In "Just Lather, That's All," by Hernando Téllez, the
barber is a member of a revolutionary faction in Colombia. He is an informant, and who
other than Captain Torres, the military leader wiping out the rebels, comes and sits in
the barber's chair! The barber and the captain have a discussion and the details of
Torres' recent success in killing and/or capturing rebels gives the barber pause. To
kill the captain might save lives, and the barber would certainly be a hero; but the
barber also believes that this killing would not be noble, and in
doing so, he would become a murderer much like Captain Torres. The barber does not want
to be like him. And, after all, if he kills the captain, he will be dead, too—captured
by the military and killed.
The barber takes the higher
road and does nothing:
"I don’t want blood on my hands,” he says to
himself. “Just lather, that's
all."
The captain, as he
turns to leave, tells the barber that other men said the barber would kill him, and he
wanted to see for himself. He says...
They told me that you’d kill me. I came to find
out. But killing isn’t easy. You can take my word for
it.
The barber's relationship
with the rebel cause is meant to be secret so that he can work for the rebels without
suspicion from the army. However, even as this is said, the closing of the story
indicates that Captain Torres knew it all along and was simply
testing the barber. The barber has done nothing, so he is left alone—which would make
one believe that the captain has his own code: he could have killed the barber simply on
his suspicions and no one could have stopped him.
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