This story is taken from Thai Children's Favorite Stories - Fables, Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales by Marian D. Toth

---

The king of the country should have been the happiest man in the world. His country was at peace, the paddies produced large quantities of rice, and the royal astrologer predicted great good fortune. To make matters even better, a white elephant had been discovered at the beginning of the king’s reign. With all this good fortune the king should have smiled all day long, but to tell the truth — and you should always tell the truth — the king was miserable. He never, ever smiled.

Only one person in the kingdom knew why the king was sad. This man was the king’s personal barber. The barber had been sworn to secrecy and he kept the secret very well, so well, in fact, that no one even knew he shared the king’s secret.

Each day the king looked more worried and depressed. The people in the court began to talk about their majesty’s sad face. Some thought he had a grave illness, but the royal physician said, “He is as healthy as a water buffalo.”

Others thought the king was worried about the country becoming poor, but the royal treasurer said, “We have more wealth than the kingdom of China. Our royal treasury has chests full of jewels, our fields are full of rice and our seas are full of fish.”

Some said the king’s many wives did not love him, but all the royal wives said, “We adore our noble king.”

Everyone knew the king had a secret worry, but no one knew what it was. One day the king’s faithful barber became very ill. The king needed a haircut so a substitute barber was found. The new barber was as excited as a monkey with a handful of bananas. He had never served royalty and the thrill of cutting the king’s hair was almost more than he could bear. He carefully washed his comb, polished his scissors and wrapped them in a clean white towel. He skipped and sang all the way along the road to the palace.

As soon as the barber arrived, the king himself swore the new barber to secrecy. He said, “You must not tell anyone about anything you might discover today.”

The substitute barber had one terrible fault. He could not keep a secret. Everything he did and knew gushed out in a fountain of conversation. The barber was aware of his weakness, but the honor of cutting the king’s hair was a rare privilege, so he took the vow and sincerely meant to keep it.

While he was cutting the king’s hair, he became aware of something very strange. He said, “Your Majesty, now I know why you are sad. You should not let such a little thing trouble you.”

“I cannot talk about it,” said the king. “Barber, you must keep my secret.” The poor barber hurried home with an uncontrollable desire to tell someone about the king’s secret. He could not sleep. He could not eat. He refused to talk to anyone. The need to share the secret started to grow like a swelling balloon inside him.

Finally, he could not bear the torture any longer. He hurried from his house and began looking for a lonely place where he could whisper the secret without having anyone hear him. He rowed to the middle of the river, but to his dismay there were fishermen all around him. He walked as far away as he could from the city and wandered on the paths between the rice paddies, but to his dismay there were farmers all around him. He went to the wat, but to his dismay many others had come to the wat and there were people all around him.

The secret was about to burst. The barber was desperate.

He ran as fast as he could for as long as he could and then fell on his face in the tall wet grass. When he had rested for a few moments, he rose to his feet and discovered that he was alone in the king’s royal forest. Right beside him was a hollow tree. “This is just the right kind of place. No one can hear me here,” he said.

The barber wriggled into the hollow tree and shouted out the secret as loudly as he could. No person heard him, but every grain of wood in the tree absorbed the king’s personal secret.

The barber wriggled out of the tree and sighed with relief. He skipped all the way home, feeling as though he was as light as a butterfly and as free as a breeze. It was, indeed, a wonderful day.

Not long after this, the royal drum fell apart. It was very old and had had constant use. Each hour the royal servants had beat the drum to tell the passing of time. If there was anything the palace needed, it was a sturdy drum. The royal drum makers went into the forest and selected a tree with fine wood. By coincidence, the very tree they selected was the barber’s hollow tree and every grain of wood in this tree had absorbed the king’s personal secret.

The drum makers cut down the tree and had the royal elephant haul it into the courtyard. There they made a beautiful drum.

They carved intricate designs on it and polished it all around. Then they selected the finest oxhide to cover the open end of the drum.

When the palace officials saw it, they said, “Let’s invite everyone to see and hear this fine drum. Our king looks so glum. Perhaps the new drum will cheer him up.” The royal astrologers decided upon the proper day for the celebration. All the important people were invited to come. When the great day arrived a huge crowd gathered in the courtyard. Everyone waited expectantly to hear the boom, boom of the new drum, but the new drum did not say, “Boom, boom, boom.” The drum said, “The king has moles on his head. The king has moles on his head.” It bellowed forth the king’s very own personal secret.

A boy in the crowd began to giggle. Other people felt like laughing, but they did not dare to smile. Everybody looked at the king. Now they knew why he had been so worried.

The king frowned and looked very cross. “Bring the substitute barber here,” he shouted.

The barber’s comb and scissors clicked in his pocket as he stood there trembling in front of the king.

“Barber, did you tell my very own personal secret to the tree?”

The barber nodded and told the truth. You should always tell the truth, you know.

“Release him,” said the king. “Let this be a lesson to all of you.”

The crowd waited anxiously to hear their king explain. He said, “Do not try to hide a blemish. No one person is perfect, and there is no such thing as a secret.” The great drum roared, “The king has moles on his head. The king has moles on his head.”

The king nodded in agreement, and then he began to smile. His eyes began to sparkle and his face was bright with happiness. The king was happy now because he had absolutely nothing to hide. Everybody knew his secret.