After narrating the story of his second brother, the barber proceeded to share the tale of his third brother. The barber said, “My third brother was named Boobak. He was blind and earned his living by begging. Boobak would go alone every day with his stick to ask for alms. He would quietly stand at the door of a wealthy person, tapping it with his stick. Whatever alms he received, he would silently accept and move on. This was his daily routine.
One day, Boobak knocked on the door of a house where only the owner lived. The owner asked from inside, ‘Who is it?’ My brother did not say anything and knocked on the door again. The owner asked again, ‘Who is it?’ My brother remained silent, continuing to tap on the door. Finally, the homeowner opened the door and asked, ‘Who are you, and what do you want?’
Boobak replied, ‘I am a beggar, and I need alms.’ The homeowner asked if he was blind. Boobak affirmed, and then the homeowner said, ‘Extend your hand forward.’ Thinking he would receive some alms, Boobak reached out his hand. However, instead of giving him something, the homeowner grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs. Then he asked my brother if he only begged or also gave something. Boobak replied, ‘I am a blind man, what can I give? I can only offer blessings.’ Hearing this, the man said, ‘Raise your hand forward.’ Boobak thought he would receive some alms, so he extended his hand. However, the homeowner did not give him anything and instead pulled him up the stairs.
Once upstairs, the homeowner asked my brother whether he only begged or also gave something. Boobak replied, ‘I am a blind man, what can I give? I can only offer blessings.’ The homeowner said, ‘I gave you the blessing that your eyesight would be restored so that you can see.’ Upon hearing this, my brother said, ‘You could have told me this downstairs; there was no need to bring me upstairs.’ The homeowner replied, ‘I called you twice, but you did not say anything. I also had to climb up and down the stairs because of your silence.’ My brother accepted his fate and, using his stick, started descending the stairs. However, his foot slipped, and he stumbled down. He got injured on his head and back, but he continued on his way, cursing the homeowner for bringing him upstairs.
As he went a little further, he encountered his two blind beggar friends. They asked him if he had received any alms today. My brother narrated his story, how he got injured today. Then, my brother told them that today he did not receive any alms. Subsequently, the three of them set out for their respective homes.”
Friends, the person responsible for injuring my brother was a thief. Following my brother and his companions, the thief sneaked into their house. Upon reaching home, Boobak took out some money from his pocket and told his blind companion to bring something to eat from the market, but let’s settle our accounts first. Boobak said, “Close the door first, so that no outsider enters the house.” The thief, who was already inside the house, wanted to know the earnings of these three blind men, so he hung a rope hanging from the ceiling, quietly listening.
The three blind men, swinging their sticks around, carefully explored the entire house and then closed the door. The thief hanging high was not caught. Afterward, my brother Boobak told his companions that they should take back the money they had trusted him to keep. He could no longer keep it. Saying this, my brother Boobak picked up an old sheet, in which forty-two thousand silver coins were sewn. Boobak held the old sheet carefully.
Afterward, Boobak took out some money from his pocket and told his companions to bring something to eat from the market. One companion said that there was no need to bring anything from somewhere else. Today, I received a lot of delicious food from the house of a rich man. Then all three began to eat. Watching all this, the thief remained silent and quietly sat next to my brother, starting to eat surreptitiously. Hearing the sound of another person chewing, my brother was surprised, and he quickly grabbed the hand of the thief, started screaming loudly, and began to beat the thief.
Upon hearing my brother’s screams, his friends also started beating the thief. While saving himself, the thief also started beating the blind men. Along with that, he began to scream, “Save me, these thieves will kill me.” Hearing the cries of those people, the surrounding people gathered, broke the door, entered, and asked about the reason for the screams. My brother Boobak told the people that the man he had caught is a thief who came to steal our money.
When the thief saw the crowd, he closed his eyes and pretended to be blind. The cunning thief said, “Brothers, this blind person is lying. The truth is that all four of us are blind, and we have all collected this money by begging. But the intentions of these three have turned bad, and they don’t want to give me my share. Therefore, these people are calling me a thief and beating me. Now, you decide.”
Seeing this tangled situation, people took them all to the police. The thief, still pretending to be blind, said, “Sir, we are all guilty, but none of us will admit our crime. If we are all beaten one by one, we will confess our sins. Start with me.” Boobak, my brother, tried to say something, but the police officer scolded him and silenced him. Then the beating of the thief began. After being beaten twenty or thirty times, the thief opened his eyes and shouted, “Government, stop beating now. I will tell the truth.”
The police officer stopped the beating. The thief said, “Sir, the truth is that I and my companions are not blind at all. We just pretend to be blind and, under the pretext of begging, sneak into people’s homes and steal. By stealing like this, we collected forty-two thousand rupees. Today, when I demanded my share from these people, they did not give me my money and started beating me. Please do justice.”
Seeing the police officer not trusting him, the thief said, “Government, if you don’t trust me, beat these people like you beat me. They will confess their crime after getting beaten. My brother and his two friends wanted to tell the truth, but the police officer didn’t let them speak. The police officer said that all four of you are criminals.
My brother tried to convince the police officer, but he did not listen. After that, all three blind men started getting beaten. After a while, the thief, while screaming, said to those three blind men, “Friends, why are you sacrificing your lives in vain? Like me, open your eyes and admit your crime. After getting beaten, they will accept their guilt. I think these three have already received the punishment for their crime. It’s good that we present all four in front of the Qazi. Whatever decision he makes will be right.”
When they reached the Qazi, the thief said, “Sir, we four have collected this money through theft. If it is your order, I will bring the money in front of you.” The Qazi sent one of his servants with the thief to bring the money. The thief returned with the money-filled old sheet. The Qazi gave one-fourth of the money to the thief.
After receiving the money, the thief left. The Qazi kept the remaining money and expelled my brother and his two friends from the country after thoroughly beating them. After saying this, the barber laughed loudly. After hearing Khalifa’s story, I searched for Boobak and brought him to my house. Then, gathering several witnesses, I proved him innocent. After that, the Qazi called the thief, punished him, and took back the given money. However, the Qazi did not give the remaining amount to the three blind men. Khalifa, the barber, laughed heartily upon hearing this. Then the barber began the story of his fourth brother.
