in the dragon - castle the messengers had enjoyed dainty fare , which tasted like flowers , herbs , ointment and sugar . they had brought a remnant of it with them to the capital ; yet exposed to the air it had become as hard as stone . the emperor commanded that these fragments be preserved in the treasury . then he bestowed high rank and titles on the three brothers , and made each one of them a present of a thousand rolls of fine silk stuff . he also had investigated why it was that the fisherman , when he chanced upon the cave , had not been destroyed by the dragons . and it turned out that his fishing clothes had been soaked in oil and tree - wax . the dragons had dreaded the odor .
the dragons had dreaded the odor of his fishing clothes .
why wasn't the fisherman destroyed by the dragons ?
why wasn't the fisherman destroyed by the dragons ?