I dimly recall the tale of a barber who works for a powerful, vain, moody, vengeful lord, and who knows the dreadful secret that the man wears an elaborate wig because he is completly bald.

From time to time the knowledge becomes too much and the barber takes himself off into the woods where he bangs on a particular tree trunk and shrieks 'our lord and master is bald' - just to get it out of his system.

One day the barber goes into the woods and finds that the tree he has been pounding has been cut down, but thinking nothing of it, he simply finds another sturdy old tree to beat.

Time passes, there is to be a parade, a new drum is to be presented to the city band. Everyone turns out for the grand march past, even though the sun is very hot and there is not a cloud in the sky.

When the drum is beaten it doesn't go 'boom boom boom' but cries out 'our lord and master is bald' in the barber's voice.

There is a deathly hush, everyone waits for the reaction.

The lord suddenly bursts out laughing and takes off his wig.

'I was just wishing I could take off this hot heavy wig.' he says, 'and now I can.' and orders the parade to go on.

The drum is carried right around the town shouting out that the lord is bald each time it was struck, until all the shouting was used up and it changed to making the normal sound for a drum.