‘One day,’ Georgeta began to rock, the chair’s rhythm giving pace to her telling, ‘the wizard came to a village high up in the mountains, and there he saw a beautiful young girl. She had eyes as dark as his, and in her left eye he caught a reflection of his soul, and in her right eye he caught a reflection of hers.

‘He said to her, “Tell me, what should a man value the most?” And without the loss of a heartbeat, she said, “Love.”

‘Then she asked him, “What should a man fear the most?” And without the loss of a heartbeat, the wizard said, “Greed, because it leads to envy, it leads to war, it leads to all that the devil feasts upon.”

‘“Then love is the greater. Love has compassion, love heals.”

‘The wizard was a handsome young man. He called to the stars, and from them he gave her a ring and asked if she would marry him. The village elders disapproved. They said she couldn’t marry a man who wasn’t from their region unless he could show himself worthy of her hand. Only if he tamed the mountain dragon would she be his bride.

‘The wizard asked where the dragon was to be found. “In the lake, high up in the mountain,” they said. This dragon was the cause of all the thunderstorms, hail and snow that plagued their crops and damaged their houses.

‘The wizard said a sad farewell to his love and climbed the mountain, never to be seen again. The girl’s heart broke. Her father, seeing that the wizard wasn’t coming back, found her another suitor to marry her. He was grey and rich with a belly that a pig would be proud of.’

‘How does the story end?’ Sorina interrupted. ‘With a wedding to the suitor with a pig’s belly?’

‘That’s the problem, I’m not sure,’ said Georgeta. ‘I think it goes… on her wedding day…’

‘On her wedding day…’And it was her grandmother’s voice that Edith heard as Georgeta rocked in her chair. ‘…A small white bird perched on the girl’s windowsill and said to her, “Come away with me, and I will take you to the wizard. He is being held prisoner by the dragon, but once the beast sees what love is, its temper will be quelled.”

‘When the girl’s father came to take her to the church, he found her bedroom empty. Although the villagers searched high and low, she was never seen again. Shortly afterwards the thunder ceased, and it was said that the dragon disappeared to the bottom of the lake and there he sleeps to this day. But where the wizard and his bride are, nobody knows.’

‘There was no wedding, then?’ said Sorina.

‘Edith’s grandmother said some stories are neither sad nor happy. In the telling, they are just what they are.’