Once upon a time a ten-headed dragon had moved into a kingdom, and the monarch was furious. He raged, "Confound that beast and his twenty eyes. I suppose he shall ask for my daughters for his wives!" He was quite right.

Now as the king sat upon his throne lamenting, the royal bandleader came shuffling up. "Your Majesty," he cried out, waving his arms in distress, "all the royal bandsmen have left the kingdom. What shall I do?" The ruler became incensed and shouted at the poor man, "How can you speak to me of this when a ten-headed dragon has taken up residence in my kingdom and wants to marry my daughters?"

"A ten-headed dragon?" exclaimed the bandleader. He thought this to be a stroke of good fortune, and decided to see if he could talk the dragon into being his band. So the little man loaded all of the instruments on a cart and set off for the dragon's lair. After explaining the dilemma to the great beast, the dragon thought the idea to be a wonderful one.

"Here you are then," the man said to the dragon. "Here's the drum, here's the bass, there you have the clarinet, the tuba and the piccolo; and now, play, my ten-headed friend ....play!" The bandmaster raised his baton, which, as everyone knows, is magic; whoever it is waved at must play to the bandleader's time.

And the dragon did play ....like a whole band. And all of the people in the kingdom danced, even the king himself. Unless they have stopped, they are dancing to this day.