The dragon in the secret tunnels of Haarlem

Haarlem once had a rather fearful mayor. If someone had the hiccups, he would be so startled that he would leap into the arms of his secretary. He even climbed the expensive curtains once after seeing a mouse. His wife occasionally shook her head. What was Haarlem to do with such a coward?

Fortunately, not much usually happened in this city. But on a warm summer day, a large swarm of mosquitoes approached the city. People stood on the street pointing at the dark, buzzing cloud. Haarlem was on the verge of becoming uninhabitable if the mayor didn't think of something quickly. He trembled at the thought of being bitten and felt an immediate itch. ‘What now, what now?’ he shouted in panic to his secretary. The calm secretary pulled out a large sheet of paper. On it, secret tunnels were marked with red crosses. One of them was accessible from the basement of the town hall. The mayor didn't hesitate for a moment and raced into the basement.

He took a candle from a candlestick and searched in the half-dark for a door. Between two heavy cabinets he discovered a shiny doorknob. He pushed against the door while turning the knob. Before he knew it, he was in a tunnel and heard loud roaring. Further along in the tunnel it seemed lighter than where he was. He tiptoed forward and the roaring grew louder and louder. The mayor started to sweat. Was it his fear or was it really that warm here? He nearly ran around the corner and then froze in place. There sat a gigantic dragon, its hind legs bound with an iron chain lock. A large key hung on the wall, just out of the dragon's reach.

Although his heart was nearly pounding out of his chest, the mayor took the key and freed the dragon. It flapped away in the direction of the town hall. The mayor hoped that the dragon would save Haarlem from the mosquitoes with its flames. Do you think that worked? In any case, the mayor was no longer afraid. However, he locked the tunnels up for good with a heavy padlock. Much too dangerous.

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