Thousand & One Nights: 145th Night: Lame Young Man & Baghdad Barber -7

"Am I not the one whom people call the silent one?" asked the barber to the young man.
"Why?" said the young man, "I don't know."

"Because I am taciturn. My elder brother is called al-Baqbuq meaning Prater. He talks foolishly and his talks are lengthy; the second al-Haddar, the Babbler, he burbles like flowing water ; the third al-Buqaybiq, the Gabbler, he talks like a drunken man. The fourth is al-Kuz, a stone mug. The fifth is al-nashshar, the Braggart, a snob. The sixth is Shaqayiq, noisy. And I al-Samit, the silent one."

The barber kept talking, and I got exasperated and said to my servant, "For the sake of the Almighty God, give him four dinars and let him go. I do not wish to have my head shaved
today."

The barber said to me, "O my lord, what kind of talk is this? I swear that I am under an obligation not to accept any money from you until I have served you, and indeed I must serve you, and it is my duty to help you and fulfill your need; I don't care whether I get paid or not. If you my lord don't know my worth, I know yours and know what you deserve, because of the esteem I hold your father." 

Then he recited the following verses:
One day I came to my lord to let the
Blood, but the season was not good.
I sat and talked of many prodigies, 
My knowledge before him strewed.
Pleased with my talk he said to me, 
You are beyond comparison in lore.
Then the he continued:

"When I recited the same verses to your father he was pleased and awarded me three hundred Dinars, and a robe of honour. Then finding the moment auspicious, let the blood. Then I asked him, "By God my lord, what made you honour me with three hundred dinars?"

He replied, "One dinar for your astrology, another for your entertaining conversation, and the third for blood letting. And remaining hundred and the robe of honour for your praise of me."
The barber went on until I got so angry, that I burst out crying, "May God know no mercy to my father for knowing the like of you."

Morning overtook, and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

( 16 )CHARLES DICKENS: DAVID COPPERFIELD: CHAPTER 16: I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE

Next morning, after breakfast, I entered on school life again.  I went, accompanied by Mr Wickfield to the scene of my future studies- a grave building in a courtyard, with a learned air about it that suited very well to the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral tower to walk with a clerkly bearing on the grass plot - and was introduced to my new master, Doctor Strong. Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall iron rails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as the great stone urn that flanked them, and were set up, on the top of red brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, like sublimated skittles for Time to play at.  Doctor Strong was in his library, with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly combed, his knee-small unbraced, his long black gaiters unbuttoned, and his shoes  yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.  Turning upon me a lustreless eye, t...
Read more

Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Eight

Updated 02/11/2024 In the last Section, at Zula (ancient Avalites) the unknown sailor had been giving an account of imports and exports into and out of ports around Zula. Lret us see his further course: After Avalites there is another market-town, better than this, called Malao  distant a sail of about eight hundred stadia. The anchorage is an open roadstead, sheltered by a spit running out from the east. Here the natives are more peaceable. There are imported into this place the things already mentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed; drinking cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity, iron and gold and silver coins, not much. There are exported from these places myrrh, a little frankincense (that is known as far-side), the harder cinnamon, duaca, Indian copal, and macir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves, but rarely. Notes:- 1. Malao: A coastal town in Eritrea; in Semien-ki-Bahri region known for its beaches and historic port. Now it is calle...
Read more

Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Five

Updated 30/11/2024 In the last Section, last point was Debealuwa/Dhalak (Alalaei )island in the Red Sea, The island is northeast of Gulf of Zula, and the mountain island is in Northern Red Sea Region. And about eight hundred stadia beyond there is another very deep bay, with a great mound of sand piled up at the right of the entrance; at the bottom of which the opsian stone is found, and this is the only place where it is produced. These places, from the Calf-Eaters to the other Berber country, are governed by Zoscales , who is miserly in his ways and always striving for more, but otherwise upright, and acquainted.    My Search:- 1. Opsian stones: Also known as obsidian stones. They are volcanic glass artefacts used for various purposes like making of tools, in jewellery, mirrors and ritual objects. They were widely used in Asian, African and Mediterranean cultures  2. Berber countries: Berbers are the indigenous peoples of Africa, like that of Morocco, Algeria, Libya e...
Read more