Myth and Legends

The Horns

In a certain island in the Mindanao, there ruled a queen who possesses a pair of short horns hidden underneath her thick hair. None of her subjects knew a thing about it before. But the barbers who cut his hair slowly leaked it out to the public.

It eroded her reputation and confidence. As a result, she became disdainful of barbers, and thought of wiping out all the barbers in her kingdom. Soon she came up with a sign placed at the entrance of the gate of the palace welcoming applicants for the position of palace barber.

At the same time, she ordered her men to dig four deep pits alongside each other at the back of the palace ground, at the centre of which she had a table located where she would interview each prospective barber privately.

Many supposed barbers came, each of whom she would ask is she knew how to cut hair. Each one of them who answered yes was handed a pair of scissors with which to cut her hair. Just before each began cutting her hair, the queen would stop her and ask what the barber saw on her head.

Those who admitted seeing pair of horns on her head was immediately ordered executed by being pushed into the deep digging lying on the sides. Two days passed and already two of the deep pits were filled with barbers who were executed by the king.

Since the number of people who knew how to cut hair and who came for the interview became fewer, which lead the queen to assume that she had killed just all of the barbers in her domain. One day, the queen sat waiting in her table until it was close to noon when one young lady came up for the interview.

The queen asked her, “Tell me by what name are you called?”

The stranger said, “I am called Maria, your highness!”

“All right, cut my hair, Maria,” ordered the queen who drew out a pair of scissors from a side table and handed it to Maria.

Maria approached the queen and started cutting her hair. A few moments later the queen asked her,

“Tell me, Maria, what did you see on the top of my head.”

Maria answered, “Your highness, what I see is your golden crown on your head.”

The queen smiled at such very wise answer and thought she could trust Maria. At once, she rose from her chair and led Maria inside the palace and then made her the queen’s barber in front of everybody who was around.

A fat pay was awarded to Maria by the queen. Since then, no word about the short horn on the queen’s head ever leaked out of the palace. It pleased the queen so much she made Maria the Grand Barber and even assigned her a well-furnished quarter inside the palace to stay in.

On that same day, the king ordered the remaining deep excavation closed since they were no longer necessary.