The Barber's Story of Himself

I was living in Baghdad, in the reign of the Prince of
the Faithful El-Muntasir bi-llah.*' who loved the poor and
indigent, and associated with the learned and virtuous; and
it happened, one day, that he was incensed against ten
persons, in consequence of which, he ordered the chief
magistrate of Baghdad to bring them to him in a boat. I
saw them, and I said within myself, These persons have
assembled for nothing but an entertainment, and, I suppose,
will pass their day in this boat eating and drinking; and
none shall be their companion but myself: — so I embarked,
and mixed myself among them ; and when they had landed
on the opposite bank, the guards of the Wali came with
chains, and put them upon their necks, and put a chain
upon my neck also. — Now this, O people, is it not a proof
of my generosity, and of my paucity of speech? For I
determined not to speak. — They took us, therefore, all
together, in chains, and placed us before El-]\Iuntasir bi-
llah, the Prince of the Faithful; whereupon he gave orders
to strike off the heads of the ten; and the executioner
struck off the heads of the ten, and I remained. The
Khalifeh then turning his eyes, and beholding me, said to
the executioner. Wherefore dost thou not strike off the
heads of all the ten ? He answered, I have beheaded
every one of the ten. — I do not think, rejoined the Khali-
feh, that thou hast beheaded more than nine; and this who
is before me is the tenth. But the executioner replied, By
thy beneficence, they are ten. — Count them, said the Khali-
feh. And they counted them ; and lo, they were ten.
The Khalifeh then looked towards me, and said, What
hath induced thee to be silent on this occasion ; and how
hast thou become included among the men of blood ? — And
when I heard the address of the Prince of the Faithful, I
said to him, O Prince of the Faithful, that I am the
sheykh Es-Samit (the Silent) : I possess, of science, a large
stock; and as to the gravity of my understanding, and the
quickness of my apprehension, and the paucity of my
speech, they are unbounded: my trade is that of a barber;
and yesterday, early in the morning, I saw these ten men
proceeding to the boat ; whereupon I mixed myself with
them, and embarked with them, thinking that they had met
together for an entertainment; but soon it appeared that
they were criminals; and the guards came to them, and
put chains upon their necks, and upon my neck also they
put a chain; and from the excess of my generosity I was
silent, and spoke not : my speech was not heard on that
occasion, on account of the excess of my generosity; and
they proceeded with us until they stationed us before
thee, and thou gavest the order to strike off the heads of
the ten, and I remained before the executioner, and
acquainted you not with my case. Was not this great
generosity which compelled me to accompany them to
slaughter? But throughout my life I have acted in this
excellent manner.

When the Khalifeh heard my words, and knew that I
was of a very generous character, and of few words, and not
inclined to impertinence as this young man, whom I delivered
from horrors, assertcth, he said, Hast thou brothers? I
answered. Yes : six. — And are thy six brothers, said he, like
thyself, distinguished by science and knowledge, and paucity
of speech? I answered. They lived not so as to be like
me: thou hast disparaged me by thy supposition, O Prince
of the Faithful, and it is not proper that thou shouldst com-
pare my brothers to me ; for through the abundance of their
speech, and the smallness of their generous qualities, each
of them experienced a defect : the first was lame ; the
second, deprived of many of his teeth ; the third, blind ;
the fourth, one-eyed ; the fifth, cropped of his ears ; and
the sixth had both his lips cut off: and think not, O Prince
of the Faithful, that I am a man of many words: nay, I
must prove to thee that I am of a more generous character
than they ; and each of them met with a particular adven-
ture, in consequence of which he experienced a defect : if
thou please, I will relate their stories to thee.