The Reluctant Dragon: No. 1, Introduction

This is the story of a boy, a saint, and a dragon
It happened one Christmas time long ago
When the world was different
And there were more dragons about than there are nowadays
Although nothing much has really changed
People are still people, good and bad
Boys are still boys
And you can still find the occasional dragon
Or can you?
Listen and see for yourself

Once upon a time
A time long ago
Dream days and dragon days
When life was full of magic
There lived a shepherd and his son all alone
Each day and every day
The shepherd watched his sheep
Each day and every day
The boy sat reading and dreaming
Reading myths and legends of the wonders of the world
Knights in shining armour bearing banners all unfurled
Tales of elves and goblins and the spirits of the woods
Monsters in the sea and monsters on the land
And dragons
How he longed to meet a real, fierce, fiery dragon
A fire-breathing, fearsome, fabulous, fairy-tale
Scaly, taily, green-bodied, red-eyed dragon

And, sooner than expected, his chance came
One night, the shepherd came home all of a tremble
"It's all up with me," he exclaimed
"Never more can I go up on them there downs
You know that cave up there?
Well, I saw this creature sticking halfway out of the cave
As big as four cart horses and all covered with shiny scales"
The boy yawned
"It's all right, father. Don't you worry
It's only a dragon
He won't give us any trouble
I'll go up and have a talk with him"
So, after tea, he did