The Barber's Clever Wife, page 3
“Surely that’s the last we’ve seen of them now!” she said to herself, as she dragged her bed home. “But if they come back again, I’ll be ready for them!”
By now Karan had had more than enough of the barber’s wife. He decided that there was only one way to get the gold, and that was to claim half the money through the law. So he went to the King, and asked him to decide what was fair.
Bulbul and Ruby were summoned to the royal palace to defend themselves before the court. There, in front of the King and his advisers, Karan and his band of thieves told their tale.
“She tricked us into digging and tilling that waste land,” explained Karan, shooting a look of pure hatred at Ruby. “They sowed rice seed, and took home a whole pot full of gold coins. At least half that gold should be ours.”
“Hear, hear!” shouted the other thieves with approval.
“Have you anything to say in your defence?” the King asked Ruby and Bulbul.
“Er – no, Sire,” yawned Bulbul. He was tired out after the long walk, and couldn’t wait to get back home to bed.
“Well, I do.” Ruby stepped forward fearlessly. “This is the band of thieves who live in the wood outside the city walls. They have tried by every possible means to rob us of our gold, like they have robbed so many poor travellers.”
“Look!” Ruby pulled the sandalwood box from under her scarf, and showed it to the King. “Here are their nose tips and the tip of their leader’s tongue. I had to defend myself with my husband’s razor.”
Shamefaced, the thieves hung their heads as the King stared at their scarred noses. Karan opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again as the King noticed his tongue-tip was missing.
“Guards, arrest these men!” the King ordered. “They’ve committed many crimes, and must be punished.”
Struggling and cursing, the thieves were carried off. Then the King turned to Ruby and Bulbul.
“Bulbul,” he said with a smile. “I have a great favour to grant you. I would like you and Ruby to become my ministers. You’ll live here with me at the court, and you’ll never be poor again.”
“Sire,” Bulbul stammered nervously, “that sounds like very hard work! I mean, I’m not worthy of such a great honour.”
“Of course you’re not,” said the King with a smile, “but Ruby is!” He took Ruby’s hand and turned to his court. “Ruby has taught us a valuable lesson,” the King announced. “She has shown us that an intelligent mind can outwit even the strongest opponent – in short, that brains are better than brawn. And with such a clever wife, Bulbul will never do a foolish thing or make a bad decision as long as she is alive!”
READING ZONE!
TOP READING TIP
Some stories are set in imaginary places, but this one is set somewhere real.
The first page of the story gives you the name of the area where it is set.
Why not use a map to find the places mentioned in the story?
You could also use books or the internet to see what else you can find out about the setting.
You can do this for any book you read that describes a real place.
READING ZONE!
QUIZ TIME
Can you remember the answers to these questions?
• What did Bulbul do to his customers that made him a terrible barber?
• How were the servants keeping the King cool in the midday sun?
• What did Ruby trick the thieves into doing for her on the new piece of land?
• What did Ruby put in the pot instead of gold?
• What was hanging in the mango tree?
READING ZONE!
STORYTELLING TOOLKIT
The author uses lots of descriptive phrases with adjectives to help the reader have a clear picture of the things, people and events in the story: for example, ‘a man in a tatty white turban’ and ‘the city was busy and bustling’.
Can you find any other examples?
Are there any descriptive phrases you particularly like?
If so, you could make a note of these and try to use them in your own writing.
READING ZONE!
GET CREATIVE
Think about how Karan must now feel towards Ruby having been outwitted by her and now thrown in jail.
Imagine you are Karan.
Try writing a letter to Ruby to tell her how cross you are with her.
If you have time, you could also write a reply to the letter in the role of Ruby.
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First published in Great Britain in 2004 by A&C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
This electronic edition published in 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Text copyright © Narinder Dhami, 2004
IIllustrations copyright © Amberin Huq, 2020
Packaged for Bloomsbury by Plum5 Limited
Narinder Dhami and Amberin Huq have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author and Illustrator of this work
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This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
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ISBN: PB: 978-1-4729-6761-9;
ePDF: 978-1-4729-6762-6; ePub: 978-1-4729-6760-2
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Narinder Dhami, The Barber's Clever Wife
