Reading Notes: Of the Merchant and the Barber

Khojisteh went to the parrot at twilight, draped in gold and jewels, and asked him if she could leave saying, "I want to go to my lover at midnight; now tell a short story." The parrot responded with, "There was a merchant in a city that didn't have a child. One day he thought to himself, 'Even though I have gained a lot of riches in this world, I have no child to share my wealth with once I'm dead. Maybe I should share my wealth with the poor and orphans.' He then gave away all his wealth to charity.

He had a dream that night in which someone came to him and he asked them, 'who art thou?' The someone answered with, 'I am the form of your destiny. You have given so much of your wealth to charity that you didn't leave any for yourself. Tomorrow, I will visit you again and you will hit me several times. Once I fall to the ground, I will convert into gold. Take any body part that you require and it will be replaced.'

The next day, as the merchant was getting his hair cut, the brahmin appeared. The merchant got up and started hitting him on the head. As he fell to the ground, he changed into gold. He took the gold, gave some to the barber that was cutting his hair, and told him not to tell anyone.

The barber thought that anyone who hit the brahmin, would turn him into gold. He invited several brahmins to his house and cooked them a feast. He then hit all the brahmins to the point of cracking them open so blood poured out everywhere. They did not turn to gold.

Other brahmins got together to drag the barber in front of the magistrate. The judge then asked him, 'why did you beat the brahmins?' He answered that he thought they would turn to gold because he saw it happen in his own home.

When the merchant was approached by the magistrate he asked if the barber was telling the truth. The merchant said that he went crazy and he was his servant and not his barber."

The parrot then told Khojisteh, "now go." Khojisteh wanted to, but dawn was appearing and her departure was delayed.


Of the Merchant and the Barber by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi.

A barber shaving his client. Source: Wikimedia Commons