Please note that this is only a brief summary of the full tale.

Three soldiers were determined to desert the army for lack of pay and hid in a field waiting for the army to leave. As they waited, a dragon flew overhead and said he would save them and give them whips which would give them great riches, but they were to be his servants after 7 years if they could not correctly answer his riddle. They agreed, but as the 7-year deadline approached the soldiers became nervous and, as they waited on the dragon's return, an old woman came and invited them to a hut where they could find the riddle's answer.

One man took the offer and hid in the floorboards until the dragon came and the old woman tricked it into telling the answer to his riddle. The man returned to the field, told his friends, and when the dragon came, they answered his riddle and were set free.

The old woman was the dragon's grandmother.