse. 

He spent the rest of the winter, curled in the mouse’s hole. When spring came, he hunted down the other creatures who had taken his scales, though due to his size, he could only go after the smaller ones. 

And that, my friend, is why snakes eat forest creatures, but especially mice.