The Adventures of Lady Jaine, Part 3

Finding the hall deserted, Jaine realized she did not remember which way she had come. She chose a direction, and a short way down the hall, found a stair case. As she started down it, she noticed that at the beginning it was well carved and seemed sturdy, but the descent showed a decline in craftsmanship. Whereas she started on a wide stone staircase, she found herself creaking down old wooden planks. There had been no landing, no access to other floors from this staircase, and when she thought about it, Jaine could not remember at exactly which points the stairs
declined in quality.

“How strange,” she thought. “I usually consider myself observant.”

The stairs had led her to a basement, or perhaps a dungeon, whichever is fouler smelling. Though it did not appear the stairs had taken her anywhere useful, Jaine saw that they were well lit with torches.

“Hello,” said a voice from a shadow. “Who are you?”

“I am Lady Jaine,” she replied. “Who are you, what is your purpose, and how did you get here? And, where are you?”
Jaine peered into the darkness. The last torch left a quivering pool of light at the bottom of the staircase. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the reflection of cat-eyes in a corner.

“You may call me Tolerance.” The eyes moved closer, and a head appeared in the circle of light.

“Why! You’re a dragon!” Jaine gasped.

Tolerance sighed, exhaling a wisp of fire. “Yes, I am a dragon. And you are a human. Is that a reason why we cannot trust each other?”

“Yes - because dragons eat humans.”

“That is only in actuality. Theoretically I believe in the inherent worth of every creature, its right to live and prosper and speak freely about its belief system, and its choice of diet.”

“Oh.” Jaine eased her grip on the staircase banister, where she had clung since first seeing the dragon. “That makes me feel better. Please, tell me more about what you believe.”

Tolerance settled himself cat-like in the darkness, shuffling his hind-quarters as he lay down, and wrapping his
tail as far as it would go around his body. The end flicked back and forth restlessly. “I shall tell you of my hopes and desires for this world: I desire for everyone to treat each other as equals, to celebrate one another’s diversity, to have freedom of speech, and be tolerant of everyone else’s beliefs. I am old, very old, and have seen many wars. People fight one another, not agreeing, not respecting anyone but themselves. And everyone should respect himself, but everyone should respect everyone else, too.”

“What happens when people disagree?” Jaine asked. She positioned herself at the opposite edge of light, facing the dragon. She clutched her dictionary behind her back.

“They should disagree respectfully.”

Jaine considered this. “What happens when two persons disagree over something that concerns them both?”

“They should settle it in a way that that harms neither of them.”

“Interesting… I have a slight problem with this though. Actually, it’s mainly with you. I think dragons are parasitic worms that deserve the sword on all occasions, and I also long for the day when a string of St. Georges come and smite the lot of you. You see,” she continued, “I believe that I am morally and innately superior to you. I also despise dragons for their lust for gold and jewels, especially since they do not create these possessions themselves, but steal them. What do you think of that?”

The dragon thought about this. “I acknowledge your opinions, and choose to tolerate them.”

“What if I act on them? What if I believe I am morally bound to kill any dragon I see?”

“That isn’t very tolerant of you,” Tolerance scolded.

“Yes, but tolerance isn’t a part of my belief system, but killing dragons is. What are going to do about that?”

“Well, I can’t tolerate that.”

“Isn’t that intolerant of you?”

“But it was intolerant of you not to tolerate me in the first place, so the greater intolerance yours… perhaps?” Tolerance considered this.

Jaine continued her argument. “How would this putting down of intolerance occur? By a higher authority? Are they also the ones deciding what is tolerable and what isn’t? I think your measure of tolerability is insufficient, by the way. Some think it is acceptable to injure persons. Others think just hurting another’s feelings is unacceptable. By whose standards are you going to judge the world?”

“The good ones,” Tolerance answered confidently.

“And which are those? The ones that align with…?”

“Tolerance.”

“…Ah,” said Jaine.

The two sat in silence.

“Tolerance?”

“Yes?”

“Maybe we can ignore for the moment the vital issue of whose morality decides the level of acceptable intolerability. How are you going to moderate intolerance?”

“Hmmm…” Tolerance grumbled. “Well, first, I shall make the intolerant very unpopular.”

“An obvious move. What if they don’t care about popularity?”

“Then I would make laws about the intolerant, not letting them do or say intolerant things.”

“And if they do and say them anyway?”

“Then I shall fine them and take their gold for their intolerance.”

“Oh, but people are so stubbornly intolerant!” Jaine insisted. “What if they decide their opinions are more
important than their gold?”

“More important than…! Well, then I shall lock them away in a dungeon, like this.”

“Send them to the dungeon until they become more tolerant or die? That sounds counterproductive. Sending people to
jail for being intolerant may only increase the indignation against those whom they were not tolerating.”

“Quite true,” the dragon agreed. “That is very bad for me. Intolerant people give me such indigestion – they are too
tough and stringy. I much prefer the tolerant. They usually have an extra bit of fat on them. They are delicious
when seared.”

Silence filled the dungeon. The silence was shortly replaced by Tolerance’s flames, which blew out of his nostrils
and cackled as it consumed spiderwebs and dust around the stair landing. He started the flame where it did not touch
her, but it was near enough she felt shocked by the heat. She jumped back from the stair landing and stumbled into
the dungeon. The light hurt Lady Jaine’s eyes, though in the moment before her vision went white, she saw that just
beyond the landing where her sight was previously limited were piles of bones of those whom the dragon had
previously tolerated.

Jaine tripped over bones and fell against a door she had not seen.