Thousand & One Nights:169th Night: The King Summons The Barber

The tailor said to the king of China:

Yesterday, when we heard the Barber's story, we realised that he was a garrulous fellow, who had wronged the lame young man, we seized him, bound him, and locked him up.  Then we sat and enjoyed the banquet till late afternoon.  When I left and came home, my wife scowled, and said, "You have been roaming around and partying all day, while I have been sequestered home.  If you don't take me out now, I will leave you."  I took her out and we entertained ourselves till nightfall.  When we returned home, we met the roguish hunchback, who was very drunk.  I invited him to our house, bought fish, and we sat down to eat.
When we were almost finished, I took the last piece, which happened to have a bone, crammed into his mouth, and held it shut.  He choked, his eyes bulged, and he stopped breathing.  I rose and boxed him on the back, but the piece lodged in his throat and he died.  I carried him and contrived to get rid of him in the house of this Jewish physician, who contrived to cast him into the house of the steward, and who contrived to throw him in the way of the Christian broker.  Isn't this more amazing and extraordinary than the hunchback's story?"

The king of China shook his head with wonder and delight and said, "Indeed, the story of the young man and the meddlesome barber is  better and more entertaining than the story of the hunchback."  He ordered one of his chamberlains to go with the tailor and fetch the barber from his place of confinement.  "I would like to see and hear for myself this silent barber, who has saved you all from me," said the king.  "Then we will bury this roguish hunchback, for he has been dead since yesterday evening, and we will build him a tomb," he concluded.

The chamberlain and the tailor departed at once, and returned with the barber.  The king saw him, an old man, more than ninety years of age, with white beard and eyebrows, floppy ears, a long nose, and a simpleminded look.  The king laughed at his appearance and said to him, "Silent One, I would like you to tell us one of your tales."  The barber said, "O King of the age, why are this Christian, this Jew, this Muslim, and this dead hunchback before you, and what is the cause of this gathering?"
The King replied laughing, "Why do you ask?"  The barber said, "I ask, so that the majesty may know that I am no meddler and that I am innocent of the charge of being garrulous, for I am called the Silent One."

Morning overtook, and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.




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