The story of Kabak, the sixth brother of the barber who had rabbit-like lips
The barber said that now the story of my last brother Shah Kabak has remained. Listen to this too, then I will bid farewell to you. The name of this brother was Shah Kabak and his lips were raised like a rabbit and he was walking and jumping like a rabbit. On the death of his father, he got his share of money and he did business with them, which made him a lot of profit, but after a few days, unfortunately, he suffered such a loss that the grain became unbearable. This means that he was left with very little money.
Now he started this business of going to the houses of the rich and colluding with the gatekeepers and giving them bribe. They would let him in where he would hold the householder’s feet and beg him. The gatekeeper would also say that the poor man is really sad, definitely give something to him.
One day while walking he went in front of a huge building where many servants were running and running. He asked a servant whose house this was. He said, you seem to be a foreigner, that’s why he is asking the name of the owner of this palace. Our lord is famous like the sun. His name is Jafar Barmaki who is a trusted minister of the Caliph. My brother asked the servants if I could get some alms here. He said that our master is very kind, he does not stop any petitioner, you go inside without fear and beg our master, he will make you happy.
When my brother went inside, seeing the opulence there, his eyes burst. The palace was huge and decorated with very valuable items. It had splendid marble floors and colorful silk curtains hanging everywhere. Through several hallways and gardens, my brother came to a hallway where there were many servants and an old man was sitting on a gilded pedestal. My brother understood that this is Barmaki. When he saluted, Barmaki said, what do you want?
My brother bowed down and saluted him and said, Sir, I am a poor man and have come to ask for something from a rich man like you. Barmaki was pleased with this and seeing his poor condition said that it is surprising that there is such a poor person in our city of Baghdad. My brother understood that it would give me a lot and he blessed Barmki a lot. Barmaki told him that I will give you such a donation which you will remember for life. Then my brother said that I solemnly say that I have not eaten anything yet. Barmaki said, it is a matter of great sadness that you are also very hungry. I’ll order food for you now.
Saying this, Barmaki gave a loud voice, Chokre, bring water to wash hands. Neither the boy nor the water came, but Barmaki started washing her hands with feces as if someone was pouring water on them. He told my brother that you also come forward and wash your hands. My brother thought that Barmaki was a joke-lover. He also went ahead and started washing his hands falsely. Then Barmaki said that now food is also coming. After a few moments, he took his hand to his mouth and started moving his mouth as if he was chewing on grass. He told my brother that you should also eat. Why are you hesitating? Treat this house as your own. My brother, who was really hungry, was annoyed by this deceitful feast and didn’t say anything.
Barmaki said, what is the matter? Don’t you like this sheermal and this kebab? why are you not eating? Seeing no other way, my brother started eating lies like a barmaki. After some time Barmaki called out and said, truthfully, you have ever eaten such delicious chakor and quail meat. Then in the same way he falsely ate duck meat and fed it. Then Barmaki said that look how delicious this chicken meat is, take one leg and one arm too. Then he said, Look, this is the roast beef of a goat. He also ate and fed her falsely.
Similarly, he asked for many types of imaginary dishes and ate and fed them with lies. Then taking a bite of a dish, took it towards my brother’s mouth and said that eat it with my hand.
Shah Kabak chewed on that false grass and said, indeed its taste is unique. Barmki said that I already used to say that you will like it, well now try eating one more thing. Saying this he again took an air grass towards the mouth of Shah Kabak. Shah Kabak simply turned his face and said, Wow, what to say about its taste, it is also no less than the previous dish. The aroma of amber, clove, nutmeg and mace was coming from it and none of the fragrances were suppressing any other fragrance. Barmki said that eat it whole.
Then Barmaki gave a voice to the boy (who was not present anywhere) to pick up the utensils of food and bring fruits. Then told my brother that these almonds have been plucked today. After this, both of them imaginatively plucked the almonds and started eating the pulp by throwing away their skins. In the same way, Barmaki fed many different types of fruits and nuts. Shah Kabak praised him very much and said that he got to eat very tasty things, which tired the mouth but did not fill the mind.
Now Barmaki smiled and extended her hand and said that drink this wine. Shah Kabak said that drinking is prohibited in our family, but when Barmaki kept insisting, he poured a cup of falsehood around his neck and said, Master, I had heard that there is intoxication in alcohol, I did not get intoxicated at all. . Barmki said that now I will give you a new type of strong liquor. Saying this he extended an imaginary cup to my brother. He drank her lies and started trying like an alcoholic. After sometime he hit Barmki with one punch, then another one. For the third time Barmaki held his hand and said have you gone mad?
My brother showed such a gesture as if he was startled by intoxication. Then he said with folded hands, Sarkar, a bigger crime has been committed than me. You fed me so many delicious dishes and I treated you with such audacity. But you made me drink strong liquor too. I have already requested you that there is no drinking in my family and I am not used to it. Due to this intoxication, I forgot. I’m sorry.
Barmaki, instead of getting angry on hearing this, laughed and said, I was looking for a man like you for a long time. I can forgive your offense on the condition that you stay here with me forever. Till now we have eaten food of lies, now we will eat real food. Having said this, he ordered the servants and they all brought the same dishes one by one, which Barmaki had eaten and fed falsely till now. My brother ate those delicious dishes with interest. Then the vessels were picked up and vessels of fine wine were brought. In the midst of drinking, many young girls came and they played for a long time in melodious voices with melodious instruments.
My brother was naturally very happy with all these things. He greatly admired Barmaki’s generosity and blessed her greatly. Barmaki said that now you take off these torn clothes and put on the clothes of the law. Saying this he ordered the servants to bring new clothes for him. They brought valuable clothes from their garb of Barmki for Shah Kabak.
Barmki found my brother intelligent and tactful in every way and handed over all the management of his house to him. Thus he became very satisfied and happy and started living in Barmaki’s palace. But his good fortune did not favor him for a long time. The Caliph confiscated all his property and money on Barmaki’s death. The property that my brother had acquired was also taken away from him. That poor man took his little remaining money and went abroad with a group of merchants to do some business. But on the way, the bandits attacked and robbed all those traders and sold them as slaves.
My brother was also sold to a wild man. The wild would beat him and say that if you give me this much money, I will set you free. My brother swore that I didn’t have a penny. On this the wild took out a knife and slit my brother’s lips. Even then, he did not have mercy on him and after the lips were cured, he was put on the work of hard labor. The poor started living life in misery like this.
The wife of that wild was very beautiful. When he went to loot and kill, he used to leave the burden of protecting his wife on my brother. After the husband’s departure, the woman would talk to Shah Kabak very sweetly, take care of his every need and show very attractive gestures. Shah Kabak understood that she wanted me and wanted to enjoy with me. But for fear of his wild master, Shah Kabak stayed away from him and would lower his eyes when in solitude he showed her charming gestures.
One day in love, the woman started making such efforts in front of Shah Kabak in the presence of her husband. Junglee misunderstood Shah Kabak and in anger made him sit behind him on a camel and took him to a high mountain and left him so that he would die of hunger and thirst. He himself came down sitting on the camel alone. In a few days, some people came out from there coming towards Baghdad. He himself did not bring my brother but came to Baghdad and told me his condition. I went and consoled him and brought him to my house.
The barber said that the Caliph laughed a lot after hearing all these stories. He rewarded me well and gave me the title of serious man. But said that you get out of Baghdad. After a few years I heard that the Caliph had passed away, so I came back to my home. By that time all my six brothers were also dead. After this I served this lame and his father for many years as you yourself have heard from his mouth. Yet it is very sad that in spite of doing so much good to them, it gave evidence of ingratitude and kept on hating me. After leaving his city, I reached Kashgar in search of it.
The tailor narrated the story heard from the barber’s mouth in front of the king of Kashgar and said that after the barber’s story, everyone had their food and at the third o’clock I went to my shop. When I started coming home in the evening, I saw this hunchback sitting in front of my shop singing and playing. I took him to my house. My wife had cooked fish that day. She brought many fishes for both of us to eat. I gave the humpback some fish to eat. The fool ate them without taking out their thorns. The thorns got stuck in his throat and he fell unconscious. I made many efforts to cure him, but when he died, I returned home after hanging him by the door of the Jewish Hermit.
The tailor said again, Jahanpanah, everything after this is known to you. Knowing that he was dead, Hakim dropped him in the merchant’s warehouse. The merchant slapped him thinking that he was a thief and understood that he had died from that hit, so he made it stand in the market with the help of a shop. I have told you all the truth. Now you have the right whether to give me the death penalty or to pardon me.
The emperor was satisfied after listening to the tailor and said that the tailor and the other three people are innocent, they should be released. He also said that I was very pleased to hear the tales of the six brothers of the lame and the barber, undoubtedly more entertaining than the tales of the hunchback. But he ordered that the barber, who is in this city, be brought here and that the humpback’s body should not be buried and no accused should be allowed to go home until he comes here.
Therefore, on the orders of the emperor, his servants went with the tailor and after searching for some time brought the barber in front of the king. The barber was ninety years old, his beard, mustache and eyebrows white as snow. His nose was very long and his ears were hanging down due to old age. Seeing this strange form of his, the emperor burst into laughter. He said to the barber, I have heard that you tell very strange and amazing stories. I want to hear some of your stories from your mouth.
The barber folded his hands and said, O Prithvinath, I am your servant. I am always ready to obey whatever orders are given to me. But before telling the story, I want to dare to ask a question. Please tell why this tailor, this Jewish ruler and so many citizens are gathered here and why is this humpback man lying on the ground. The king said, what do you have to do with these things? The barber said, “I just want to prove that I’m not a bullshit.” When I speak, I want to listen.
The emperor laughed on hearing this and told the whole incident how four men were about to be hanged for the crime of killing the hunchback. The barber nodded his head seriously while listening to this story as if he understood everything and found some secret which he had hidden in his heart. Then he sought permission from the emperor to see the hunchback. On getting permission, he got up and went to the hunchback and observed his body for a long time and kept watching the pulse, eyes etc.
Suddenly he laughed out loud. He kept on laughing and fell on his back laughing. He didn’t even notice that it was very arrogant to laugh like this in front of the emperor. Even after getting up, he kept on laughing for a long time. Then the government said, the story of this hunchback is such that it should be written in golden letters. People were surprised to hear him and started saying that either this barber has lost his mind or his mind has been killed due to old age. The king also said humorously, O little spoken, intellectual sir, why are you laughing so much?
The barber said, Prithvipal, by the grace of your justice and forgiveness, I say that this hump is not dead at all. I can fix it. If you allow, I will treat it. If I don’t succeed, then you call me unintelligent or insane, whatever you want and give whatever punishment you want. After getting permission from the emperor, the barber opened his chest and took out an oil from it and rubbed it on the hump’s hand and throat for some time. Then he opened the mouth of the humpback with a tool and, putting a tweezers inside his mouth, grabbed the hook of the fish stuck in his throat and took it out with force. He showed the thorn to all present. Within no time there was movement in the hands and feet of the hunchback and he opened his eyes. Apart from this, many signs of life appeared in his body.
The king of Kashgar and all the people present were astonished to see that even after lying like dead for a whole day and night, the humpback rose suddenly. Everyone was happy about this. The emperor ordered that the incident of the so-called death of the hunchback and the stories told by the barber be recorded and kept in the royal library. He also ordered that since the tailors, Jewish rulers, Muslim merchants and Christians had to suffer great mental and physical suffering because of the hunchback, these people should be sent off with a great reward from the royal treasury. He gave the third order that some monthly salary of the barber should be fixed and kept in the court so that he would entertain us with his stories.
The minister’s daughter Shahrajad kept silent after telling this entire story. Duniyajad said, Didi, this was a very good story. I thought that the poor hump must have died. In fact the barber was so skilled and intelligent that he gave him life.
Shahryar, the emperor of India, said, I am also very happy to hear this story, especially to hear the stories of the lame and the barber. Shehrzad said, “If Emperor Salamat gives me his life today, I will tell the story of Shamsunnihar, the son of Baka, Abul Hasan and Khalifa Haroon Rashid.” This story is even more entertaining than the story of Hunchback.
Therefore, because of the desire to hear that story, the emperor did not get Shahrajad killed even that day. He sat in the court all day, engaged in the administration of his kingdom and came in the night and slept with Shahrajad. One hour before the second dawn, Duniyajad woke up Shahrajad and said that now tell the story which he was asked to tell. Shahryar also woke up and was eager to hear the story. Shahrzad began to say.
