# High school literature story



## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

In addition to building my modeling skills, I am also improving my photography skills. This story is from my high school literature book. Since I can't find it online, I have to tell it from memory.

Strange things were always happening in the Delaware Valley, but the appearance of a dragon was too much. The king had sent two knights, both of whose squires returned to report that the dragon had killed them. Sir Lehigh, who had fallen out of favor with the king, was sent next.

Courageous but also intelligent, Sir Lehigh questioned the peasants, who told him that the dragon only came at night. It spewed huge amounts of flame and smoke, roaring and howling as it raced across the valley floor. Although it terrified their farm animals, the dragon had never actually attacked them.

Sir Lehigh stationed himself along the dragon's usual path, and that night it appeared. Drawing his sword, he stood his ground courageously, ignoring the dragon's startled screams.

"Did you see it?" shouted the engineer to his fireman. "Another one! A knight in shining armor standing right on the tracks!" The fireman, who had been shoveling coal into the firebox, hadn't seen anything. 

The engineer shook his head as his train hurtled through the night. "Strange things are always happening in this valley," he muttered.


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## highvoltage (Apr 6, 2014)

So I take it Sir Lehigh was no more? Or did he get out of the way in time?

(BTW, good story)


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

highvoltage said:


> So I take it Sir Lehigh was no more? Or did he get out of the way in time?
> 
> (BTW, good story)


sniff


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I have to ask.....is cannabis legal where you are? :laugh:


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Vincent said:


> Courageous but also intelligent,


No, not really... :laugh:


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

I am working on my own modified version of the story. I had always liked trains and "Swords and Sorcery" (knights in shining armor, King Arthur, etc.) fiction, so I remember the story half a century later.

My wife and I love computer games like Skyrim, Diablo, Immortal Throne, Warcraft, and Grim Dawn, all of which feature armored heroes armed with swords or similar weapons.

When my long-delayed train table arrives in four days (I hope), we intend to build a kingdom where steam locomotives, knights, diesels, dragons, construction equipment, etc., exist in a blend of different times.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Vincet, you have to Lego of these fantasies you have.


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Lee Willis said:


> Vincet, you have to Lego of these fantasies you have.


Oh, I get it!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

However, not Lego, but Playmobil.....hwell:


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

Sir Lehigh sounds like a very brave knight.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

highvoltage said:


> So I take it Sir Lehigh was no more? Or did he get out of the way in time?
> 
> (BTW, good story)


Yes, Sir Lehigh is no more, he was replaced by Sir Conrail.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

If they are Knights of the Round Table (or turn-table), where is Sir Cumference?


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Old_Hobo said:


> If they are Knights of the Round Table (or turn-table), where is Sir Cumference? [/QUOTE
> 
> "Knights of the Turntable." Old Hobo, I'm going to use that one in my display!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Enjoy!


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Gramps said:


> Yes, Sir Lehigh is no more, he was replaced by Sir Conrail.


Good news! Sir Conrail learned from Sir Lehigh's mistakes!


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Old_Hobo said:


> If they are Knights of the Round Table (or turn-table), where is Sir Cumference?


He was banished for arguing with the Royal Mathmatician. Sir Cumference insisted that Pi R round and cornbread R squared.


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Our story continues...

Sir Conrail was sent next. Learning from Sir Lehigh's squire what had happened, Sir Conrail came up with a better idea. He rounded up an enthusiastic mob of peasants by promising them a grand feast of dragon steaks. He had them pile up rocks in the dragon's path and then they all watched from hiding...


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Well, a train is always dragon cars behind it, so......


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Old_Hobo said:


> Well, a train is always dragon cars behind it, so......


Yeah, Verily, the Knights of the Turn Table salute yon noble Old Hobo's robust humor!


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

My smart, intelligent wife (Hey, she married me) found the story. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dragon_(short_story) 



http://losarciniegas.blogspot.mx/2011/10/ray-bradbury-dragon.html

Re-reading the story a half century later, I see why it was not a success.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

It was, however, an interesting story, written like true science fiction. Sadly we knew the ending before reading it. An uninformed reader, I think, would have been kept in suspense until the last couple paragraphs.


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Fire21 said:


> It was, however, an interesting story, written like true science fiction. Sadly we knew the ending before reading it. An uninformed reader, I think, would have been kept in suspense until the last couple paragraphs.


Fire21, there is an odd story here.

When the story first came out, it was a limited edition softback with a train on the cover. This would have informed the reader that "the "dragon" was a train. And Cliff Notes, in its short review, stated that the two knights were a pair of idiots who thought they were living in the tenth century.

My high school literature book stated that the story showed the clash between the old and the new. Another review stated that it showed the harm that results from abusing technology.

And I understood it to be a valley in which different times sometimes appeared simultaneously.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Vincent said:


> And I understood it to be a valley in which different times sometimes appeared simultaneously.


That's how I took it, similar to what might happen in The Twilight Zone. I've never been good at interpreting an author's hidden meanings in their writings. I generally take things at face value. If I don't understand, I move on to something else. Keeps me from getting bogged down in deep thought! :hah::dunno:


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## Artful Bodger (9 mo ago)

Vincent said:


> In addition to building my modeling skills, I am also improving my photography skills. This story is from my high school literature book. Since I can't find it online, I have to tell it from memory.
> 
> Strange things were always happening in the Delaware Valley, but the appearance of a dragon was too much. The king had sent two knights, both of whose squires returned to report that the dragon had killed them. Sir Lehigh, who had fallen out of favor with the king, was sent next.
> 
> ...


Ray Bradbury


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Old_Hobo said:


> If they are Knights of the Round Table (or turn-table), where is Sir Cumference?


He's with Sir Loin of Beef and Sir Osis of Liver


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

And all dead and buried due to the age of the thread.


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