The Barber's Trash Can!

One day a traveller reached a village, thirsty and tired.

He and his horse needed some water, food and shelter for the night. He led his horse towards a hut that was still lit from inside. He gently knocked on the door of the hut and after a few minutes a well-built man in his early forties opened the door.

“I am a traveller in need of some water,” he began.

The man asked him to sit on the porch in front of the hut, while he disappeared inside to fetch some water for the thirsty traveler.

The traveller heard heated arguments between the man and his wife, which he chose to ignore. He did not have a choice.

In a while the man appeared with a glass of water. He apologized for the delay in fetching water. The traveler asked the man to be seated next to him.

“If there is something left, can I request you spare it as my horse and I have had a tough day,” he pleaded.

The man stood up hesitatingly. As he turned around, he saw his wife with a plate of rice and dal.

“This is all that is left after dinner. Hope this is sufficient,” she said, passing the plate to her husband.

He smiled as he took the plate from his wife’s hand.

As soon as she went inside, the man apologized to the traveler for not being able to offer anything more.

“We had a tough day too. In fact we fight over even trivial issues. Money, as you know, is tough to beget and without money the wife remains dissatisfied,” the man explained.

The traveler allowed the horse to graze around as he devoured the plate of rice and dal.

“All around I see couples chatting and living happily that sometimes I feel it is better to remain separated, if we are not happy in each others' company,” the man rued.

By now the traveler had finished his humble dinner. He drank the water and sat down next to his host.

“Oh gentleman, I am a traveler and I go from one place to another. I am not married and therefore I do not know how to advise you. But one day I happened to spend a night at a merchant’s house.

Just that morning, the merchant’s daughter had come back home, after a fight with her husband. She refused to go back to her husband’s place and the merchant supported her move completely. After he had left home to attend to his business, the merchant’s mother called her granddaughter and asked her what she would find in the trash can of a barber’s shop.

After thinking for a while the girl replied.

‘Hair?’ 

She was uncertain of the intent with which the question was asked rather than her own reply.

‘Unwanted hair,’ her grandmother corrected her.

‘Every single barber’s shop rejects the unwanted hair into the trash can so that people leaving their shop look beautiful and happy. Likewise, every household must throw their unwanted fights into the trash can so that they can live happily,’ concluded the wise grandmother.

Her granddaughter apologized to her parents and joined her husband,” the traveler explained to his host.

The man nodded as did his wife who was standing at the doorstep, listening to the wise words of the traveler.