Legends have been a part of human history for a long time. They are often used to explain a certain event or thing that happens, or to teach a story that is relevant to the real world. Two examples of legends are El Enano and Dragon, Dragon. In El Enano, a hideous monster named El Enano terrorizes a village. He transformed into a baby, and an old woman “adopted” him. Upon reaching his full size after a day of eating, he began demanding a ridiculous amount of food all for a single meal. Eventually, the fox who lives in the nearby forest tricks him into eating hot coals. Enano burst into pieces after drinking large amounts of water to cool down his stomach. In Dragon, Dragon, a dragon causes trouble in a kingdom. The king couldn’t send his knights, for they were too afraid to do anything, and his wizard had forgotten all his spells and misplaced his spellbook. A cobbler’s three sons offered to fight the dragon. The youngest succeeded and killed the dragon, finding piles of treasure in its cave, as well as the wizard’s spellbook and maps that led to more treasure.
Every legend has a primary theme that can be easily told from the events of the story. For El Enano, that theme would be greed, while in Dragon, Dragon, it would be the consequences of mischief. El Enano was extremely greedy. His average meal while at his full size would be enough to feed around twenty men, as the story states. He also used various ways to force people into giving him more food. For instance, when he first ate at his full size, he refused to leave even though he said he would when he had enough. As it turned out, all of that was enough for a single meal, and Enano said he would leave when he had enough to eat forever. In Dragon, Dragon, the dragon caused mischief all around the kingdom. He would eventually pay the price, as the youngest son of the cobbler sings his father’s poem, which made the dragon burst into laughter, giving the son the opportunity to kill him.
Legends often have problems for the main characters to solve. El Enano was a huge issue for the village. Even before the story he was a huge pest. He often beat up lone lumberjacks and robbed them of their meals. He also frequently indulged in making loud sounds while people were sleeping, then scaring them when they went to the windows to check. During the story, he became an even bigger problem. Not only did he exhaust their entire food supply, he also destroyed things for amusement while waiting for his meals. Luckily, he was dealt away with by his own greed that was turned against him by the fox. In Dragon, Dragon, the dragon caused a lot of mischief. Some of his antics included changing the addresses of some houses so that people would confuse their homes with that of their neighbors, springing every single bear trap so that the hunters wouldn’t catch any bears, and stealing spark plugs from cars. However, the cobbler came up with a poem that was so ridiculous that the dragon would laugh hard, and his youngest son, who listened to his advice unlike his two older brothers, defeated the dragon.
In legends, the good and righteous always end up defeating the bad, but not without a struggle. In El Enano, the townsfolk eventually drove off El Enano after he nearly ate up all of their food. However, that was not easy. Prior to the events of the story, Enano was incredibly good at picking off lone villagers and robbing them of their food. Additionally, he was more than a nuisance at night since he would pound on the windows of some houses and scare anybody who came to check. In Dragon, Dragon, the dragon caused a lot of mischief and was eventually killed. However, it was very difficult. The king couldn’t do much for years because his knights were all cowards and he didn’t force them to go fight because he didn’t want to be a tyrant, while his wizard forgot all his spells and lost his spellbook. On top of that the dragon was so big and powerful that he swallowed the two older sons of the cobbler in one gulp. Eventually, he was slayed by the youngest brother who actually listened to his father’s advice.
In ancient times, humans used legends to either teach important life lessons or explain events or things that happened. Two examples of legends that teach themes are El Enano and Dragon, Dragon. In El Enano, there was a giant, hideous creature named El Enano. During the events of the story, he shrank himself down to the size of a baby and an old woman adopted him and fed him. However, with every meal, El Enano grew bigger until he reached his full size, and he began demanding enough food for twenty people just for a single meal. Eventually, he was tricked into eating hot coals and tried to cool down his stomach by drinking water, resulting in his explosion. In Dragon, Dragon, the dragon terrorized a kingdom at night. His antics included damaging cars, tipping over fences, springing bear traps, and changing the addresses of homes. He was eventually killed by a cobbler’s youngest son, who also rescued his two older brothers who were swallowed alive when trying to kill the dragon. These two legends teach us important themes; El Enano shows us the destructive nature of greed, and Dragon, Dragon shows us the results of mischief and overconfidence.
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