The restaurant-barber shop

Once a villager got a lot of money quite unexpectedly, so he wanted to show off. He said, "Now that I have money, I will be able to eat whatever I want and buy whatever I want."

He bought many things to take back to his wife and show off. Then he went to a very fancy restaurant and said to the headwaiter, "Give me anything that you want to. I don't care how expensive it is; only it has to be most delicious."

The headwaiter said, "Fine," and entered into the kitchen to bring the food. In the meantime the villager took off the tablecloth and tied it around his neck so that he would not ruin his new clothes. When the headwaiter came back, he said, "What is this? He is all ready for shaving, and I have brought this food!" He was so disgusted!

One of the headwaiter's joker-friends said to the villager, "You have come to the right place for a shave."

The man said, "I want to eat food. I have lots of money."

The joker continued, "It seems you have come here for a shave, the way you have put this cloth on. Wait for a few minutes. We have sent for the barber. Do you need a shave or a haircut?"

The villager said, "They told me this was a restaurant."

The joker said, "No, this is a barber shop, only the barber is missing. But they have sent for him so you can have a very nice, clean shave and haircut. The barber is coming."

The man stood up and said, "I came to the wrong place. I do not need a shave. I need food." So the man left.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The sailor and the parrot, Agni Press, 1981
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sp