天方夜谭英文故事：Zubair and The Barber

Once there was a rich man named Zubair. He was a merchant also. He traveled from one place to another and sold the goods in the market. One day he met a beautiful girl in the market. Amazed by her graceful¹ appearance “She is noble by birth" he thought for himself and wanted to marry her also. 

 

Suddenly she disappeared in the crowd. So he could not talk to her. Zubair returned home with sorrow. But her beauty haunted² him. He told all about the incident to the old maid in his house. He told about her beauty and asked to know more about her soon. She assured him that she could get all the information about her and also, she would fix up a meeting with her also. She knew that she was the daughter of a Wazir. 

 

The very next day the old maid said to Zubair that at noon that day he could meet the girl. “The Wazir will go out on some work," She said. 

 

Zubair was very happy. He called the Barber to shave his face and made his face fine. The servants brought the barber before him. But the barber declined³ to shave his face because that day was not an auspicious⁴ one. He shouted at the barber in anger, “you do your job and leave from here. I have a very important appointment. I didn’t ask any advice from you," he said. 

 

But the barber again said, “You are going to meet a girl who is very beautiful". He also said, “You want to impress her with your good look. 

 

On hearing the words, Zubair got upset and asked the barber to shave his face without further delay. Again the barber gave an idea to take him along with Zubair to meet the girl, so that he could help Zubair to win the girl. Zubair agreed to the request made by the barber without any delay as he was eager to meet the maiden⁵. After his acceptance the barber shaved his face. Both went to the Wazir’s house. When they reached the house, it was late noon. 

 

Zubair with anxiety asked the barber to wait outside the house. The barber replied that he would manage the girl if she got angry on Zubair. 

 

Zubair warned the barber “you care yourself outside the house". 

 

He entered the house slowly with searching eyes. He didn’t see the girl inside the house. To his bad luck, the Wazir came back to his house and found the door open. Zubair quickly hid himself behind the door. He called the servants and shouted at them for their carelessness. The barber heard the noise and thought that Zubair was in trouble. So he rushed into the house and said, “Master, Are you fine!" 

 

Wazir saw the barber and asked him which master he meant. 

 

The barber replied, “My master Zubair who came in just then. He was in panic. Zubair heard all that happened. He knew he was in great trouble. He wanted to escape. So he jumped through a window and saved his life from the Wazir. He felt shame and got angry on the barber. He vowed⁶ not to see the barber again because he was the person who spoilt the visit. But the Barber was happy. 

 

As the barber predicted, it was not an auspicious day for Zubair.  

1 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

2 haunted   

adj.闹鬼的；受到折磨的；令人烦恼的v.“haunt”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• There was a haunted look in his eyes. 他眼中透露出忧虑的神色。
• The country is haunted by the spectre of civil war. 内战仿佛一触即发，举国上下一片恐慌。

3 declined   

v.辞谢，谢绝（邀请等）( decline的过去式和过去分词 )；（道路、物体等）下倾；（太阳）落下；（在品格、价值上）降低

参考例句：

• We asked her to come to our party, but she declined. 我们请她来参加我们的晚会，但是她谢绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He declined to charge his memory with so many details. 他不愿在脑中记这么多细枝末节。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 auspicious   

adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的

参考例句：

• The publication of my first book was an auspicious beginning of my career.我的第一本书的出版是我事业吉祥的开始。
• With favorable weather conditions it was an auspicious moment to set sail.风和日丽，正是扬帆出海的黄道吉日。

5 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。