the snake that wanted to be a dragon

snake was disturbed by the way
people looked at him, belly down,
in the grass. one day he heard
a story of a dragon from chinese travelers
while he hid under a rock. he loved
the way they described the dragon's huge
insatiable mouth, the way it ate air
and belched out fire. he was fascinated
by its ability to fly. he salivated on the thought
of virgins sacrificed, but the thing he loved most
about the dragon was the way it hoarded gold
and jewels. he resolved to become a dragon
then and there. he slithered over to the chinese
traders and crawled in their money pouch
lying in wait. the gold felt good on his skin.
soon, in a nearby village
the traders stopped for supplies. one reached in
the bag to pay and the python struck.

not being venemous, the merchant did not die.
instead he reached in the bag and dragged the snake out.
he raised his wand to strike it dead but the snake
began to cry. oh please don't kill me, it said.
i have been dealt a rotten hand in this life
and when i heard your tale of the dragon
i merely wanted to improve my lot. the traders
were shrewed businessmen. they recognised
that a talking snake would probably fetch a nice
price at the circus, so they didn't kill it.

instead they made a cage of chiken wire and said
to the serpent, if you make your home in there, we
know a way to turn you into a dragon. the serpent
was thirlled and moved right in.

now the traders hatched a plan between them.
since they were travelling between settlements
why sell the snake to the circus. they could make
money on it for very little investment. all they needed
were some wings and way to get the python to
breathe fire. the woman trader, whose name was cho lin,
desinged and made several pairs of wings. the male
trader, with the name jin lin, began collecting fire ants.
they knew that snakes are devious creatures, so they
had to be very careful with their storey if they wanted to make money.
the best liars are convinced
of their own stories after all
and the more devious the being, the more easily
they themselves are decieved for they believe
that everyone else is the fool.

"while is true that dragons can breathe air and belch fire
that is only the adult dragons" they told the python. "young
baby dragons--of which you might
be one, in reality,
it's hard to say--have to train
themselves how to hold fire in
their bellies. they eat fire ants mixed
with alcohol exclusively. also they
have a candle lit at all times
to remind them of the fire spirit. we will provide these to you
for two weeks. if you sprout wings,
then you are a dragon. if not, we will
have to set you free as we can't afford to feed you"

the snake said to the traders "well, i don't really like ants.
and what is alcohol? will it fill me up?
i'll try it for two weeks on one condition. "

the traders readily agreed to let the snake
have his cage lined with gold coins. for one thing,
they thought it would give the show they were planning
a more believable backdrop and they even
threw in some semi precious stones for color and balance.
of course the coins were only copper
but the snake couldn't tell the difference because the lins
had polished them till they gleamed. he loved
to sit on them all day, stuffed them between
his scales, licked them with his tongue.
the fire ants were another
matter. they annoyed him
when they survived the cheap beer .




but he ate them anyway. every day the lins burnt
a candle in the snake's cage and every night
the snake went to sleep hoping to wake up with wings.
the alcohol was having its effect on him. he felt
a burning in his stomach, he was always hungry
and sleepy and he complained of it bitterly.
after the first week, cho lin
waited for him to sleep and pushed small sharpened
sticks into his scales. when he woke the next morning
he cried in pain. cho lin said "let me feel your back.
what this then?" she said with surprise when she ran
her hand over his scales. "it feels like something's growing."
she gave him his morning beer and ants and lit a candle.
"i have heard that fire begins earlier than wings. come
here and talk into the candle." the snake slithered
over to the small flame and said "what do you.."
with the first what, the alcohol in the beer did its job
and a small flame seemed to leap from his mouth.
he opened wider and blew harder and more flame
erupted. "am i really a dragon?" he questioned outloud.
"it appears that way" said cho lin. each day after that
cho lin would perform the same ritual and encourage
the snake to drink more beer and ants.

now,beer and ants aren't very good food
for a python. they need meat. but the python
never really had an appetite because the beer
kept his stomach full. it did however, cause
his thinking skills some problems. it took
him a few more days to realize that the fire
wouldn't come out of his mouth without
being in front of the candle. when he questioned
jin lin about it, the wiley trader said "every
dragon needs its own firestarter in his belly.
that's why they swallow jewels, to find
out which special one will start their fire."

"is it always a jewel?" the serpent asked.
he loved the gleam of the coins in his cage
and thought their gold looked more like fire
than any of the jewels. "oh no," jin replied
noticing the longing in the snake's eye.
"sometimes it's metal."

every night when the snake went to sleep
cho lin would remove the knurled sticks
and replace them with a larger knurl. in
this way the snake thought his wing buds
were getting larger. cho lin assured him
that he would be getting his wings any day
now. snake thought about the firestarter
and decided to swallow one of the gold coins
to see if it would work.he loved the way
it felt as it slid down his throat
but when he tried to speak in flame
he still had to be in front of the candle.
still he was on his way to being a full
fledged dragon!

now jin lin was a flute player. the night
before cho was to put the first pair of small wings
into the snake's back, he said to his sister
maybe we could teach the snake to sing.
cho said, maybe so. you could try. you know
she mused, "he should have a name."
"indeed" said jin. "what shall we name him?"
"i've always liked the name rikrik." said cho.
"mmmm rikrik. yes, that's good. it sounds like
the scales on his belly when he rolls
over those coppers in his cage. i think
we should bill him as rikrik, the serenading
serpent."
"who thinks he is a dragon" giggled cho
lin, and tired out the slogan "come see
rikrik the singing serpent. who thinks
he is a dragon. if only he
had hands to play the lute. " she laughed
and her brother joined in "maybe you
could fake him some" he chuckled.
"only if the sticks were as sharp as those
fangs of his." she said and rubbed her hand
where the snake had bitten her.



to be continued