There was once a young man named Alexander. He lived in the days of castles, knights, and dragons. Alexander spent much of his time in his room, toiling away at little gadgets that he thought would revolutionize the world. He had created a counting machine, glow-in-the-dark bandages, and many other things that the people of his time just didn't seem to care about. He had to endure a lot of harassment from his peers, who thought his work a waste of time.

Alexander paid no attention to these hecklers, but there was one person who really got on his nerves. This person was Andrew, whose father was a nobleman and head of the town council. Andrew absolutely tormented him. He would try to break Alexander's inventions and was constantly making a disgrace of him in public. Alexander's parents were peasant farmers, so he wore old, torn clothing. Andrew, in his expensive and highly fashionable clothes, would make a point of ridiculing Alexander's clothes every day. Andrew was big, strong, and very popular with the ladies.

One day, when Alexander was fiddling with inventions in his room, there was a great commotion outside. He went to see what was going on. He was met by a man with some astonishing news - there was a dragon just outside town! There was an emergency meeting of the town council to discuss what actions to take. There was an almost unanimous agreement that Andrew, with his strength and power, would slay the dragon. Alexander had tried repeatedly to explain a brilliant idea that he had, but was totally ignored.

After the meeting, the whole town started out for the dragon's lair. But Alexander made a quick stop at his house. He spent some time mixing potions and performing experiments. He arrived at the lair just in time to witness a horrific occurrence. Andrew issued a challenge to the dragon. The dragon came outside. Andrew charged at the dragon, flailing his sword wildly and screaming. The dragon then let out a quick breath of flame. All that remained of Andrew were a few ashes.

Everyone was amazed. If that was the strongest man in the town, how were they going to defeat this powerful dragon? The nobles conferred among themselves. Alexander ran to beg for a chance to fight the dragon. They told him that he didn't stand a chance. But then one of the nobles pointed out that they didn't have anything to lose. They gave Alexander a sword. He put a piece of cloth over his head and proceeded to walk toward the dragon. The dragon let out another breath of flame. But Alexander walked right through it! The dragon was stunned. It shot more flames, but Alexander kept on walking as if nothing had happened. The dragon continued its futile attempts to kill him. But Alexander walked right up to it and put the sword through its heart. It died instantly.

The people lifted Alexander above their heads and carried him back to the town. There was a huge festival in his honor. Later, after the celebration, someone asked him how he walked through the flame. He explained that he had been working on a formula to make clothes fireproof. He had tried to bring it up at the meeting, but no one listened.

After the meeting, he made some of the potion and put it on his clothes. He also put some of the potion on the cloth that he put over his head to protect it. It had never been tested, but fortunately it worked. His curiosity and ingenuity had paid off.

By the way, no one ever made fun of Alexander again. 1