The Legend of the Seven-Headed Beast

This legend of Ribeiros, unlike most of those only preserved orally, has been perpetuated in stone, flowing from the realm of orality to the perenniality of granite.

"There's a legend that tells us that, many years ago, in Moreira de Rei, there was a beast hidden in the brambles, which terrified the population because it ate people and animals that passed by.

The inhabitants of the place, now known as "Vale da Bicha", decided to set fire to the brambles and thus destroy the beast... But they hadn't counted on one thing: the animal had wings and it could fly!... It flew towards Ribeiros, landing in the place of Vinco, where the cemetery is today... And there it continued its rage, which had begun in Moreira de Rei.

A gentleman from the Casa de Passos reacted to this and decided to kill her. Taking his sword and accompanied by his little dog, he went to Vinco to kill the beast... But he too was in for a surprise: the beast was no longer alone; she had now had six children...

But our hero wasn't discouraged... He sent the bitch to look after the beast's children and, drawing his sword, began to fight the mother.

Meanwhile, night fell... Our man, fearing that daylight wouldn't allow him to finish the mission he had set out on, invoked St Mary, patron saint of the parish of Ribeiros... Addressing Heaven, he exclaimed: "St Mary of Ribeiros, enlighten me!"... And a star, descending from on high, landed on a rock and gave him light... Then, after killing the mother, he killed the beast's children... Then he went home, went to bed and never got up.

And so that the sceptics don't doubt the "truth of the legend", the miraculous image of Santa Maria is in the church of Ribeiros, and the sculpture of the Beast is in the Casa de Passos, both made of stone, and there are still those who remember the mark of the star on the rock, which was broken to build the cemetery... And the people of Ribeiros know that every year they pray at the tomb of the man who killed the beast, which is located at the "Porta da Travessa" of the parish church, and everyone also knows that next to the tomb of the man from the Casa de Passos who killed the beast, there is the grave of his faithful little dog..."

By José Carlos Peixoto