{"id":159,"date":"2020-03-26T20:21:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T20:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/?page_id=159"},"modified":"2021-07-12T19:31:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T19:31:31","slug":"604-household-words-conducted-by","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/household-words-2\/604-household-words-conducted-by\/","title":{"rendered":"Pg. 604"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Household<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

604 HOUSEHOLD WORDS. [Conducted by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

impossible that he should not\nconceive a great affection for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it happened, that whilst he was thus speaking to himself, Abu Munchar was look\u00ading at him from his window, and saying: \u201cThis is one of the idiots who brought upon me the visit of the head of the police. He has a villanous<\/a> face, with but one eye, and is evidently a conceited person. It would be a pleasant thing to play some good trick upon him, that he might learn not to meddle with things that concern him not, and to have a less opinion of his own merit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little while afterwards,\nhaving matured his plan, he went to the shop of the barber, and expressed his\nwish to be shaved. At the same time, a messenger came from the bath requesting\nhis services. \u201cTell the Maallim,\u201d quoth the poor fellow, \u201cthat I am shaving the\nhead of an emir, and cannot come.\u201d So the messenger went away, another barber\nwas called, and Ali lost his connection with the bath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abu Munchar took off his turban,\nand placed himself on the bench with exceeding gravity, that he might be\nshaved. Ali began at once to sharpen his razor, to prepare the lather, and to\ntalk, as barbers ever do; for Allah has given them a tongue a span in length.\nHe vaunted both his own clever\u00adness and the respect he entertained for his\ncustomer, endeavouring to insinuate himself into his good graces. Unfortunate\nman! his advances were only too well received; and ere the last polish was\ngiven to that round head, Abu Munchar had confessed that he felt wonderfully\ninclined to do good to the barber. Ali was delighted, and said that if that\nwere the case, he would speak out. So he related his surmises on the subject of\nhis patient\u2019s way of life, and begged to be told whether or not he possessed\nthe secret of happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThy penetration<\/a> is marvellous, thy capa\u00adcity is unexampled, O Ali!\u201d was the reply. \u201cThe source of my felicity is indeed not ordi\u00adnary. I was born poor, and lived, until of late, poor, as thou hast surmised; but I chanced to obtain admission into the Company of the Wise and Happy; so that now my lot is to be envied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what is that company?\u201d\ninquired the barber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt consists of a variety of\nindividuals of all ranks and conditions, who have the power of obtaining\nwhatsoever they may wish, when united in the ordained place of meeting. We meet\ntogether at stated intervals. One wishes for a purse of gold, another for a\nbeautiful maiden, another for a handsome garment; and no one ever fails to\nobtain what he may desire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cO Allah! Allah! why may I not\nbecome a member of this worshipful company?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is impossible,\u201d replied\nthe wag, in a grave voice. \u201cI have gratified thy curiosity; but, do not let thy\nhopes go astray in quest of what is forbidden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The barber was afraid for the\ntime to press the matter further, although he did not despair of ultimately\nsucceeding in his wishes. When the shave was over, he refused to accept payment\nfor his trouble; declaring with many oaths that he esteemed it an honour to\nhandle the head of his respected neighbour. Abu Munchar did not much insist,\nbut went away and related to his intimates how he had got a barber at his\nservice for nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some time afterwards, it was\nagreed be\u00adtween the merry man and one of his friends, named Maza, that the joke\nshould be carried out to its extremity. Every preparation having been made,\nMaza went, dressed as a poor man; and, feigning sickness, fell down upon the\nthreshold of the barber\u2019s shop. The luckless rogue, who, since he had lost his\nconnection with the bath, had gained scarcely sufficient to buy him a loaf for\ndinner, was sitting sharpening his razor for the hundredth time that day. On\nhearing a noise, he started as if from slumber, cried \u201chader\u201d (ready), and\nbegan to make a lather, without looking at his customer. On turning round at\nlength, however, he saw as it were a corpse in the doorway, and felt terribly\nalarmed; but he recovered soon, and, humanity prompting him, drew Maza into the\nshop, tweaked his nose, slapped his hands, and succeeded in making him open his\neyes and pretend to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere am I?\u201d said he, in a faint voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the shop of Ali, the\ncleverest and the poorest barber in Cairo. A miserable wretch, who has scarcely\na glass of water to offer thee; but who is ready to shave thy head for the\nhonour of the Prophet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI demand not to be shaved, but\nto be taken to the house of Abu Munchar, if he be known in this quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKnown!\u201d exclaimed Ali. \u201cWhy, he\nis my most intimate friend, and scarcely ever passes a day without stepping in\nto hear me dis\u00adcourse wisely of all things; for he has seen that I am a man of\nsagacity, who knows sen\u00adtences, and can expound history and doctrine. He has\nseen that I am capable of enlightening the imbecility of his mind, and enlarging\nthe bounds of his knowledge, and showing him the right path, and giving him\nrules of con\u00adduct, and directions in the search of wealth, and means to avoid\nthe rod of government, and advice and assistance of all valuable kinds; besides\n….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is enough,\u201d replied Maza,\n\u201cto per\u00adsuade me that thou knowest the man. Show me his dwelling, and thou\nshalt be rewarded \u2014by my thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNay,\u201d quoth Ali, \u201cit seemeth to\nme that thou art sick and unable to walk. Remain in my shop, and I will call\nupon my neighbour, and mention thy name and describe thy qua\u00adlities, and bring\nhim to thee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBe it so,\u201d said Maza; and Ali,\nwho was delighted at the opportunity of entering his neighbour\u2019s house, crossed\nthe street, and
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

604 HOUSEHOLD WORDS. [Conducted by impossible that he should not conceive a great affection for me.\u201d Now it happened, that whilst he was thus speaking to himself, Abu Munchar was look\u00ading at him from his window, and saying: \u201cThis is one of the idiots who brought upon me the visit of the head of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":664,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-159","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":730,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/159\/revisions\/730"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}