The Dragon is a short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by author Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury

Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...

. This story was originally published in 1955 in the magazine Esquire

Esquire (magazine)

Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

. A limited edition (352 copies, signed and numbered or lettered) of the story was published by Footsteps Press in 1988.
It appears in A Medicine for Melancholy (1959), R is for Rocket (1962), Classic Stories 1 (1990), and Bradbury Stories (2003).

Plot introduction

The story concerns two men, a moor, and a full blown dragon.

The story begins with two knights, who, we are told, have a mission to go and slay a dragon. The dragon as they described, is huge, fire-breathing, horrific, and only has one eye. They charge at the dragon, and they fail. Presumably they died from the attempt.

Readers find out that the 'dragon' is actually a train, a modern-age steam train. And the dragon's single eye is, in fact, the train's head light.