The Talkative Barber Summary
The story ‘Talkative barber’ as the name implies is a story of a talkative barber. The story is one of the stories from Arabian nights.
The first two Paras of the story “In the city . . . . . family” introduces the barber to the readers. In the city of Cashgar there was a barber who was a great talker. Once the sultan wanted to shave of his head & called for the barber. The barber started talking without a pause instead of shaving sultan’s head & the sultan got angry. The sultan asked in anger when would he stop talking & begin his work. To this barber got annoyed & again started talking about his six brothers & their features who were all great talkers. It seems he was the youngest of them all.
The third, 4th, 5th, Para “give him . . . . Sultan” further describes how angry the sultan got. The sultan shouted & asked for three gold coins to send the barber away & not shaving his head. To this the barber replied that he died he did not come on his own rather he was called by the king, so he would not quit & finish his job before leaving. He again started narrating another story which tested for another half & hour to which the sultan got annoyed & asked the barber to leave him as he had an important affair in the noon.
The 6th to 11th of the story “when he saw . . . . . rid of him” mentions the talkative nature of the barber. When the barber realised the sultan got angry, he finally washed the head of the sultan & started shaving it. Not even four times he touched the razor he again spoke up to the sultan & asked why the sultan acted hastily with him. The sultan ordered him to speak no more to this the barber asked the sultan to be patient & asked him the important affair of the noon so that the barber could give his opinions. The sultan ordered the barber to finish shaving at once but the barber did not pay any heed to him & rushed to see what time was it leaving the sultan half shaved. The sultan got exhausted, then the barber came & know the affair the sultan was fed up, so he told the barber about the feast had organised for his friends. As soon as he heard about the feast he ask recalled about a feast that he had promised his four friends on that day. The barber further added that he forgot to do any preparations. The sultan finally found peace & was ready to do anything to get rid of him.
The 12th to 16th Para “Be quick . . . . so generous.” Describes how the sultan wanted to get rid of the barber. He asked the barber to hurry up & offered him all the food that was prepared at the place. The barber asked the sultan to show the food if it was enough for his four friends. The sultan answered he had enough food & ordered to bring in the food. The barber got satisfied with the food but asked for some fruits. The sultan was half shaves & in desperation even ordered the fruits. The barber left shaving & started examining the dish. The sultan could not stop himself & stamped the barber’s foot but still the barber did not hurry. The finally again took up his razor & worked for a few minutes & told he never knew that the king was so generous.
The story highlights a talkative character & asks that people should not be talkative & concentrate on their work, elsewise his fellow mates could get disturbed & distracted.