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The Tale of Custard the Dragon is a poem for children written by Ogden Nash.[1] A picture book of the 1936 poem with illustrations by Lynn M. Munsinger was published in 1995.[2][3]
The poem has been described as "probably his most famous poem for kids".[4] In 1959, it inspired Leonard Lipton to write a poem that evolved into the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon".[5][6] This poem is written as a ballad which presents a short story with parody.
The poem opens with the introduction of Belinda and her company of pets: Ink (the kitten), Blink (the mouse), Mustard (the dog) and Custard (the cowardly dragon). Everyone in the house is very fond of bragging and boasting about their bravery, except for Custard. Despite his frightening looks, the dragon cries for a nice safe cage and gets tickled mercilessly. His inmates take his cowardness for granted and make him the butt of ridicule, also calling him Percival as he is weak.
This poem includes a lot irony, as the fierce looking dragon is weak and scared unlike story book dragons that are fierce and powerful.
All of a sudden, a pirate breaks into the house with pistols in his hands. Panic-stricken, everyone flees from the scene. However, the seemingly coward dragon chases at the pirate and devours him. Thus, he proves himself as the bravest of all and everyone feels obliged to him.
Now, as the danger is over, everyone again goes about blowing their own trumpet as before and Custard continues to ask for a nice safe cage.[7]
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