Two brothers, Kasim and Ali Baba, lived in Persia. They had not inherited much from their father when he died. Kasim married a rich widow and became prosperous.
Ali Baba 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, Ali Baba saw some riders coming. He was frightened. So leaving his asses hidden, he climbed up a tree.
Forty thieves rode into the forest as Ali Baba watched. They tied their horses and took large bags from their horses’ backs. The robber chief walked up to the rock and cried out, “Open Sesame!”
Ali Baba 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 chief turned and said, “Shut Sesame!” And the door closed before they rode away.
Ali Baba, 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 jewellery, gems, 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 Kasim’s wife and borrowed her scales to measure the gold. Kasim’s wife was curious to know what Ali Baba’s wife wanted to weigh. 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 Kasim and he found out the whole story from Ali Baba. Kasim 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.
Kasim 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 cave. When the robbers returned and discovered Kasim, they cut him to pieces and hung them up.
When Kasim didn’t return that night, his wife ran to Ali Baba and asked him to find his brother.
Ali Baba 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 Kasim’s house. The door was opened by Marjina, his maid, who was very clever. He swore her to secrecy and told her about Kasim. “We have to stitch up his body and he must be buried as if he died a normal death,” said Ali Baba.
“Leave it to me, sir,” said Marjina. She went and got medicines from a doctor. After a few days, it was announced that Kasim had died. Marjina went secretly to an old cobbler named Mustafa.
She blindfolded him and took him to Kasim’s house. She gave him some gold to stitch up Kasim’s body. He wanted the gold, so he stitched up Kasim’s body. Marjina led him back to his house. After the funeral, Ali Baba and his wife came to Kasim’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 Kasim’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.
Marjina returned from the market and saw the chalk mark. Quietly, she marked each of the doors in the neighbourhood 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 forty mules with one jar on each saddle. One jar contained oil and all the others had fully armed robbers hidden inside. He went to Ali Baba’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?”
Ali Baba did not recognise 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.
Marjina 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, Ali Baba and Marjina 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 Ali Baba’s son to visit his house. Marjina recognised 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 Ali Baba that the man was actually the robber chief.
Ali Baba was so happy that he married his nephew to Marjina. After that, he and his family lived on the fabulous treasure in the cave and had no fear of robbers.
