Woman with Horns
Woman With Horns is a short story written by Filipino writer Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. The story is about a doctor from New York named Dr. Gerald McAllister and his journey at Ubec as he encountered an Ubecan widow named Agustina Macaraig who is rumored to have horns when he was an infant and is a half-man, half-myth creature.
Summary
Dr. Gerald McAllister went to his house to eat lunch and return to his office at the Ubec General Hospital. It was March 16, 1903 on that day. A year and a half passed after his arrival to Ubec from San Francisco. Three years passed since his wife, Blanche, died.
He met Agustina Macaraig, an Ubecan widow, at the hospital. She went there to have a medical check – up, but Gerald requested her to return after lunch because there were no doctors on duty. A story has been told about Agustina by Dr. Jaime Laurel, his assistant, during their walk at the park. According to the story, Agustina is a half – woman, half – myth creature. Her mother is a laundry woman while her father is an encantando, a river spirit. She was born with horns, but then her mother bribed the carpenter to saw them off.
During Gerald’s visit to the Mayor’s house he went to the verandah to drink his rice wine. There he met Agustina again. She tried flirting with him and invited him to have dinner at her house with her child.
After their dinner, Gerald went home with anger and confusion. Like him, Agustina should keep on lamenting for the death of her spouse, but it was the other way around. He tried forgetting it by staring at an album of pictures of his wedding with Blanche. Blanche was a surgical nurse and married Gerald – but she died due to consumption. In order to stop himself from mourning, Gerald went to Philippines and worked there as the Public Health Director of Ubec.
Night passed and the next day came, Gerald went to Jaime’s office. Jaime told him that the mother of the Mayor died – but Gerald, instead of showing sympathy, did not care at all, which made Jaime angry.
Gerald went to the Mayor’s house, where the body of the old woman was in funeral service, to show sympathy.
After the burial of the Mayor’s mother, which always happen at the end of a funeral service, the mourners, including Gerald, went back to the Mayor’s house to have a banquet. There he met Agustina again and had a conversation with her.
Gerald went home after the event, but then he decided to swim in the river during the night. He went there and saw Agustina slowly approaching him as he swam, until they fell into each other’s arms.
References
- Woman With Horns at eNotes