Rozinde and the dragon

Deep beneath the earth, a girl named Rozinde lived as a servant to a fierce dragon. She cooked strange meats for him in a great cauldron, and whenever she was too slow, the flames roared higher. The dragon also forced her to hunt rare creatures, and when she failed, her bow burned her hands with painful magic.

One day, a brave prince discovered the dragon’s lair and wounded the beast with an arrow. He rescued Rozinde and brought her to his castle, where she had to bathe every day in a milk-filled bath scattered with wildflowers—the only protection against the dragon. In time, the prince fell in love with her, and they were married.

But one day Rozinde forgot her milk bath. The dragon sensed it immediately, returned in fury, and dragged her back underground. When the prince tried to save her, the dragon imprisoned him behind bars of fire.

Rozinde grew more sorrowful each day. While hunting, she met a talking deer who begged her not to shoot. In exchange, he offered all the milk she needed. Remembering that the dragon could not stand milk, Rozinde gathered the deer’s milk and wildflowers from a hidden grove. She filled a bath and soaked her clothes in it. With her milk-wet garments, she rubbed the fiery bars until they crumbled, freeing her prince.

They fled together to the milk bath, protected once again by its power. The dragon found them but could not touch them as long as Rozinde bathed daily among the wildflowers.

And so the dragon waits still—endlessly patient, hoping she will forget just once more. But Rozinde, wiser now, keeps her protection close, and the two live on in safety, forever watched by the creature that cannot reach them.