The Book of Dragonsfrontispiece

The Book of Beastspage 1

"The dragon flew away across the garden."page 9

"The Manticora took refuge in the General Post Office."page 14

Uncle James, or The Purple Strangerpage 19

"By-and-by he began to wander."page 30

"The dragon ran after her."page 36

The Deliverers of Their Countrypage 39

"The largest elephant in the zoo was carried off."page 44

"He rose into the air, rattling like a third-class carriage."page 51

The Ice Dragon, or Do as You Are Toldpage 57

"Sure enough, it was a dragon."page 69

"The dwarfs seized the children."page 73

The Island of the Nine Whirlpoolspage 79

"The lone tower on the Island of the Nine Whirlpools."page 89

[viii]"Little children play around him and over him."page 97

The Dragon Tamerspage 99

"The dragon's purring pleased the baby."page 107

"He brought something in his mouth—it was a bag of gold."page 117

The Fiery Dragon, or The Heart of Stone and the Heart of Goldpage 119

"The junior secretary cried out, 'Look at the bottle!'"page 130

"They saw a cloud of steam."page 136

Kind Little Edmund, or The Caves and the Cockatricepage 139

"Creeping across the plain."page 148

"That smells good, eh?"page 153

[ix]

Tặng Rosamund,

người đứng đầu trong số những ai được nghe kể những câu chuyện này,

Cuốn sách về những con rồng được đề tặng

với niềm hy vọng chắc chắn rằng

rồi một ngày nào đó, chính em sẽ viết một cuốn sách

do chính tay em tạo nên

để gửi tặng người giờ đây đang khiến

tám con rồng đáng sợ

phải ngoan ngoãn phục rạp

dưới đôi bàn chân nhỏ nhắn rám nắng ấy.