dragons
European dragons are lazy. they hang in the sky like a comet. they are an enormous lizard, sometimes called a worm, or a wyrm. they sleep on a huge hoard of treasure, treasure they have no use for, except to keep it from humans. occasionally they fly about and kill whole herds, cattle, sheep, horses, anything that herds. they scare the bejesus out of princesses who are chained naked to a rock. they fight with knights, although no one in his right mind knows why. one sneeze and they could blow the knight away, incinerated. oh, did I mention that they exhale fire? not always, just when they want to. on the other hand, Chinese dragons bedevil philosophers, kings, and generals - and the Chinese didn't even know about the devil! (devils yes, the devil no.) Chinese dragons are constructed: the horns of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a devil, the neck of a snake, the abdomen of a large cockle, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, the paws of a tiger, and the ears of an ox. yes, an artist had to be damn knowledgeable to paint a dragon! Chinese dragons could be symbols of power, fortune, good luck. they had power over wind and water, hence storms, particularly tornadoes and hurricanes. if I remember correctly, the Chinese once built an enormous fleet, the equivalent of ten Armadas, maybe a dozen, and as soon as it put out to sea, a huge storm arose, a storm so huge they called it the storm of three dragons, and it sank almost the whole fleet. the Chinese concluded that they'd better fight their wars on land. Chinese dragons embodied both yin and yang, particularly in their scales. Chinese dragons were very wise, so they spoke in apparent riddles. Chinese dragons sometimes advised kings and generals, but they sometimes devastated whole armies. you can see why I think European dragons were lazy. either way though, encountering a dragon was likely to spoil your whole day, unless you happened to outsmart it. then it felt beholden to bring you power, wealth, and good marriage, which everyone knows is the same as good fortune.
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