Once upon a time there was a cat who lived in a field beside a river. He often wished he could swim - for across the water was a large pigeon house full of tame and well fed birds. One day someone brought a horse and put it in the field and the two animals started to talk. I'm thinking of swimming across the river to graze on some of that lovely ripening corn on the other side said the horse.

I can't swim. Take me on your back please said the cat. The horse agreed and soon they were crossing the river, with the cat holding onto the horses mane.

On the opposite bank, the horse started to graze while the cat leapt on the pigeons, killing several and gorging himself in a very short time.

When he was completely full, the cat started to howl and prance about; the horse tried to stop him. Be careful he said the villagers will come and hearing that terrible racket they will do some do us harm. The cat only said I always do this after I beat it is my habit. The horse was annoyed because it took much longer to eat his fill.

Presently the people of the village heard the cat cries and they came with sticks and stones and attacked the two animals. The horse had to stop eating and with the cat on his back, he swam across the river once more.

You've ruined everything the horse told his companion. Now we can't go back and I'm still hungry. The cat simply said that I can't help it as it a habit I have. Suddenly the horse started to roll on the grass, trapping the cat beneath him. You're killing me. I can feel my backbone crack. You Don't know what you're doing screamed the cat.

The horse only said well you see it's my nature after swimming I always roll.

Schafa was an ordinary woman. She lived in the land of Gorn and the Gonians were hospitable people. One of the rules of their society was to welcome strangers to their homes. One day Shafa’s husband returned from hunting with two strange men who were clearly from a distant land. Shafa served drink and food to the guests and that night, she made a bed for them.

Now Shafa was very uneasy to have these men under her roof. She felt their evil intent but what could she do. They were her guests.

That night asleep was broken with troubled dreams. Some time later she awoke to the sound of screams and cries. Outside the house was a scene of chaos. People running, shouting and screaming. Houses were burning.

Shafa ran outside and seeing one of her friends running past grabbed her. Her friend motioned towards the Chief's dwelling and made a sign of a hand across her throat. Dead. What treachery was this. But she knew it was the work of her uninvited guests.

Running toward the Chief's dwelling she saw by moonlight the two men loading horses with sacred treasures belonging to her people. They were about to leave. In rage she ran towards them and grabbed the reins of one of the horses. At the same time she felt the cold blade of steel on her arm and she fell back bleeding onto the ground.

Gradually the slow process of rebuilding their shattered lives of the village began. A new Chief was elected, homes were repaired and the brave people began to put their lives back together as best they could. Shafa had her arm stitched up and it began to heal.

But Shafa was not the same. Every time she thought of the two men she felt a surge of rage. The injustice of it seemed to eat up from the inside. At the meetings that the Gornians held, Shafa would fly into a temper and curse the two men. Friends would plead with her to accept the past and move on but she seemed unable to. At one such meeting she held up her arm and tore out the stitches to her wounds so it bled afresh. Daily she announced to anyone who would listen that she would not let the wounds heal as a mark of the atrocity that the people had suffered. Her friends feared for her health.

The weeks passed and Shafa refused all treatment to her arm. The wound became infected and swelled up. The poison started to move through the body and she became weak. As she lay on a bed, she was visited by one of the elders. He sat and held her hand and said softly “Shafa, why are you allowing the strangers to do this to you? Your death is yet another victim claimed. What does that achieve?

With that he left her house. The following day, Shafa agreed to be treated.

There was once a knight who was also a very fine architect. He loved to build beautiful castles, and filled with beautiful things. As is often the way, sometimes some detail of his work would not be quite what he wanted or he would make a mistake. The Knight's problem was, that whenever this happens a large dragon would suddenly appear and would blast the lovely building with a fiery breath, leaving it in ruins. Then he would disappear again. He was a very large and fiery dragon and the knight found it difficult to catch his attention. And he began to despair of ever completing even one beautiful castle.

One-day however he managed to catch the Dragons attention. He said “ why are you destroying all of my work? How can I ever finish anything if you keep burning it down?” The dragon was very surprised and said ”but I am your guard dragon. It is my job to protect you and look after you and make sure nothing harms you. But these buildings let you down. I can see that they are not as perfect as you want them to be and so it is my job to destroy them so they cannot upset you.”

So the young Knight said “it is very good of you to take care of me but I didn't need you to do this. I can sort out the problems on my own. I do not need you to burn down the whole building for every little mistake - I can put it right myself.“

"Sometime it may be that I really am in danger and then I will need you to help me to deal with it. In the meantime I would like you to curl up quietly in the corner and you can have a good sleep - I know that I can rely on you to wake up if there is a real threat”

So the dragon curled up in the corner, and put his head down and began to sleep. He was a very vigilant dragon, and whenever he sensed that the knight was having any problem, he would stir and raise his head. But the knight noticed that it didn't look at him or speak to the dragon for about 12 seconds the dragon would settle down and go back to sleep again. So the knight could get on with his life, and make beautiful castles, secure in the knowledge that the dragon was under control and would only come to his help if he ever really needed him.