The Barber's Story of His Fourth Brother

My fourth brother, O Prince of the Faithful, was the
one-eyed (named El-Kuz el Aswani) : he was a butcher in
Baghdad, and both sold meat and reared lambs ; and the
great and the rich had recourse to him to purchase of him
their meat, so that he amassed great wealth, and became
possessor of cattle and houses. Thus he continued to prosper
for a long time; and as he was in his shop, one day, there
accosted him an old man with a long beard, who handed to
him some money, saying. Give me some meat for it. So he
took the money, and gave him the meat ; and when the old
man had gone away, my brother looked at the money which
he had paid him, and, seeing that it was of a brilliant white-
ness, put it aside by itself. This old man continued to
repair to him during a period of five months, and my brother
always threw ^lis money into a chest by itself; after which
period he desired to take it out for the purpose of buying
some sheep; but on opening the chest, he found all the
contents converted into white paper, clipped round; and he
slapped his face, and cried out; whereupon a number of
people collected around him, and he related to them his
story, at which they were astonished.

He then went again, as usual, into his shop, and, having
killed a ram and hung it up within the shop, he cut off
some of the meat, and suspended it outside, saying within
himself, Perhaps now this old man will come again, and if
so, I will seize him: — and very soon after, the old man
approached with his money; upon which my brother arose,
and, laying hold upon him, began to cry out, O Muslims,
come to my aid, and hear what this scoundrel hath done
unto me ! But when the old man heard his words he said
to him, Which will be more agreeable to thee — that thou
abstain from disgracing me, or that I disgrace thee, before
the people? — For what wilt thou disgrace me? said my
brother. The old man answered, For thy seUing human
flesh for mutton. — Thou liest, thou accursed ! exclaimed my
brother. — None is accursed, rejoined the old man, but he
who hath a man suspended in his shop. My brother said,
If it be as thou hast asserted, my property and blood shall
be lawful to thee: — and immediately the old man exclaimed,
O ye people here assembled ! verily this butcher slaughtereth
human beings, and selleth their flesh for mutton; and if ye
desire to know the truth of my assertion, enter his shop !
So the people rushed upon his shop, and beheld the ram
converted into a man, hung up, and they laid hold upon
my brother, crying out against him, Thou infidel ! Thou
scoundrel ! — and those who had been his dearest friends
turned upon him and beat him ; and the old man gave him
a blow upon his eye, and knocked it out. The people then
carried the carcass, and took with them my brother, to the
chief magistrate of the police; and the old man said to him,
O Emir, this man slaughtereth human beings, and selleth
their flesh for mutton; and we have therefore brought him
to thee : arise, then, and perform the requisition of God,
whose might and glory be extolled ! Upon this, the magis-
trate thrust back my brother from him, and, refusing to
listen to what he would have said, ordered that five hundred
blows of a staff should be inflicted upon him, and took all
his property. Had it not been for the great amount of his
wealth, he had put him to death. He then banished him
from the city.

My brother, therefore, went forth in a state of distrac-
tion, not knowing what course to pursue; but he journeyed
onwards until he arrived at a great city, where he thought
fit to settle as a shoemaker: so he opened a shop, and sat
there working for his subsistence. And one day he went
forth on some business, and, hearing the neighing of horses,
he inquired respecting the cause, and was told that the King
was going forth to hunt; whereupon he went to amuse him-
self with the sight of the procession: but the King happen-
ing to look on one side, his eye met that of my brother, and
immediately he hung down his head, and exclaimed, I seek
refuge with God from the evil of this day ! He then turned
aside the bridle of his horse, and rode back, and all his
troops returned with him ; after which, he ordered his pages
to run after my brother, and to beat him ; and they did so ;
giving him so severe a beating that he almost died; and he
knew not the cause. He returned to his abode in a miser-
able plight, and afterwards went and related his misfortune
to one of the King's attendants, who laughed at the recital
until he fell backwards, and said to him, O my brother, the
King cannot endure the sight of a one-eyed person, and
especially when the defect is that of the left eye ; for in this
case, he faileth not to put the person to death.

When my brother heard these words, he determined to
fly from that city; and forthwith departed from it, and
repaired to another city, where there w-as no King. Here
he remained a long time ; and after this, as he was meditat-
ing upon his adventure in the former city, he went out one
day to amuse himself, and heard again the neighing of
horses behind him ; upon which he exclaimed, The decree
of God hath come to pass ! — and ran away, seeking for a
place in which to conceal himself; but he found none, until,
continuing his search, he saw a door set up as a barricade;
so he pushed this, and it fell down ; and, entering the door-
way, he beheld a long passage, into which he advanced.
Suddenly, however, tw^o men laid hold upon him, and ex-
claimed. Praise be to God who hath enabled us to take thee,
O thou enemy of God ! For these three nights thou hast
suffered us to enjoy neither quiet nor sleep, and we have
found no repose: nay, thou hast given us a foretaste of
death ! — O men, said my brother, what hath happened unto
you? They answ^ered, Thou keepest a watch upon us, and
desirest to disgrace us, and to disgrace the master of the
house I Is it not enough for thee that thou hast reduced
him to poverty, thou and thy companions? Produce now
the knife wherewith thou threatenest us every night. — And
so saying, they searched him, and found upon his w'aist the
knife with which he cut the shoe-leather. — O men, he ex-
claimed, fear God in your treatment of me. and know that
my story is wonderful. They said. What then is thy story?
So he related it to them, in the hope that they would liberate
him : but they believed not what he said ; and, instead of
shewing him any regard, they beat him, and tore his clothes ;
whereupon, his body becoming exposed to their view,
they discovered upon his sides the marks of beating with
mikra'ahs, and exclaimed, O wretch ! these scars bear testi-
mony to thy guilt. They then conducted him before the
Wali, while he said within himself, I am undone for my
transgressions, and none can deliver me but God, whose
name be exalted ! And when he was brought before the
Wali, the magistrate said to him, O thou scoundrel ! nothing
but a heinous crime hath occasioned thy having been beaten
with mikra'ahs: — and he caused a hundred lashes to be
inflicted upon him ; after which, they mounted him upon a
camel, and proclaimed before him. This is the recompense
of him who breaketh into men's houses ! — But I had already
heard of his misfortunes, and gone forth, and found him ;
and I accompanied him about the city while they were
making this proclamation, until they left him ; when I took
him, and brought him back secretly into Baghdad, and
apportioned him a daily allowance of food and drink.