How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

Replacing the storyteller who “could not make it this evening,” the narrator explains that because they communicate with ghosts, they feel they will make a good substitute for the original storyteller (170). They start telling the story of impotent King Paramenter who, after asking a wizard, sets out in search of a male dragon so he can steal his heart, eat it, and restore his sex drive. Unable to find a male dragon—as they are dying out—the king settles for a female dragon’s heart. He eats it and quickly finds his sex drive back in order. For a few weeks he can be sexually active with his wife and concubines. As soon as they all get pregnant, however, his sex drive fades again. He asks the wizard what to do but the wizard is unfamiliar with the effects of eating a female dragon heart.

Upset with the wizard’s inability to solve his problem, the King has him “beaten,” then proceeds again to find a male dragon (172). This plan is cut short by the arrival of his six new daughters and the death of their six mothers, all of whom die giving birth. Some of the citizens start to worry that the king’s actions with the