Once upon a time, there was a young man who dreamed of becoming a knight for
King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table.
Before he could become a knight, he had to pass one last test - he had to slay a dragon.
The young man was scared to death.
He asked one of the knights what he should do about his tremendous fear.
This knight advised him to see Merlin the Magician because Merlin had a magic sword.
When the young man told Merlin about his problem, Merlin went to his back room and brought
out a beautiful, gilded sword.
Merlin then instructed him, “This sword is magic and the day that you go out to slay your
dragon, come see me and I will give you this magic sword. But make sure that your scabbard is
empty. And remember that this sword only works its magic if you are in danger.”
One week later, the would-be knight returned. He was dressed for battle and, as Merlin
instructed, his scabbard was empty.
As Merlin went to the back room again, he told the young man to close his eyes.
Then Merlin returned and put the sword into his scabbard.
As the young man left. Merlin reminded him, “This sword will only work its magic if you are in
danger.”
The young man, now more confident, rode his horse out onto the plains where he confronted his
dragon.
It was a fierce battle. The dragon was breathing fire. The dragon’s tail knocked the young man
off his trusty steed.
The young man was on the ground and the dragon came in for the kill.
Just at that moment, the young man remembered about the magic sword. He took the sword out
of his scabbard and started slashing the dragon’s legs.
The dragon was hurt and fell down. The young man jumped onto the dragon and put the sword
into the dragon’s heart and killed the dragon.
The young man returned home victorious.
The first person he went to see was Merlin.
He told Merlin about how the magic sword saved his life.
As he took it out of his scabbard to return it, he looked at it in amazement. “Merlin this isn’t the
same sword you showed me last week. This isn’t the beautiful, gilded magic sword. It’s just an
ordinary sword!”
Merlin nodded and said, “There is no magic sword. The magic is believing.”
