Then the hawk said to him, 'There is danger in the King's muteness
respecting me, for I am visible to him. Proclaim the spirit of
prophecy.'

So he proclaimed that spirit, and the King said, 'Prophesy to me of
barbercraft.'

And he cried, 'O King of the age, the barber is abased, trodden
underfoot, given over to the sneers and the gibes of them that flatter
the powerful ones; he is as the winter worm, as the crocodile in the
slime of his sleep by the bank, as the sick eagle before moulting. But I
say, O King, that he will come forth like the serpent in a new skin,
shaming the old one; he slept a caterpillar, and will come forth a
butterfly; he sank a star, and lo! he riseth a constellation.'

Now, while he was speaking in the fervour of his soul, the King said
something to one of the court officers surrounding him, and there was
brought to the King a basin, a soap-bowl, and barber's tackle. When
Shibli Bagarag saw these, the uses of the barber rushed upon his mind,
and desire to sway the tackle pushed him forward and agitated him, so
that he could not keep his hands from them.

Then the King exclaimed, 'It is as I thought. Our passions betray
themselves, and our habits; so is it written. By Allah! I swear thou
art thyself none other than a barber, O youth.'

Shibli Bagwrag was nigh fainting with terror at this discovery of the
King, but the hawk said in his ear, 'Proclaim speech in the tackle.' So
he proclaimed speech in the tackle; and the King smiled doubtfully, and
said, 'If this be a cheat, Shiraz will not see thy face more.'