Week 4: The Lonely Dragon and the Cheerful Satyr

Art by RaisedbytheVillains

It had been a long day for Satyr.  Most of the sun’s light had been spent wandering through the winter forest searching for any remaining herbs that had managed to withstand the cold.  Finding none had been disheartening, but Satyr held hope that the evening would fare much better.

He was unaware of the figure lurking in the woods.  There was a creature following the young Satyr, tracking and watching with eyes of human shape and of inhuman color.

Satyr merrily took the path to his home.  Only moments after a winding turn, a tall shadow caught his eyes.  Turning, Satyr found a rather handsome man shivering in the shelter of a hollow tree.  Man wore a hood, as well as a thin cloak draped over his shoulders but that did not even cover his knees.  With a low tusk, Satyr offered to take the stranger to his house so his new companion might warm himself inside.

“You would have my greatest gratitude.” Man rumbled.  Something about his voice reminded Satyr of the hearth, of the fire that burned there, and of the danger of those flames.

However, Satyr had not been one to ever abandon his manners on suspicion so he took up his smile again.  The two took off, this time together – Satyr unknowingly having invited the very thing that had been stalking him in the woods.  The musical creature chatted, speaking of his own day and activities, as Man listened with attentive eyes.

Satyr did not see how Man’s pupils flashed with gold at his laughter, for the gleeful thing had forgotten long ago the beauty of the sound.  He did, however, squint his eyes when Man blew on his hands.  The flesh was pink and his bones were shivering all throughout the body connected to those hands.

“What are you doing?”  Satyr questioned, glancing at his own hands in curiosity.  Man smiled softly as if he had been waiting for Satyr to ask.

“I am warming my hands.  They are numb from the cold.”

Satyr asked no more questions, for the tone of Man’s answer had struck a chord of fear into his heart.  He wondered to himself if his companion was truly not a trickster.  Then, Man began to speak about a garden he had seen in some foreign place called China and Satyr’s thoughts were occupied greatly.  Soon, through the fun discourse, the time had passed quickly and they came to the satyr’s home.  It was not much – simply a hole in a hill but Satyr enjoyed the comfort it offered.

Satyr ushered his guest inside, although he was filled with reluctance once again.  Man stepped into the home with the grace of one who owned all they surveyed.  Falling once again into a conversation, there was only silence when Satyr’s stomach rumbled.  He decided to fix soup.  When he handed a bowl to Man, the other’s brows drew together and he brought the steaming bowl to his mouth.

“What are you doing?  It is already hot!” Satyr exclaimed in shock.  Man laughed softly as if he had been waiting for Satyr to say that.

“I am cooling the soup.”

“I will have nothing to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath!” He cried, shaking his head.  Satyr puffed up his chest and attempted to shoo Man from his chair.  Man looked very sad, slowly standing, as if he had not anticipated this reaction.  Satyr, too, was confused because he had grown to like Man in the short time they had been acquainted.

“Allow me to explain.  I am not Man, but I know you will fear my other form.” Satyr’s companion said.  The other paused and took notice of the weary frame to this not-man's shoulders.  What he said was confusing, and Satyr could hardly wrap his mind around it all but –

“I am only friends with honest people,” Satyr announced.  Not-Man sighed and nodded, decidedly and quietly.  Then, he began to grow and grow and grow until Man was a dragon of the most radiant silver.  He was so large, the hilltop rested on his back and left a gaping hole in Satyr’s roof.  But Satyr only laughed.

“See, you have been honest.  Now, we can be friends!”

And Dragon and Satyr were the best of friends for centuries.

Author’s Note:  The original story is called The Man and the Satyr.  It can be found in The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs.  I took the liberty of making the man into a lonely dragon in search of a cheerful companion.  In the original, Satyr is simply perplexed by man’s ability to blow warm and cold.  My version takes a different route by adding friendship and distinct personalities to the characters.