Wellspring Imp/Stories
Quotes
Dragon Story Episodes
The Splendor of Carrots
People like to bend nature to their
will; even the crops they farm have
been altered over many generations.
Their quest to produce better food is
a never-ending one.
But were other beings to raise crops,
what would they taste like?
Many years ago, a plague of crickets
descended upon a village and
devoured every last field.
There was no way for the villagers to
survive on their stores, so a hunter set
out deep into the mountains after
game. There he found a farm the
likes of which he'd never seen.
Suddenly, a young dragon popped
into view. This mountain farm
belonged to him, and he welcomed
the hunter with a feast of his most
prized crop: carrots.
The hunter was amazed; never in his
life had he tasted carrots so sweet!
If he could get them back to his
people, they would surely be saved.
"I beg you to give me these carrots!"
the hunter said. The dragon was
distressed to learn what had befallen
the hunter's people, and quickly
agreed to send carrots to the village.
The villagers were overjoyed; not only
could they survive, but they would do
so eating delicious carrots—for all
who tried them agreed they had
never tasted the like.
Even a single carrot was enough to
fill a grown man up for a night,
and thus did the young dragon's
produce save the village.
The village and the dragon stayed in
touch even after the winter had
safely passed. Buoyed by their
praise, the dragon devoted himself
to growing the perfect carrot.
After much effort, he produced a
carrot to top all carrots. It was
packed full of nutrients, sublimely
sweet, and melted on the tongue.
One bite would satisfy any creature.
You can, however, have too much of
a good thing—and this carrot's
biggest flaw was that it was so very,
very good.
His masterpiece complete, the young
dragon offered it to the villagers. The
carrots tasted like something from a
faerie tale feast, and the villagers
roared with approval.
"Only a dragon could farm such
amazing carrots!" they cried as one.
It was love at first bite...but then their
expressions began to change from
bliss to bafflement to bitterness.
Everyone wanted to eat more carrots,
but they were too full from the first
bite to stomach a second one.
"These are TOO good!" they cried.
"This is torture!"
No one could eat the carrots
anymore. The young dragon felt his
heart sink, and he wondered if it
might be time to abandon his farm.
Then a new plague of crickets came.
"No!" cried the villagers. "They'll
destroy our crops again, just like
they did last year!"
The hunter had an idea: he took the
dragon's carrots out of the village
storehouses and threw them to the
hungry crickets.
The pests took one bite of the
carrots and flew away sated,
leaving the other crops unscathed.
The people cheered, for this was the
second time the dragon's carrots had
saved their village! But the poor
dragon hung his head and said,
"All that effort for insect repellent!"