What is the importance of the talking donkey and the dying dragon in the novel, Tyll?

In a narrative rife with pseudo-scientists, quacks, alchemists, and zealot theologians bent on defining, describing, and cataloguing the material world, Tyll’s talking donkey and the heartbreaking scene that recounts the last moments of the last dragon represent the inexplicable, very real events that cannot be explained either through science or religion. Cynical townsfolk are certain Tyll’s talking donkey is some sort of ventriloquism stunt and everyone dismisses the aged Doctor Kircher and his hunt for the last dragon as nonsense and the lunatic schemes of the senile. The novel endorses both. The phenomena are presented without irony and without authorial mocking or deflation. The world is capable of that which cannot be explained, cannot be defined. Not only does Tyll’s donkey talk but the animal is reasonable and even thoughtful; and not only are there dragons but Kircher is right in his belief that they are fast nearing extinction.