Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, in the village of the bells, lived Ferdinand,the hero. Ferdinand loved the village bells because they would always tell him what time of day it was.

In the morning, when he heard the small bells ring,
"ding, ding, ding, ding,"
he knew it was time to wake up to the bright sunshine, the crisp air, and the chirping of the birds in the trees.

At high noon, when he heard the medium sized bells ring,
"Din-Don-Din-Don-Din-Don!"
he knew it was time to feed his pigs.

And in the evening, when he heard the big bells ring,
"BAAAAAAHNG!!! BAAAAAHNG!!! BAAAAAAHNG!!!"
he knew it was time to go to sleep.

On the day of this story, he woke as usual to the sounds of the birds chirping in the trees and the small bells chiming,
"ding, ding, ding, ding."

As always, at noon, he fed his pigs when he heard the medium sized bells tolling,
"Din-Don-Din-Don-Din-Don!"

But on this special day, he decided to go on an adventure. He left right after he finished slopping his hogs. He headed out of town into the forest and walked and walked and walked. As he entered the forest, he heard the sound of the wind blowing through the trees,
"Whish-sh-sh-whish-sh-sh,Whish-sh-sh-whish-sh-sh."
Was he scared? No! Remember, Ferdinand was a hero. Did he stop? No! He kept right on walking deeper and deeper into the woods.

The next thing Ferdinand heard was the haunting sound of a wise old owl in the trees,
"Whoo-Whoo-Whoo."
Was he scared? Well, yes, a little. Did he stop? No! For Ferdinand was a hero. The owl seemed to be asking,
"Whoo-Whoo-Whoo?"
So, Ferdinand just answered him, "Why, it is I, Ferdinand , the hero, from the village of the bells," and went right on walking deeper and deeper into the woods.


Then Ferdinand heard the sound of coyotes howling,
"Ah-oooh, Ah-oooh, Yip-Yip, Ah-ooooooooooh!"
Was he scared? Yes! Very frightened, indeed. Did he stop? Yes, but only for a minute. You see, being a hero, Ferdinand soon found the courage to continue deeper and deeper into the woods.

All of a sudden Ferdinand heard the most frightening sound of all,
"RRRRRRRoar! AAAAAArgh! RRRRRRRoar!"
Was he scared? Oh yes, he sure was! Did he stop? Oh yes, he sure did!

It was a good thing that he did. Right in front of him was a black cave. Fire was shooting out from the mouth of cave. In the light from the fire Ferdinand could see a dragon inside of the cave. The dragon roared,
"RRRRRRRoar! AAAAAArgh! RRRRRRRoar!" Who dares to approach my cave?"

Being so brave, Ferdinand replied, "Why, it is I, Ferdinand, the hero, from the village of the bells. Today, I have come into the forest for an adventure."

The dragon roared and shook her ferocious head from side to side,
"RRRRRRRoar! AAAAAArgh! RRRRRRRoar! I will roast you alive with my fiery breath and have you for my dinner."

Between roars Ferdinand could hear a tiny voice crying,
"Help me. Help me."
It was the voice of Gwendolyn, who had been captured by the dragon and held captive. The dragon was very jealous of Gwendolyn's beauty.

Being a hero, Ferdinand boasted, "I will save you." He did some quick thinking and came up with a plan.

Ferdinand walked right up to the dragon. He reached down into his pocket and started pulling out a blue ribbon. On the end of the ribbon was a tiny silver bell. He quickly tied the ribbon around the dragon's neck ducking the fire and smoke.

The dragon was furious. She roared even louder,
"RRRRRRRoar! AAAAAArgh! RRRRRRRoar!"
She shook her head from side to side so violently that the earth began to shake.

As as she was shaking away, the little silver bell began to ring,
"ting-a-ling-a-ling."
The dragon stopped shaking and cocked her head to one side. She had never heard the beautiful sound of a bell. The tone of her voice changed,
"RRRoar, mmmm, aaah, ooh. I like the sound of this bell. Thank you very kindly, Ferdinand."

Gwendolyn was still crying,
"Help me. Help me."

Ferdinand walked right past the dragon into the cave to rescue Gwendolyn. The dragon became enraged. She roared her loudest roar,
"RRRRRRRoar! AAAAAArgh! RRRRRRRoar!"
She shook her whole body until boulders began to fall from the roof of the cave. But, as she was shaking the little silver bell on the blue ribbon around her neck began to ring,
"ting-a-ling-a-ling."
The dragon stopped shaking and her voice changed again,
"RRRoar, mmmm, aaah, ooh. What a lovely sound."

The dragon was so soothed by the sound of her bell that she never even noticed Ferdinand leaving with Gwendolyn by the hand.

Now, if you ever go deep into the forest and find the black cave, the dragon might roar and she might shake her head. But then, her little silver bell will start to ring and she will settle down very quickly.

As you have already figured out, Ferdinand took Gwendolyn back to the village of the bells. They passed the howling coyotes,
"Ah-oooh, Ah-oooh, Yip-Yip, Ah-ooooooooooh!"
They passed the wise old owl,
"Whoo-Whoo-Whoo."
They passed the wind whistling in the trees,
"Whish-sh-sh-whish-sh-sh,Whish-sh-sh-whish-sh-sh."

They reached the village just in time to hear the big bells clanging,
"BAAAAAAHNG!!! BAAAAAHNG!!! BAAAAAAHNG!!!"

And yes, just as you guessed, they lived happily ever after.

©C.Walker '03

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