Produced by Several Project Gutenberg Volunteers THE COMPLETE PROJECT GUTENBERG WORKS OF GEORGE MEREDITH By George Meredith CONTENTS: The Shaving of Shagpat The Ordeal of Richard Feverel Sandra Belloni Rhoda Fleming Evan Harrington Vittoria The Adventures of Harry Richmond Beauchamp's Career The Egoist The Tragic Comedians Diana of the Crossways One of Our Conquerors Lord Ormont and his Aminta The Amazing Marriage Celt and Saxon Farina Case of General Ople The Tale of Chloe The House on the Beach The Gentleman of Fifty The Sentimentalists On The Idea Of Comedy And Of The Uses Of The Comic Spirit Miscellaneous Prose Introduction To W. M. Thackeray's "The Four Georges" A Pause In The Strife. Concession To The Celt. Leslie Stephen. Correspondence From The Seat Of War In Italy Letters Written To The 'Morning Post' From The Seat Of War In Italy. Poetry: A Reading of Life, and Other Poems Poems, Volume 1. Poems, Volume 2. Poems, Volume 3. THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT By George Meredith AN ARABIAN ENTERTAINMENT 1898/1909 CONTENTS: THE THWACKINGS THE STORY OF BHANAVAR THE BEAUTIFUL THE BETROTHAL PUNISHMENT OF SHAHPESH, THE PERSIAN, ON KHIPIL, THE BUILDER THE GENIE KARAZ THE WELL OF PARAVID THE HORSE GARRAVEEN THE TALKING HAWK GOORELKA OF OOLB THE LILY OF THE ENCHANTED SEA STORY OF NOORNA BIN NOORKA, THE GENIE KARAZ, AND THE PRINCESS OF OOLB THE WILES OF RABESQURAT THE PALACE OF AKLIS THE SONS OF AKLIS THE SWORD OF AKLIS KOOROOKH THE VEILED FIGURE THE BOSOM OF NOORNA THE REVIVAL THE PLOT THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN THE BURNING OF THE IDENTICAL THE FLASHES OF THE BLADE CONCLUSION THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT BOOK I. THE THWACKINGS THE STORY OF BHANAVAR THE BEAUTIFUL THE THWACKINGS It was ordained that Shibli Bagarag, nephew to the renowned Baba Mustapha, chief barber to the Court of Persia, should shave Shagpat, the son of Shimpoor, the son of Shoolpi, the son of Shullum; and they had been clothiers for generations, even to the time of Shagpat, the illustrious. Now, the story of Shibli Bagarag, and of the ball he followed, and of the subterranean kingdom he came to, and of the enchanted palace he entered, and of the sleeping king he shaved, and of the two princesses he released, and of the Afrite held in subjection by the arts of one and bottled by her, is it not known as 'twere written on the finger-nails of men and traced in their corner-robes? As the poet says: Ripe with oft telling and old is the tale, But 'tis of the sort that can never grow stale.