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 dragons will negatively affect them all, but the king silences anyone who mentions this possibility.

The daughters grow up “clever, charming, and lovely” and King Paramenter marries a princess to be their mother (172). The new wife feels there is something weird going on with his daughters and tells him so. He goes to check on them to see if he can pick up on the weird vibe his new wife mentioned. They “pamper him” and he remarks to himself how silly his new wife must be to be worried about such innocent girls (173). The girls catch wind of his mumbling and tell him they think his new wife is insecure because he has not given her a child. Trying to cover up his impotence, he explains she is too “scrawny” for him (174). His daughters suggest one of his guards impregnate her instead, explaining he can just kill the guard when it’s over and save himself the “scandal” of having not impregnated his own wife (175). Lured by the desire for a son, King Paramenter agrees to this plan, has several guards force themselves on his wife, and as soon as she is impregnated, the original father is killed. She gives birth to a boy and not long after, commits suicide.

Years go by and King Paramenter starts inviting potential suitors to the kingdom to meet his daughters. Unimpressed by their riches, the daughters turn all the suitors away and ask their father to provide them with strong men rather than rich ones. He does so, and the girls are much more impressed with the crop. To his surprise however, they insist on all marrying the same man, unwilling to be separated from each other. The men battle for the daughters, causing many nearby kingdoms to lose their strongest men, and making King Paramenter the ire of many surrounding societies. The girls marry the one man left standing and all quickly end up pregnant, though their husband dies shortly after.

Although King Paramenter now has one illegitimate son, when he hears that a male dragon has been found, he seeks out the dragon, kills it, and eats its heart, hoping to reestablish his virility, and to finally create his own son. The heart works, although because the dragon was frail, its potency is not quite as powerful as he had hoped. Paramenter summons and impregnates a dozen country maidens, then sits back to wait and see if they produce a son. While awaiting the results of the pregnancies, King Paramenter visits the room where his daughters reside. They admonish him for spreading his seed so casually and then kill him.

The surrogate storyteller offers to tell another story, while also revealing that they are willing to molest their listeners.