# The Tale Of The Three Dragons

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 24 May 2026, 18 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72069602/at498_thetaleofthethreedragons_mixdown.mp3

A boy hears a story of how three dragons once helped his land, and sets off to find them. Written especially for this podcast by Alice. If you enjoyed this story, please do leave us a review. And, if you'd like to suggest an animal for a future Animal Tales story, you can do so by emailing podcast@animaltales.uk. We would love to hear from you. Animal Tales Books! Collections of Animal Tales children’s stories are available to buy exclusively at Amazon. Simply search for Animal Tales Short Stories or follow this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJQZ9C9?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi Become a PREMIUM Subscriber You can now enjoy Animal Tales by becoming a Premium Subscriber. This gets you: • All episodes in our catalogue advert free • Bonus Premium-only episodes (one per week) which will never be used on the main podcast • We guarantee to use one of your animal suggestions in a story You can sign up through Apple Podcasts or through Supercast and there are both monthly and yearly plans available. Discover a brand new story every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – just for you! You can find more Animal Tales at www.animaltales.uk A Note About The Adverts In order to allow us to make these stories we offer a premium subscription and run adverts. The adverts are not chosen by us, but played automatically depending on the platform you listen through (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and the country you live in. The adverts may even be different if you listen to the story twice. We have had a handful of instances where an advert has played that is not suitable for a family audience, despite the podcast clearly being labelled for children. If you’re concerned about an advert you hear, please contact the platform you are listening to directly. Spotify, in particular, has proven problematic in the past, for both inappropriate adverts and the volume at which the adverts play. If you find this happening, please let Spotify know via their Facebook customer care page. As creators, we want your child’s experience to be a pleasurable one. Running adverts is necessary to allow us to operate, but please do consider the premium subscription service as an alternative – it’s advert free.

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Yea, hello. My name's Josephine and this is the Animal
[0:18] Speaker 1: Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in our stories.
[0:22] Speaker 1: There are new tales to enjoy every Monday and Wednesday,
[0:26] Speaker 1: with a third premium only story every Friday. Do let
[0:30] Speaker 1: your friends know about Animal Tales so they can enjoy
[0:33] Speaker 1: our stories too. Shi is from Idaho, USA, and he
[0:39] Speaker 1: would like a story featuring a grass dragon, a water dragon,
[0:43] Speaker 1: and a fire dragon. You can learn more about these
[0:46] Speaker 1: creatures in the animal facts after the story. Okay, are
[0:50] Speaker 1: you ready? That's good, then I'll begin the tale of
[0:56] Speaker 1: the Three Dragons. A long long time ago, in a
[1:01] Speaker 1: place far beyond the sea, there was a small village
[1:05] Speaker 1: in the middle of a dry and dusty land. The
[1:08] Speaker 1: village elders would tell of when the land was rich
[1:11] Speaker 1: and green. They would talk of the feasts they once had,
[1:16] Speaker 1: of the rivers they would swim in, and of how
[1:18] Speaker 1: warm the sun would feel on their faces. But that
[1:22] Speaker 1: was when the elders were young, and now the land
[1:25] Speaker 1: was gray and lifeless. The river beds were dry, and
[1:30] Speaker 1: heavy clouds filled the sky, making the land cold and dark. Somehow,
[1:37] Speaker 1: the villagers still managed to grow small amounts of food,
[1:40] Speaker 1: pulling up water from a deep well, and huddling around
[1:44] Speaker 1: the fire every evening to tell stories. On one evening,
[1:49] Speaker 1: a village elder known as Old Man Hector was chosen
[1:53] Speaker 1: to share a tale, something he was happy to do.
[1:58] Speaker 1: Long ago, this land was ruled by dragons, he said, Shy,
[2:04] Speaker 1: a village boy, sat up straight upon hearing this. He
[2:08] Speaker 1: had never heard of such a thing. The dragons helped
[2:12] Speaker 1: this land to thrive, Old Man Hector continued. The grass
[2:17] Speaker 1: dragon would encourage the plants to grow, The water dragon
[2:22] Speaker 1: kept the rivers flowing fast and free, and the fire
[2:26] Speaker 1: dragon ensured that the sun warmed us. All. Shy listened intently,
[2:33] Speaker 1: fascinated by the story. The land he knew was very
[2:37] Speaker 1: different to the one ruled over by these dragons. So
[2:41] Speaker 1: what happened, Shay asked. Old Man Hector sighed. The dragons
[2:48] Speaker 1: had a disagreement, he said, bitterly. Each dragon thought that
[2:53] Speaker 1: they were the most important when it came to looking
[2:56] Speaker 1: after this land, and this rivalry forced them upon. They
[3:01] Speaker 1: refused to cooperate with each other, each going into hiding,
[3:06] Speaker 1: and the land fell to ruin. The plants shriveled, the
[3:10] Speaker 1: rivers ran dry and dark, clouds covered the sun. Without
[3:15] Speaker 1: the dragons taking care of it, the land simply couldn't
[3:19] Speaker 1: go on as it once had. Talk of dragons fascinated Shy,
[3:25] Speaker 1: but he wasn't entirely convinced it was true. With the
[3:29] Speaker 1: tale finished, the villagers drifted away to find their beds,
[3:34] Speaker 1: leaving just old Man Hector and Shy beside the fire's
[3:38] Speaker 1: final embers. What happened to the dragons, the boy asked,
[3:44] Speaker 1: where are they now? Some say they flew far, far away,
[3:50] Speaker 1: the old man said. Others think they crawled away and died.
[3:55] Speaker 1: But I think on a quiet night like this, you
[3:58] Speaker 1: can still hear them breathing. That night, Shy couldn't sleep.
[4:05] Speaker 1: He kept thinking about dragons under blue skies with green fields?
[4:10] Speaker 1: Was the story really true? Unable to relax, Shy crept
[4:16] Speaker 1: from his bed and left the sleeping village behind him.
[4:20] Speaker 1: He walked far out into the barren lands, remembering the
[4:24] Speaker 1: words of old Man Hector. He had said that sometimes
[4:28] Speaker 1: he could hear the dragons breathing, and so Shy listened.
[4:35] Speaker 1: It was there, under the moonless sky that he heard it,
[4:39] Speaker 1: a faint rumbling snore. Shy followed the noise over bare
[4:44] Speaker 1: fields of dirt and stone, across crumbling river beds and
[4:49] Speaker 1: through leafless forests. Eventually he came upon the biggest tree
[4:54] Speaker 1: he'd ever seen. It was long dead, hollow and gray,
[4:59] Speaker 1: and as Shy I approached it, the snoring stopped. Who
[5:04] Speaker 1: disturbs my slumber, said a low, gravelly voice. A large
[5:10] Speaker 1: shape emerged from the tree's hollow center. A dragon, huge
[5:15] Speaker 1: and green, but her scales were dull, and the curling
[5:20] Speaker 1: vines that wrapped around her body hung limp. Are you
[5:24] Speaker 1: the grass dragon, Shy asked, in awe. I was once
[5:31] Speaker 1: upon a time, the green dragon replied, but I haven't
[5:35] Speaker 1: encouraged anything to grow for many a long year. How
[5:40] Speaker 1: did this happen, asked Shy. Well it wasn't down to me,
[5:46] Speaker 1: bristled the dragon. But I grew weaker and the plants
[5:50] Speaker 1: suffered for it. I'm not the dragon I once was.
[5:56] Speaker 1: With that said, she crawled back into her tree, the
[6:00] Speaker 1: proving too painful to continue. Shy was alone once again.
[6:07] Speaker 1: So the story really was true, But how sad that
[6:10] Speaker 1: an animal who was once so majestic was now so frail.
[6:16] Speaker 1: He turned for home, not reaching the outskirts of the
[6:19] Speaker 1: village until long after the day had begun, he saw
[6:24] Speaker 1: some of the villagers watering a sickly stand of wheat
[6:27] Speaker 1: using water poured from the well. It was such a
[6:31] Speaker 1: struggle just for that small patch of crops, but the
[6:35] Speaker 1: villagers tended to it regardless, doing everything in their power
[6:39] Speaker 1: to help it thrive. Seeing their actions gave Shy an idea.
[6:46] Speaker 1: He went to the well and drew up some water,
[6:49] Speaker 1: filling a leather bucket. This he then carried all the
[6:53] Speaker 1: way to the enormous dead tree. I have something for you,
[6:58] Speaker 1: he announced, causing the grass dragon to stir. What is this,
[7:04] Speaker 1: she hissed grumpily. I have no interest in water, but
[7:10] Speaker 1: you should, Shai replied. Plants need water to survive, and
[7:16] Speaker 1: I think you need it too. Just try it please.
[7:21] Speaker 1: The grass dragon had half a mind to return to
[7:24] Speaker 1: her sleep, until she realized that yes, she was thirsty,
[7:30] Speaker 1: so she drank. As she did so, her scales brightened
[7:35] Speaker 1: and tiny shoots sprang up around her feet. That was refreshing,
[7:42] Speaker 1: She said, Thank you boy. Shai returned home feeling pleased.
[7:49] Speaker 1: It wasn't much, just a single bucket of water, but
[7:53] Speaker 1: he felt that it helped all the same. That night,
[7:58] Speaker 1: Shy returned to the back and lands to listen again.
[8:02] Speaker 1: This time he detected slow, heavy breathing rolling down from
[8:07] Speaker 1: the hills. He set off towards it, until the air
[8:11] Speaker 1: grew cold and he shivered beneath his thin clothes. There
[8:16] Speaker 1: Shy came to a wide, flat lake. He had never
[8:20] Speaker 1: seen so much water in his life, until he realized
[8:24] Speaker 1: that the cold had crusted the lake with a sheet
[8:27] Speaker 1: of ice. Shy stared through the ice to the darkness below,
[8:33] Speaker 1: only for it to crack and lift before him. The
[8:37] Speaker 1: body of a large blue dragon rose up, moving stiffly,
[8:42] Speaker 1: her wings frozen to her sides. Are you the water dragon,
[8:47] Speaker 1: Shy asked. The dragon scoffed, not any more, she said,
[8:55] Speaker 1: I've not helped water to flow for decades. What opened,
[9:00] Speaker 1: Shy asked? The dragon shrugged, and it sounded like cracking ice.
[9:07] Speaker 1: It's too cold, she said. I can barely move because
[9:12] Speaker 1: of it. How can I control the rivers and guide
[9:15] Speaker 1: the rain when I feel frozen all the time. With this, said,
[9:21] Speaker 1: the water dragon sank back into the depths of the
[9:24] Speaker 1: lake and was gone. Shy walked home without sunshine. The
[9:31] Speaker 1: land he lived in always felt a little too cold,
[9:34] Speaker 1: but it was certainly warmer than the water Dragon's frozen lake.
[9:39] Speaker 1: Back at the village, he stopped at the fire where
[9:42] Speaker 1: the villagers shared their stories. There was no one there
[9:46] Speaker 1: to share the last of its warmth, just a faint
[9:49] Speaker 1: glow in the embers. Shy gathered up some sticks, then
[9:54] Speaker 1: bent down and carefully lifted the hot embers into a
[9:58] Speaker 1: copper kettle. Once done, he retraced his steps into the hills.
[10:05] Speaker 1: What do you have there, snarled the water dragon. Suspiciously,
[10:10] Speaker 1: a Shy carefully emptied the embers, feeding them with the
[10:13] Speaker 1: smallest sticks. Slowly, the sticks danced with flames. Why have
[10:20] Speaker 1: you brought me fire, the dragon demanded, To give you warmth,
[10:26] Speaker 1: Shy replied. He gathered more wood from the shores of
[10:31] Speaker 1: the lake until the flames roared. Unable to resist, the
[10:36] Speaker 1: water dragon crept closer, allowing the heat to wash over her.
[10:42] Speaker 1: Glorious she murmured as her wings became free and the
[10:47] Speaker 1: ice faded away. Glad to have done some good, Shy
[10:53] Speaker 1: returned home. The following night, Shy walked out into the
[10:58] Speaker 1: barren lands, once again, listening carefully. It took a while,
[11:03] Speaker 1: but eventually he detected a smooth, soft snore. This time,
[11:09] Speaker 1: Shy traveled further than he had ever been, to the
[11:13] Speaker 1: rocky cliffs of a mountain. There he found a deep,
[11:17] Speaker 1: dark cave where the sounds of snoring echoed. Forcing himself
[11:23] Speaker 1: to be brave, Shy entered and was soon swallowed by
[11:27] Speaker 1: the blackness. Then a yellow light bloomed, and Shy found
[11:32] Speaker 1: himself staring into a dragon's glowing eyes. This dragon was
[11:38] Speaker 1: by far the biggest Shai had expected him to be red,
[11:43] Speaker 1: but his scales were black and cracked, like coal burning
[11:47] Speaker 1: from within. But Shy could feel no heat from the dragon.
[11:53] Speaker 1: Are you the fire dragon, Shy asked. The dragon's glowing
[11:58] Speaker 1: eyes narrowed. My fire burned out long ago, he complained.
[12:05] Speaker 1: All I have now is darkness and ash. But why,
[12:10] Speaker 1: Shy whispered, I lost all the light and warmth around me,
[12:16] Speaker 1: the fire dragon said, sadly, and so I lost it
[12:20] Speaker 1: inside of me too. The dragon closed his eyes, then
[12:25] Speaker 1: plunging Shy back into darkness. It was a long walk home,
[12:31] Speaker 1: but when Shy eventually got there, he saw old man
[12:35] Speaker 1: Hector waiting for him. And where have you been, the
[12:40] Speaker 1: old man asked, knowingly to see dragons, Shy admitted, I know,
[12:47] Speaker 1: we have little, But I took some water to the
[12:50] Speaker 1: grass dragon and a little fire to the water dragon.
[12:54] Speaker 1: But I do not know how to help a fire dragon.
[12:59] Speaker 1: Why do you help them, asked the old man. We
[13:04] Speaker 1: have each other, Shy explained, but they have no one.
[13:10] Speaker 1: Old man Hector considered this and saw the goodness in
[13:13] Speaker 1: Shy's eyes. In that case, I think I know what
[13:18] Speaker 1: you need, he said, And so it was that Shy
[13:23] Speaker 1: returned to the fire dragon carrying a basket of wheat plants.
[13:29] Speaker 1: The fire dragon hissed, I have no need of such things,
[13:35] Speaker 1: but you do. Shai insisted, this is the first wheat
[13:39] Speaker 1: of the season. Our village would make red from this,
[13:43] Speaker 1: but instead we're giving it to you. Your fire needs
[13:48] Speaker 1: fuel in order to burn. Reluctantly, the dragon accepted the wheat,
[13:54] Speaker 1: swallowing it whole. As the food struck his belly, the
[14:00] Speaker 1: cracks in his scales flared, and Shy felt the cave
[14:04] Speaker 1: growing warmer. That was good, the dragon admitted, But when
[14:11] Speaker 1: Shy returned to the village this time, he found the
[14:14] Speaker 1: people sat silently around the fire, full of despair. The
[14:19] Speaker 1: well was running dry, firewood was becoming scarce, and they
[14:24] Speaker 1: had little wheat for their bread. Clearly the villagers would
[14:28] Speaker 1: not survive the coming year. I fear for us all,
[14:33] Speaker 1: said old man Hector. Do not be afraid, said Shy,
[14:39] Speaker 1: for I have brought us friends from out of the darkness.
[14:44] Speaker 1: Stepped the grass Dragon, the Water Dragon, and the fire Dragon.
[14:49] Speaker 1: They looked so different now. The grass Dragon was a
[14:53] Speaker 1: vibrant green, with vines, leaves and flowers snaking across her body.
[14:59] Speaker 1: The Waterdragon shimmered and glistened, and the Fire Dragon smoldered,
[15:04] Speaker 1: a brilliant red smoke rising from his scales. Our foolishness
[15:11] Speaker 1: has damaged this land, said the grass Dragon. There isn't
[15:16] Speaker 1: one of us that's the most important, said the water dragon.
[15:20] Speaker 1: We dragons need each other, and perhaps we need you too,
[15:26] Speaker 1: the fire dragon said, with a nod to Shy. As
[15:30] Speaker 1: much as you need us. Through Shy, your village gave
[15:36] Speaker 1: us what little it had, said the grass Dragon, and
[15:40] Speaker 1: now we shall repay that generosity. The dragons looked upwards
[15:46] Speaker 1: and blue, bright, colorful flames into the night sky. The
[15:51] Speaker 1: cascade struck the underside of the heavy clouds, causing them
[15:55] Speaker 1: to shrivel and disappear, revealing a sky full of stars.
[16:01] Speaker 1: When the villagers awoke the next morning, they found a
[16:05] Speaker 1: world full of colour. Grass and flowers grew beneath their feet,
[16:11] Speaker 1: while long dead trees had been granted new life. The
[16:15] Speaker 1: rivers flowed once more, and best of all, the sun
[16:19] Speaker 1: shone down, bright and warm. For the first time since
[16:24] Speaker 1: old Man Hector was a child. The land was flourishing again,
[16:29] Speaker 1: and it was all thanks to one boy whose kindness
[16:33] Speaker 1: helped reignite the flames in Three Dragons Lonely Hearts animal fact.
[16:45] Speaker 1: Dragons remain one of the world's most popular mythological creatures.
[16:51] Speaker 1: But how did we come up with the idea for
[16:53] Speaker 1: these fascinating beasts? Throughout human history we have been finding fossils,
[17:00] Speaker 1: Some of them are the size we could barely understand.
[17:04] Speaker 1: Those fossils are scattered all over the world and have
[17:07] Speaker 1: given rise to similar stories as we tried to make
[17:10] Speaker 1: sense of what those creatures might be. Now we know
[17:15] Speaker 1: that their dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, but the stories
[17:19] Speaker 1: they inspired, particularly those of dragons, were just too good
[17:24] Speaker 1: to ignore. Thank you for your suggestions, Shy. We hope
[17:28] Speaker 1: you enjoyed the story, and thank you to all of
[17:31] Speaker 1: you across the world for listening to it. There are
[17:35] Speaker 1: over one hundred extra stories on our premium service, available
[17:40] Speaker 1: through Apple or Supercast, and for a tiny fee. All
[17:45] Speaker 1: the stories are advert free. Join us next time for
[17:49] Speaker 1: another great animal tale. Good Bye,

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.