Page:Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals.djvu/299

Rh war on men and love to women; it roars or it sings, and there is little to choose between the two performances; for the lapse of centuries, it seems, has in no wise mellowed its voice. The stories of the common-folk are full of these monsters' savagery and treachery ; for it is the dragons, above all other supernatural beings, who provide the wandering hero of the fairy-tales with befitting adventures and tests of prowess.

A common motif of such stories is provided by the belief that dragons are the guardians of buried treasure. When a man in a dream has had revealed to him the whereabouts of buried treasure, his right course is to go to the spot without breathing to anyone a hint of his secret, and there to slay a cock or other animal such as is offered at the laying of foundation-stones, in order to appease the genius (which is almost always a dragon, though an Arab is occasionally substituted) before he ventures to disturb the soil. This is the very superstition which Artemidorus had in mind when he interpreted dreams about dragons to denote 'wealth and riches, because dragons make their fixed abode over treasures .' Having complied with these conditions the digger may hope to bring gold to light; but if he have previously betrayed to anyone his expectations or have failed to propitiate the dragon, the old proverb is fulfilled, [Greek: anthrakes ho thêsauros], his treasure turns out to be but ashes ([Greek: karbouna]).

The guardianship likewise of gardens wherein flow 'immortal waters' or grows 'immortal fruit' is the province of dragons. In Tenos a typical story concerning them is told in several versions. The hero of them all bears the name of [Greek: Giannakês] or 'Jack' (a familiar diminutive of [Greek: Iôannês], 'John')—a name commonly given in Greek fairy-tales to the performer of Heraclean feats.