Once upon a time, in a far-off land, there lived a blue dragon with a pearl under its tongue. Many had tried to take the pearl, but all had failed. The dragon lived in the ruins of an abandoned castle, where once a beautiful young maiden had lived. But she was cursed, turned into the dragon.

The people in the nearby villages were afraid of the dragon, for they believed it to be a fierce and dangerous beast. They whispered stories of its cruelty and violence, and many knights had been sent by the king to slay it. But none had ever returned.

One day, a brave knight was sent by the king to retrieve the pearl. He was young and strong, and he had heard the stories of the dragon’s ferocity, but he was determined to complete his mission.

As he journeyed to the castle, he met a wise old wizard who warned him of the dragon’s curse. “Think that the key to getting the pearl is to slay the dragon but to retrieve it you must tame the dragon,” the wizard said.

The knight was puzzled. “How can I tame a dragon that is cursed?” he asked.

The wizard smiled. “The dragon was once a beautiful maiden, cursed by a wicked sorcerer. If you can break the curse, you may be able to tame the dragon and retrieve the pearl.”

The knight arrived at the castle and found the dragon waiting for him. Its eyes glowed in the darkness, and its scales shimmered in the moonlight. But the knight did not draw his sword. Instead, he spoke gently to the dragon, telling it that he meant it no harm, and that he only wished to help break the curse.

To his surprise, the dragon listened. It did not attack, but instead allowed the knight to approach. As the knight reached under the dragon’s tongue to retrieve the pearl, he felt a strange sensation. Suddenly, the dragon began to transform, and the knight realized that he had broken the curse.

The dragon became the beautiful maiden that it once was, and she thanked the knight for freeing her from the curse. She gave the knight the pearl as a token of her gratitude, and the knight knew that he had accomplished his mission.

As he journeyed back to the king’s castle, the knight realized that he had not just retrieved the pearl, but had also saved a life. And he knew that the pearl would always be a symbol of his bravery, and of the dragon’s transformation from a cursed beast to a beautiful maiden.