opposition, he succumbed to the temptation in consideration of the immense sum put into his hands as earnest money, and when next it was his duty to shave the king, he approached his royal master determined to carry out the wicked plan.
A human life was going to be terminated by a swift stroke inflicted by the razor, and so it was necessary to sharpen it with peculiar attention. The barber, on standing in front of the king, put a few drops of water to his razor and began rubbing it against the hone, as barbers invariably do before shaving. The act reminded the king of the Brahmin's sloka, and he said, "You see, barber, that what the Brahmin said the other day may be fitly said by me also on the present occasion. By khúr he meant hoof, but it means razor as well. So now there is Khúr gharsan, khúr gharsan with chikir chikir páni. I know all the intention with which it is being done, so the other line, Tomár moner kathá ámi sab jàni, may be added as well."
The barber was beside himself with fear at what he heard. He thought that the Brahmin's sloka was an invention of the king's, and that he had used these words to intimate that he knew his thoughts at the moment. The poor man, who was not naturally dead to better feelings but had been gained over by a very large sum of money, quaked in every limb, and ultimately regaining the power of speech, implored his master's pardon in piteous terms. The king was thunderstruck at what he saw and heard, and at length asked the barber the reason of his being thus moved. Thereupon the man, with tears rolling down his cheeks, made a clean breast of everything, and the conspiracy being thus found out, all the persons concerned in it were adequately punished.
The Brahmin, whose sloka had thus accidently been the cause of saving the king's life, was invited to the court, and granted a jagir for himself and his heirs to enjoy for ever.
