ABSTRACT
The barber of Bengal differs in no respect from the barber of Europe. He is the same character now as he was when Maenas brought the first barber to Rome to shave the famous Scipio Africanus, and although he does not possess in India a shop where idlers lounge, and the plethoric are bled, he still retains the reputation of being loquacious, a retailer of scandal, and with an unusual amount of insight into character. Above all, he is a man of the world, full of anecdote and repartee, and, if rumour is to be believed, he arranges meetings between disconsolate lovers. Furthermore, he is very clannish, and an insult, received by one is resented by the whole body, while melancholy indeed is the fate of a Hindu who offends his barber; the whole clan will refuse to shave him, and at last, driven to desperation, he is glad, by the payment of an exorbitant fee, to be restored to their good graces.
