The Legend of The Little Dragon Jami in the Postojna Cave

Dragons used to live in the famous Postojna Cave many thousands of years ago. The dragons threatened the people of the region until the Pivka River rose so high, and swept them all away except for a little dragon called Jami. He wasn’t like his brothers at all. He was a good, friendly dragon. He liked children, but they were all afraid of him. He was so lonely. Then one day a tiny beetle (hrošč) came to him and wanted to be his friend. He introduced Jami to all the other creatures of the cave. And suddenly Jami had a lot of friends.

They told him about a secret treasure of pearls that was hidden deep in the cave, and that they had to protect it from a bad goblin (škrat) called ‘Switch’. Of course, Jami agreed to help them guard the pearls. The only problem was that Jami snored in his sleep. He snored so loudly that all the walls in the cave shook. 

One night ‘Switch’, the goblin heard Jami snoring, tip-toed to the treasure and started stealing the pearls. But Jami suddenly woke up, picked up the goblin and was about to kill him. The goblin begged and begged to be freed. But Jami didn’t let him go. So, Switch thought of a trick. He told Jami that he had magic powers and would grant him any wish he wanted if he only let him go. Jami still wanted to play with children, so he asked to be turned into a human being.

Switch agreed, said ‘Abrakadabra’ and suddenly the cave was filled with smoke and thunder. Jami began getting smaller and smaller. His friend the beetle ran into the cave to see what was going on. There, on top of the pearl treasure was a small dragon with human-like skin. And so Jami forever became a human fish. Switch the goblin never returned. But people who visit the cave often report hearing scratches from inside the dark cave.