ONCE UPON A TIME there was a king who was king of a verysmall country. Indeed, his kingdom was so small that mostpeople were not even aware it existed.

The king thought that it was a fairly large kingdom,though, as kingdoms went. This was because there were manymountains around the place, mountains which were difficult toclimb. Because of these mountains, travelers would just go onaround the kingdom, rather than go through it. And very fewpeople ever left the kingdom, to come back and tell of otherlands. People were pretty much afraid to do that.

They were afraid of the dragons.

They never saw any dragons, mind you, but they were afraidof them. This is because all the maps in the kingdom showedthat they were surrounded by dragons dragons here, dragonsthere, dragons all over the place, all because of MisterGibberling.

Mister Gibberling was the Royal Cartographer. (That meanshe was the official mapmaker.) Mister Gibberling was the RoyalCartographer because his father and his grandfather had beenRoyal Cartographers. Mister Gibberling had learned hisprofession from his father, who had learned it from his father.

Since people did not visit the kingdom very often, and theking's subjects seldom crossed over the mountains themselves,it was difficult for the Royal Cartographers to know exactlywhat to put down on their maps to show what was outside. So, ashe had learned from his father (who had learned it from hisfather), whenever he did not know what to show as being in anycertain place, Mister Gibberling picked up his quill, and witha great flourish of the feather wrote (in fancy letters):

-HERE THERE BE DRAGONS-

Then he would smile, because he had explained a newterritory. Of course, since he did not really know what lay