by Stanislaw Lem
In our literary feature this week we present the work of Stanislaw Lem, who has been nominated this year for the Mann Booker Prize.
There is a planet whose economy relies on the presence of a dragon that literally devours most of its resources. A visiting astronaut from Planet Earth finds this baffling. Listen to this satirical short story by Poland's foremost science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem.
The Use of a Dragon was translated by Wiesiek Powaga and can be found in English in the Polish literature collection.
The Eagle and the Crow: Modern Polish Short Stories. Ed. Teresa Halikowska and George Hyde. Serpent's Tail. 1996. 104-113
Picture: www.poland.uz
For more on one of the world's leading writers of SF then see the
Stanislaw Lem Official Web Site