Ali Baba and Forty Thieves

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter, had a rich brother, Kasim, who never shared any of his money with his brother. Instead, he treated Ali Baba, his wife and son badly. One day, as Ali Baba finished cutting logs in the forest, he saw lots of men on horses and he hid. He climbed up a tree and watched the forty horsemen. The men had saddlebags full of gold and they took them to a big rock. One of the men cried, ‘Open, Sesame’, and a door in the rock opened and the man entered the cave. The others followed. After a while they came out and the leader cried, ‘Close, Sesame’. When the thieves left, Ali Baba walked to the entrance of the cave. He said the magic words and entered. He was amazed by all the gold, silk, jewels and gold crowns piled up. Feeling it was alright to steal from thieves, Ali Baba decided to take some gold home for himself and his family. 

When he got home, he showed the gold to his wife. His wife wanted to know how much gold they had. She went to Kasim’s house to borrow his wife’s scales so she could weigh the gold. She did not want Kasim and his wife to know about the gold, so she said they were weighing meat. Kasim’s wife did not believe Ali Baba’s wife and wondered where they could have got the money to buy meat. She tricked Ali Baba’s wife by putting honey in the bottom of one of the pans. When Ali Baba’s wife returned the scales the next day, a gold coin was stuck to the honey. Kasim’s wife knew their secret. When she told Kasim about his brother’s gold, he was jealous. 

He went to Ali Baba’s house and asked his brother where he got it. When Ali Baba saw the gold coin, he told his brother about the cave and the forty thieves. The next morning, Kasim went to the cave with ten donkeys carrying ten huge chests. He got inside by saying the password but he forgot the magic words to get back out. 

The thieves found him inside and killed him. When Kasim did not come back, Ali Baba went to look for him. He found his brother’s body hanging inside the cave and brought the body home. With the help of Marjaneh, Kasim’s servant girl, they gave Kasim a good burial without anybody wondering about the cause of his death. The thieves found that the body had gone and soon realized that somebody else must know their secret. They set out to look for him in town. They came up with many plans to find the man. However, each time their plans were foiled by the clever Marjaneh. The thieves eventually found the house of the man they were looking for. They did not know his name, Ali Baba. 

The leader of the thieves made a plan to kill the man who had stolen from them. He bought twenty donkeys and forty large clay oil jars with loose lids. He loaded the donkeys with two jars each and filled one jar with oil. He told his thirty-nine men to take their swords and daggers and to hide inside the jars. He gave them orders to be ready to jump out and attack the man who stole from them. The leader filled the fortieth jar with oil. He then went to Ali Baba’s house, pretending to be an oil merchant in need of a bed for the night. Ali Baba gave him food and a bed and a stable for his donkeys. The thief left his forty jars in a long row in the courtyard. 

Marjaneh discovered his plan and killed all thirty-nine men by pouring boiling oil on them. When the leader came to find why his men were not ready to fight, he saw they were all dead and he ran away. A few weeks later the leader of the thieves went back to the town, disguised as a merchant. He soon became friends with Ali Baba’s son, Khaled, who took him home for dinner. Ali Baba invited him inside, but Marjaneh soon grew suspicious of the man. After dinner, Marjaneh performed a dance with daggers to entertain the guest. As she finished, she raised her dagger and killed the dinner guest. 

All forty thieves were dead and Ali Baba and his family were safe once and for all. Ali Baba was so impressed with Marjaneh that he offered his son to her for her husband. Khaled happily married Marjaneh and they had a baby. Ali Baba decided to show Khaled the cave with the treasure. Khaled promised that he, too, would show his son the cave when he was old enough. And so Ali Baba and his family were never poor again.