Alibaba and the Forty Thieves

In Persia, there lived two brothers. Kasim became prosperous, after marrying a rich widow, while Alibaba remained a poor woodcutter, living on the wood he chopped from the forest every day and sold. One day, hearing horses tramping, Alibaba climbed up a tree after hiding his asses. He saw forty thieves taking large bags from their horses’ backs and following their chief to a rock. The chief said loudly, “Open Sesame!” A door opened in the rock. They entered and the door closed. After a while, they came out with empty bags and the chief said, “Shut Sesame!” The door closed and they rode away. Alibaba stood before the rock and repeated, “Open Sesame!” When the door opened, he saw a cave full of gold and silver jewellery, gems, bags of gold coins, rich silk dresses, and so much more! He collected as much gold as his asses could carry and closed the door of the cave, saying “Shut Sesame!”

Alibaba’s Secret

When he reached home, Alibaba carried in the bags containing the treasure and tightly closed all the doors and windows. Then, in whispers, he told his wife all about his strange adventure and warned her not to talk of it to anyone! She promised not to say a word. Later, she borrowed scales from Kasim’s wife to measure the gold. Kasim’s wife wondered what Alibaba’s wife wanted to weigh. So, she quietly stuck a little dough on the scale when she gave it to her. When the scales were returned, she discovered Alibaba’s secret, for a piece of gold was stuck to it! She told Kasim. He managed to get the truth from Alibaba and greedily decided to get some of the treasure himself. Meanwhile, the robbers had realised that some of their gold was missing. They were sure the thief would return for more and decided to catch him!

Kasim’s Greed

Kasim went to the cave and stuffed a lot of gold into bags. But in his excitement, he forgot the magic words for getting out and was trapped! When the robbers returned, they cut him to pieces and they hung up the pieces. Kasim’s worried wife sent Alibaba to search for Kasim. He found his body in the cave and carried it home with some more gold. Marjina, Kasim’s clever maid, opened the door and he told her everything. “We must stitch up his body and bury him without anyone knowing the truth!” said Alibaba. Marjina quietly brought an old cobbler named Mustafa, blindfolded, to Kasim’s house and gave him some gold to stitch up his body. After that, she led him back to his house. Then Kasim’s death was announced. After that day, Alibaba and his wife moved to Kasim’s house to live, and to look after his family.

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