Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves

: Favorite Fairy Tales

In a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one named Cassim, the

other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to a rich wife and lived in plenty,

while Ali Baba had to maintain his wife and children by cutting wood

in a neighboring forest and selling it in the town. One day, when Ali

Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback coming

towards him in a cloud of dust. He was afraid they were robbers, and

climbed i to a tree for safety. When they came up to him and

dismounted, he counted forty of them. They unbridled their horses and

tied them to trees. The finest man among them, whom Ali Baba took to

be their captain, went a little way among some bushes, and said:

"Open, Sesame!"[1] so plainly that Ali Baba heard him. A door opened

in the rocks, and having made the troop go in, he followed them, and

the door shut again of itself. They stayed some time inside, and Ali

Baba, fearing they might come out and catch him, was forced to sit

patiently in the tree. At last the door opened again, and the Forty

Thieves came out. As the Captain went in last he came out first, and

made them all pass by him; he then closed the door, saying: "Shut,

Sesame!" Every man bridled his horse and mounted, the Captain put

himself at their head, and they returned as they came.



[1] Sesame is a kind of grain.



Then Ali Baba climbed down and went to the door concealed among the

bushes, and said: "Open, Sesame!" and it flew open. Ali Baba, who

expected a dull, dismal place, was greatly surprised to find it large

and well lighted, and hollowed by the hand of man in the form of a

vault, which received the light from an opening in the ceiling. He saw

rich bales of merchandise--silk, stuff-brocades, all piled together,

and gold and silver in heaps, and money in leather purses. He went in

and the door shut behind him. He did not look at the silver, but

brought out as many bags of gold as he thought his asses, which were

browsing outside, could carry, loaded them with the bags, and hid it

all with fagots. Using the words: "Shut, Sesame!" he closed the door

and went home.



Then he drove his asses into the yard, shut the gates, carried the

money-bags to his wife, and emptied them out before her. He bade her

keep the secret, and he would go and bury the gold. "Let me first

measure it," said his wife. "I will go borrow a measure of some one

while you dig the hole." So she ran to the wife of Cassim and borrowed

a measure. Knowing Ali Baba's poverty, the sister was curious to find

out what sort of grain his wife wished to measure, and artfully put

some suet at the bottom of the measure. Ali Baba's wife went home and

set the measure on the heap of gold, and filled it and emptied it

often, to her great content. She then carried it back to her sister,

without noticing that a piece of gold was sticking to it, which

Cassim's wife perceived directly her back was turned. She grew very

curious, and said to Cassim when he came home: "Cassim, your brother

is richer than you. He does not count his money, he measures it." He

begged her to explain this riddle, which she did by showing him the

piece of money and telling him where she found it. Then Cassim grew so

envious that he could not sleep, and went to his brother in the

morning before sunrise. "Ali Baba," he said, showing him the gold

piece, "you pretend to be poor and yet you measure gold." By this Ali

Baba perceived that through his wife's folly Cassim and his wife knew

their secret, so he confessed all and offered Cassim a share. "That I

expect," said Cassim; "but I must know where to find the treasure,

otherwise I will discover all, and you will lose all." Ali Baba, more

out of kindness than fear, told him of the cave, and the very words to

use. Cassim left Ali Baba, meaning to be beforehand with him and get

the treasure himself. He rose early next morning, and set out with ten

mules loaded with great chests. He soon found the place, and the door

in the rock. He said: "Open, Sesame!" and the door opened and shut

behind him. He could have feasted his eyes all day on the treasures,

but he now hastened to gather together as much of it as possible; but

when he was ready to go he could not remember what to say for

thinking of his great riches. Instead of "Sesame," he said: "Open,

Barley!" and the door remained fast. He named several different sorts

of grain, all but the right one, and the door still stuck fast. He was

so frightened at the danger he was in that he had as much forgotten

the word as if he had never heard it.



About noon the robbers returned to their cave, and saw Cassim's mules

roving about with great chests on their backs. This gave them the

alarm; they drew their sabres, and went to the door, which opened on

their Captain's saying: "Open, Sesame!" Cassim, who had heard the

trampling of their horses' feet, resolved to sell his life dearly, so

when the door opened he leaped out and threw the Captain down. In

vain, however, for the robbers with their sabres soon killed him. On

entering the cave they saw all the bags laid ready, and could not

imagine how any one had got in without knowing their secret. They cut

Cassim's body into four quarters, and nailed them up inside the cave,

in order to frighten any one who should venture in, and went away in

search of more treasure.






As night drew on Cassim's wife grew very uneasy, and ran to her

brother-in-law, and told him where her husband had gone. Ali Baba did

his best to comfort her, and set out to the forest in search of

Cassim. The first thing he saw on entering the cave was his dead

brother. Full of horror, he put the body on one of his asses, and bags

of gold on the other two, and, covering all with some fagots, returned

home. He drove the two asses laden with gold into his own yard, and

led the other to Cassim's house. The door was opened by the slave

Morgiana, whom he knew to be both brave and cunning. Unloading the

ass, he said to her: "This is the body of your master, who has been

murdered, but whom we must bury as though he had died in his bed. I

will speak with you again, but now tell your mistress I am come." The

wife of Cassim, on learning the fate of her husband, broke out into

cries and tears, but Ali Baba offered to take her to live with him and

his wife if she would promise to keep his counsel and leave everything

to Morgiana; whereupon she agreed, and dried her eyes.



Morgiana, meanwhile, sought an apothecary and asked him for some

lozenges. "My poor master," she said, "can neither eat nor sleep, and

no one knows what his distemper is." She carried home the lozenges and

returned next day weeping, and asked for an essence only given to

those just about to die. Thus, in the evening, no one was surprised to

hear the wretched shrieks and cries of Cassim's wife and Morgiana

telling every one that Cassim was dead. The day after, Morgiana went

to an old cobbler near the gates of the town who opened his stall

early, put a piece of gold in his hand, and bade him follow with his

needle and thread. Having bound his eyes with a handkerchief, she took

him to the room where the body lay, pulled off the bandage, and bade

him sew the quarters together, after which she covered his eyes again

and led him home. Then they buried Cassim, and Morgiana his slave

followed him to the grave, weeping and tearing her hair, while

Cassim's wife stayed at home uttering lamentable cries. Next day she

went to live with Ali Baba, who gave Cassim's shop to his eldest son.



The Forty Thieves, on their return to the cave, were much astonished

to find Cassim's body gone and some of their money-bags. "We are

certainly discovered," said the Captain, "and shall be undone if we

cannot find out who it is that knows our secret. Two men must have

known it; we have killed one, we must now find the other. To this end

one of you who is bold and artful must go into the city dressed as a

traveller, and discover whom we have killed, and whether men talk of

the strange manner of his death. If the messenger fails he must lose

his life, lest we be betrayed." One of the thieves started up and

offered to do this, and after the rest had highly commended him for

his bravery he disguised himself, and happened to enter the town at

daybreak, just by Baba Mustapha's stall. The thief bade him good-day,

saying: "Honest man, how can you possibly see to stitch at your age?"

"Old as I am," replied the cobbler, "I have very good eyes, and you

will believe me when I tell you that I sewed a dead body together in a

place where I had less light than I have now." The robber was

overjoyed at his good-fortune, and, giving him a piece of gold,

desired to be shown the house where he stitched up the dead body. At

first Mustapha refused, saying that he was blindfolded; but when the

robber gave him another piece of gold he began to think he might

remember the turnings if blindfolded as before. This means succeeded;

the robber partly led him, and was partly guided by him, right in

front of Cassim's house, the door of which the robber marked with a

piece of chalk. Then, well pleased, he bade farewell to Baba Mustapha

and returned to the forest. By and by Morgiana, going out, saw the

mark the robber had made, quickly guessed that some mischief was

brewing, and, fetching a piece of chalk, marked two or three doors on

each side, without saying anything to her master or mistress.



The thief, meantime, told his comrades of his discovery. The Captain

thanked him, and bade him show him the house he had marked. But when

they came to it they saw that five or six of the houses were chalked

in the same manner. The guide was so confounded that he knew not what

answer to make, and when they returned he was at once beheaded for

having failed. Another robber was despatched, and, having won over

Baba Mustapha, marked the house in red chalk; but Morgiana being again

too clever for them, the second messenger was put to death also. The

Captain now resolved to go himself, but, wiser than the others, he did

not mark the house, but looked at it so closely that he could not fail

to remember it. He returned, and ordered his men to go into the

neighboring villages and buy nineteen mules, and thirty-eight leather

jars, all empty, except one which was full of oil. The Captain put one

of his men, fully armed, into each, rubbing the outside of the jars

with oil from the full vessel. Then the nineteen mules were loaded

with thirty-seven robbers in jars, and the jar of oil, and reached

the town by dusk. The Captain stopped his mules in front of Ali Baba's

house, and said to Ali Baba, who was sitting outside for coolness: "I

have brought some oil from a distance to sell at to-morrow's market,

but it is now so late that I know not where to pass the night, unless

you will do me the favor to take me in." Though Ali Baba had seen the

Captain of the robbers in the forest, he did not recognize him in the

disguise of an oil merchant. He bade him welcome, opened his gates for

the mules to enter, and went to Morgiana to bid her prepare a bed and

supper for his guest. He brought the stranger into his hall, and after

they had supped went again to speak to Morgiana in the kitchen, while

the Captain went into the yard under pretence of seeing after his

mules, but really to tell his men what to do. Beginning at the first

jar and ending at the last, he said to each man: "As soon as I throw

some stones from the window of the chamber where I lie, cut the jars

open with your knives and come out, and I will be with you in a

trice." He returned to the house, and Morgiana led him to his chamber.

She then told Abdallah, her fellow-slave, to set on the pot to make

some broth for her master, who had gone to bed. Meanwhile her lamp

went out, and she had no more oil in the house. "Do not be uneasy,"

said Abdallah; "go into the yard and take some out of one of those

jars." Morgiana thanked him for his advice, took the oil-pot, and went

into the yard. When she came to the first jar the robber inside said

softly: "Is it time?"



Any other slave but Morgiana, on finding a man in the jar instead of

the oil she wanted, would have screamed, and made a noise; but she,

knowing the danger her master was in, bethought herself of a plan, and

answered quietly: "Not yet, but presently." She went to all the jars,

giving the same answer, till she came to the jar of oil. She now saw

that her master, thinking to entertain an oil merchant, had let

thirty-eight robbers into his house. She filled her oil-pot, went back

to the kitchen, and, having lit her lamp, went again to the oil-jar

and filled a large kettle full of oil. When it boiled she went and

poured enough oil into every jar to stifle and kill the robber inside.

When this brave deed was done she went back to the kitchen, put out

the fire and the lamp, and waited to see what would happen.



In a quarter of an hour the Captain of the robbers awoke, got up, and

opened the window. As all seemed quiet, he threw down some little

pebbles which hit the jars. He listened, and as none of his men seemed

to stir he grew uneasy, and went down into the yard. On going to the

first jar and saying, "Are you asleep?" he smelled the hot boiled

oil, and knew at once that his plot to murder Ali Baba and his

household had been discovered. He found all the gang were dead, and,

missing the oil out of the last jar, became aware of the manner of

their death. He then forced the lock of a door leading into a garden,

and climbing over several walls made his escape. Morgiana heard and

saw all this, and, rejoicing at her success, went to bed and fell

asleep.



At daybreak Ali Baba arose, and, seeing the oil-jars there still,

asked why the merchant had not gone with his mules. Morgiana bade him

look in the first jar and see if there was any oil. Seeing a man, he

started back in terror. "Have no fear," said Morgiana; "the man cannot

harm you: he is dead." Ali Baba, when he had recovered somewhat from

his astonishment, asked what had become of the merchant. "Merchant!"

said she, "he is no more a merchant than I am!" and she told him the

whole story, assuring him that it was a plot of the robbers of the

forest, of whom only three were left, and that the white-and-red

chalk-marks had something to do with it. Ali Baba at once gave

Morgiana her freedom, saying that he owed her his life. They then

buried the bodies in Ali Baba's garden, while the mules were sold in

the market by his slaves.



The Captain returned to his lonely cave, which seemed frightful to him

without his lost companions, and firmly resolved to avenge them by

killing Ali Baba. He dressed himself carefully, and went into the

town, where he took lodgings in an inn. In the course of a great many

journeys to the forest he carried away many rich stuffs and much fine

linen, and set up a shop opposite that of Ali Baba's son. He called

himself Cogia Hassan, and as he was both civil and well dressed he

soon made friends with Ali Baba's son, and through him with Ali Baba,

whom he was continually asking to sup with him. Ali Baba, wishing to

return his kindness, invited him into his house and received him

smiling, thanking him for his kindness to his son. When the merchant

was about to take his leave Ali Baba stopped him, saying: "Where are

you going, sir, in such haste? Will you not stay and sup with me?" The

merchant refused, saying that he had a reason; and on Ali Baba's

asking him what that was, he replied: "It is, sir, that I can eat no

victuals that have any salt in them." "If that is all," said Ali Baba,

"let me tell you that there shall be no salt in either the meat or the

bread that we eat to-night." He went to give this order to Morgiana,

who was much surprised. "Who is this man," she said, "who eats no salt

with his meat?" "He is an honest man, Morgiana," returned her master;

"therefore do as I bid you." But she could not withstand a desire to

see this strange man, so she helped Abdallah to carry up the dishes,

and saw in a moment that Cogia Hassan was the robber Captain, and

carried a dagger under his garment. "I am not surprised," she said to

herself, "that this wicked man, who intends to kill my master, will

eat no salt with him; but I will hinder his plans."



She sent up the supper by Abdallah, while she made ready for one of

the boldest acts that could be thought on. When the dessert had been

served, Cogia Hassan was left alone with Ali Baba and his son, whom he

thought to make drunk and then to murder them. Morgiana, meanwhile,

put on a head-dress like a dancing-girl's, and clasped a girdle round

her waist, from which hung a dagger with a silver hilt, and said to

Abdallah: "Take your tabor, and let us go and divert our master and

his guest." Abdallah took his tabor and played before Morgiana until

they came to the door, where Abdallah stopped playing and Morgiana

made a low courtesy. "Come in, Morgiana," said Ali Baba, "and let

Cogia Hassan see what you can do." And, turning to Cogia Hassan, he

said: "She's my slave and my housekeeper." Cogia Hassan was by no

means pleased, for he feared that his chance of killing Ali Baba was

gone for the present; but he pretended great eagerness to see

Morgiana, and Abdallah began to play and Morgiana to dance. After she

had performed several dances, she drew her dagger and made passes with

it, sometimes pointing it at her own breast, sometimes at her

master's, as if it were part of the dance. Suddenly, out of breath,

she snatched the tabor from Abdallah with her left hand, and, holding

the dagger in her right, held out the tabor to her master. Ali Baba

and his son put a piece of gold into it, and Cogia Hassan, seeing that

she was coming to him, pulled out his purse to make her a present;

but while he was putting his hand into it, Morgiana plunged the dagger

into his heart.



"Unhappy girl!" cried Ali Baba and his son, "what have you done to

ruin us?" "It was to preserve you, master, not to ruin you," answered

Morgiana. "See here," opening the false merchant's garment and showing

the dagger; "see what an enemy you have entertained! Remember, he

would eat no salt with you, and what more would you have? Look at him!

he is both the false oil merchant and the Captain of the Forty

Thieves."



Ali Baba was so grateful to Morgiana for thus saving his life that he

offered her to his son in marriage, who readily consented, and a few

days after the wedding was celebrated with great splendor. At the end

of a year Ali Baba, hearing nothing of the two remaining robbers,

judged they were dead, and set out to the cave. The door opened on

his saying: "Open, Sesame!" He went in, and saw that nobody had been

there since the Captain left it. He brought away as much gold as he

could carry, and returned to town. He told his son the secret of the

cave, which his son handed down in his turn, so the children and

grandchildren of Ali Baba were rich to the end of their lives.



By the courtesy of Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co.,

publishers of "The Blue Fairy Book," edited by Andrew

Lang.