Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Two  brothers,  Kaseim  and  Alibaba  lived  in  Persia.  They  had  not  inherited  much  from  their  father.  When  he  died,  Kaseim  married  a  rich  widow  and  became  prosperous.  Alibaba  was  a  woodcutter  who  lived  with  his  wife  chopped  wood  in  the  forest  every  day  and  sold  it  in  the  market.  They  were  very  poor.

One  day  in  the  forest  Alibaba  saw  some  riders  coming.  He  was  frightened,  so  leaving  his  asses  hidden,  he  climbed  up  a  tree.  40  thieves  rode  into  the  forest.  As  Alibaba  watched,  they  tied  their  horses  and  took  large  bags  from  their  horse's  backs.  The  robber  chief  walked  up  to  the  rock  and  cried  out  Open  sesame.

Alibaba  watched  in  amazement  as  a  large  door  opened  in  the  rock.  The  robbers  went  in  and  the  door  closed.  After  a  while  it  opened.  The  thieves  came  out  with  empty  bags.  The  chiefs  came  out  with  empty  bags.

The  chief  turned  and  said  Shut  sesame.  And  the  door  closed  before  they  rode  it  away.  Alibaba,  wondering  what  was  inside  the  cave,  stood  before  the  rock  and  said  Open  sesame.  The  door  swung  open  and  he  looked  around  stunned.  The  cave  was  full  of  the  most  fabulous  treasures  gold  and  silver  jewelry,  jeans,  bags  of  gold  coins,  rich  silk  dresses  and  much  more.

He  collected  as  much  gold  as  he  could  and  closed  the  door  of  the  cave  saying  Shut  sesame.  Reaching  home,  he  carried  the  bags  in  and  shut  the  doors  and  the  windows.  Then  he  told  his  wife  about  his  adventure  and  instructed  her  that  no  one  should  know  of  it.  She  promised  to  keep  it  secret  but  she  went  to  Kaseem's  wife  and  borrowed  her  scales  to  measure  the  gold.  Kaseem's  wife  was  curious  to  know  what  Alibaba's  wife  wanted  away  so  she  put  some  dough  on  the  base  of  the  scale  and  gave  it  to  her.

When  the  scales  were  returned,  she  found  a  piece  of  gold  stuck  to  it.  She  told  Kassim  and  he  found  out  the  whole  story  from  Alibaba.  Kassim  decided  to  get  some  of  the  treasure  for  himself.  Meanwhile,  the  thieves  had  found  out  that  some  of  their  gold  was  missing.  They  decided  they  would  wait  for  the  thief  to  return.

Kaseem  went  into  the  cave  saying  Open  Sesame.  But  he  was  so  dazzled  seeing  the  gold  that  he  forgot  the  correct  words  for  getting  out.  Therefore,  though  he  collected  a  lot  of  gold  yet  he  was  stuck  inside  the  cake.  When  the  robbers  returned  and  discovered  Kaseim,  they  cut  him  to  pieces  and  hung  them  up.  When  Kaseim  didn't  return  that  night,  his  wife  ran  to  Alibaba  and  asked  him  to  find  his  brother.

Alibaba  went  to  the  cave  and  saw  his  brother  dead  and  his  body  cut  up.  He  took  all  the  pieces  and  some  more  gold  and  left,  leaving  the  asses  at  home,  he  ran  to  Kassim's  house.  The  door  was  opened  by  margina.  His  maid,  who  was  very  clever.  He  swore  her  to  secrecy  and  told  her  about  Kassim.

We  have  to  stitch  up  his  body  and  he  must  be  buried  as  if  he  died  a  normal  death,  said  Alibaba.  Leave  it  to  me,  sir,  said  Margina.  She  went  and  got  medicines  from  a  doctor.  After  a  few  days  it  was  announced  that  Kaseim  had  died.  Margina  went  secretly  to  an  old  cobbler  named  Mustafa.

She  blindfolded  him  and  took  him  to  Qassim's  house.  She  gave  him  some  gold  to  stitch  up  Kaseim's  body.  He  wanted  the  gold,  so  he  stitched  up  Kassim's  body.  Margina  led  him  back  to  his  house.  After  the  funeral,  Alibaba  and  his  wife  came  to  Kassim's  house  to  live  and  to  take  care  of  his  family.

The  thieves,  however,  wanted  to  find  out  who  had  robbed  them  of  their  gold.  The  man's  body  was  removed,  said  the  chief  of  the  robbers.  Someone  helped  him.  We  must  find  him.  One  of  his  men  went  to  the  town  soon.

He  came  to  Mustafa's  stall  stitching  shoes.  Can  you  see  well  enough?  Asked  the  robber.  Shoes.  Mustafa  told  I  have  even  stitched  a  body.

Where  was  that?  Asked  the  robber.  I  can  only  find  it  if  I'm  blindfolded,  said  the  cobbler.  So,  having  been  blindfolded,  he  led  the  robber  to  Cossim's  house.  The  robber  marked  a  cross  on  the  door  with  a  piece  of  chalk.

He  went  back  and  told  the  chief  what  he  had  learnt.  They  would  go  there  in  the  night  and  get  their  treasure.  Margina  returned  from  the  market  and  saw  the  chalk  mark  quietly.  She  marked  each  of  the  doors  in  the  neighborhood  with  a  cross.  When  the  thieves  came  that  night,  they  couldn't  find  the  house.

The  same  thing  happened  again  the  next  night.  The  chief  himself  went  the  third  time  and  he  remembered  the  house  without  putting  any  mark  on  it.  That  night  the  chief,  disguised  as  a  merchant  took  40  mules  with  one  jar  on  each  saddle.  One  jar  contained  oil  and  all  the  others  had  fully  armed  robbers  hidden  inside.  He  went  to  Alibaba's  house  and  found  him  sitting  outside.

The  chief  bowed  to  him  and  asked  him  politely  sir,  it's  late  and  I  have  no  place  to  stay.  I  have  to  sell  this  oil  in  the  market  tomorrow.  May  I  rest  in  your  house  tonight?  Alibaba  did  not  recognize  the  robber  in  his  disguise.  He  gave  him  a  room  to  sleep  in.

The  chief  whispered  to  his  thieves  that  they  must  come  out  as  soon  as  he  gave  a  signal.  At  an  opportune  time  Margina  was  finishing  her  work  in  the  yard  where  all  the  jars  were  kept.  Hearing  her  footsteps,  one  of  the  thieves  asked  softly  is  it  time?  Not  yet,  she  said  and  on  checking  the  jars  found  a  man  in  each.  She  poured  boiling  oil  into  each  jar,  killing  all  the  robbers.

When  the  chief  came,  he  found  all  the  members  of  his  gang  dead.  Frightened,  he  climbed  the  wall  and  ran  for  his  life.  That  night  Alibaba  and  Margina  managed  to  dig  a  pit  and  get  rid  of  all  the  dead  robbers.  The  robber  chief  came  again  disguised  as  a  rich  merchant  and  made  friends  with  Alibaba's  son  to  visit  his  house.  Margina  recognized  him  in  spite  of  his  disguise  and  saw  that  he  had  a  dagger.

She  began  to  dance  to  entertain  the  guests.  As  she  danced,  she  picked  a  sharp  knife  up  and  danced  with  it.  When  the  chief  was  about  to  pull  out  his  dagger,  she  stabbed  him  to  death.  At  first,  everyone  was  shocked  when  she  killed  the  guest,  but  she  showed  Alibaba  that  the  man  was  actually  the  robber  chief.  Alibaba  was  so  happy  that  he  married  his  nephew  to  Margina.

After  that,  he  and  his  family  lived  on  the  fabulous  treasure  in  the  cave  and  had  no  fear  of  robbers.