titles of Cousin and Brother.  So when the unctions of Royalty were over, these three Kings rode back to the city with the King that was their host, and the horsemen of the three kingdoms pitched their tents and camped outside the walls, making cheer.  Then the King of the City of Shagpat related to the three Kings the story of Shagpat and the attempt that had been made on him; and in the great Hall of Justice he ordained the erecting of thrones for them whereon to sit; and they, when they had paid homage to Shagpat, sat by him there on either side.  Then the King cried, ’This likewise owe we to Shagpat, our glory!  See, now, how the might that’s in him shall defeat the machinations of evil, O my cousins of Oolb, and of Gaf, and of Shiraz.’  Thereupon he called, ‘Bring forth the barber!’

So Baba Mustapha was thrust forth by the soldiers of the guard; and the King of Shiraz, who was no other than the great King Shahpushan, exclaimed, when he beheld Baba Mustapha, ’He? why, it is the prince of barbers and talkative ones!  Hath he not operated on my head, the head of me in old time?  Truly now, if it be in man to shave Shagpat, the hand of this barber will do it!’

And the King of Oolb peered on Baba Mustapha, crying, ’Even this fellow I bastinadoed!’

And the King of Gaf, that was Kresnuk, famous in the annals of the time, said aloud, ’I’m amazed at the pertinacity of this barber!  To my court he came, searching some silly nephew, and would have shaved us all in spite of our noses; yea, talked my chief Vizier into a dead sleep, and so thinned him.  And there was no safety from him save in thongs and stripes and lashes!’

Now, upon that the King of the City cried, ’Be the will of Allah achieved, and the inviolacy of Shagpat made manifest!  Thou barber, thou! do thy worst to contaminate him, and take the punishment in store for thee.  And if it is written thou succeed, then keep thy filthy life:  small chance of that!’

Baba Mustapha remembered the poet’s words: 

          The abyss is worth a leap, however wide,
          When life, sweet life, is on the other side.

And he controlled himself to the mastery of his members, and stepped forward to essay once more the Shaving of Shagpat.  Lo, the great Hall was breathless, nought heard save the splashing of the fountain in its fall, and the rustle of the robe of Baba Mustapha as he aired his right arm, hovering round Shagpat like a bird about the nest; and he was buzzing as a bee ere it entereth the flower, and quivered like a butterfly when ’tis fluttering over a blossom; and Baba Mustapha sniffed at Shagpat within arm’s reach, fearing him, so that the people began to hum with a great rapture, and the King Shahpushan cried, ’Aha! mark him! this monkey knoweth the fire!’