1
Off went Lionel to be made a King. He had never expected to be a King any more than you have. It was all quite new to him. It was so new that he had never even thought of it. And as the coach went through the town he had to bite his tongue to be quite sure it was real, because if his tongue was real, it showed he wasn't dreaming. Half an hour before, he had been building with bricks in the nursery. Now the streets were all fluttering with flags. He heard thousands of people shouting, "Long live Lionel! Long live our little King!"
2
The carriage stopped and Lionel was taken out of the carriage to be crowned. Being crowned is much more tiring work than you would suppose. By the time it was over, and Lionel had worn the Royal robes for an hour or two and had had his hand kissed by everybody whose business it was to do it, he was quite worn out. He was very glad to get into the Palace nursery.
3
Nurse was there, and tea was ready. She had made him seedy cake and plummy cake, and jam and hot buttered toast.
4
After tea, Lionel said: "I think I should like a book. Will you get me one, Nurse?"
5
"Bless the child," said Nurse. "You don't suppose you've lost the use of your legs with just being a King? Run along and get your books yourself."
6
So Lionel went down into the library. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor were there, and when Lionel came in, they bowed very low, and were beginning to ask Lionel most politely what on earth he was doing down there. Lionel cried out: "Oh, what a worldful of books! Are they yours?"
7
"They are yours, Your Majesty," answered the Chancellor. "They were the property of the late King, your great-great-great-great-great-grandfather."
8
"Yes, I know," Lionel interrupted. "Well, I shall read them all. I love to read. I am so glad I learned to read."
9
"If I might venture to advise Your Majesty," said the Prime Minister, "you should not read these books."
10
Lionel looked puzzled.
11
"The fact is," the Chancellor went on, twisting his red beard in an agitated way, "your great —"
12
"Go on," said Lionel.
13
"— was a wizard."
14
"I see."
15
"So I wouldn't touch his books."
16
"Just this one," cried Lionel, laying his hands on the cover of a great brown book that lay on the study table. On the back in big letters he read: The Book of Beasts.
17
But Lionel had got the gold clasps undone, and he opened the first page. There was a beautiful Butterfly all red, and brown, and yellow, and blue, so beautifully painted that it looked as if it were alive.
18
Suddenly, the beautiful Butterfly fluttered its many-colored wings on the old yellow page of the book, and flew up and out of the window.
19
Lionel took the book outside to the terrace, where the moonlight was as bright as day. He opened the book and saw the empty pages with "Butterfly" and "Blue Bird of Paradise" underneath. Then he turned the next page. There was some sort of red thing sitting under a palm tree, and under it was written "Dragon." The Dragon did not move, and the King shut up the book rather quickly and went back to bed.
20
But the next day he wanted another look, so he took the book out into the garden. When he undid the clasps with the rubies and turquoises, the book opened all by itself at the picture with "Dragon" underneath, and the sun shone full on the page. And then, quite suddenly, a great Red Dragon came out of the book and spread vast scarlet wings. It flew away across the garden to the far hills. Lionel was left with the empty page before him, for the page was quite empty except for the green palm tree and the yellow desert, and the little streaks of red where the paintbrush had gone outside the pencil outline of the Red Dragon.
21
And then Lionel felt that he had indeed done it. He had not been King twenty-four hours, and already he had let loose a Red Dragon to worry his faithful subjects' lives out. And they had been saving up so long to buy him a crown, and everything!
22
Lionel began to cry.
23
The Chancellor and the Prime Minister and the Nurse all came running to see what was wrong. And when they saw the book, they understood, and the Chancellor said: "You naughty little King! Put him to bed, Nurse, and let him think over what he's done."
