"Because the king wants them," said the third.

"How?" asked the fourth.

"Well we could, ah import them," said the first.

"Yes, import them," said the second.

"Import them, yes," said the third.

"From where?" asked the fourth.

"Well, uh we could get them from ... Hmm.

"Yes, we could get them from Hmm," agreed the second.

"I was only hmming, not naming places," said the first.

"Oh, pardon me, I thought you meant the city of Hmm on theMm river. It is too far away, now that I think of it."

"Why don't we get a map and look?" asked the third.

"An excellent idea," said the second. "Get a map and look."

So they did. They gathered around the map and studied.

"There are dragons to the east," said the first.

"... And dragons to the west," said the second.

"... And dragons to the north," said the third.

". . . And dragons to the south," said the fourth. "Theyseem to be all around us. In fact, there is only our kingdomand dragons on the map. Consequently, we cannot import anyfireworks."

"It would seem to follow ..." said the first.

"But the king wants them!" said the second.

"But where can we get them?" asked the third.

Then the first adviser had an idea. "What is a dragon,anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, big!" said the second.

"... And mean," said the third.

". . . And ugly and scaly and strong and fire-breathing,"finished the fourth. "There is a picture on the map‹ manypictures, as a matter of fact."

"Well," said the first, "dragons spout flames, don't they?Like Roman Candles, Vesuvius Fountains, Cannon Crackers,Whirlagigs, Blue Angels, Normandy Lights?"

"So I've always heard," said the second.

"Yes, exactly," said the third.

"When is the last time any of you has seen a dragon?"asked the fourth. "Well ..." said the first.