Ali-Baba and The Forty Thieves

Ali-Baba and The Forty Thieves

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Ali Baba told her of the terrible fate which had overtaken his brother and said to her, “While I go to break the sad news to his widow, you must think of some way in which we can bury these six pieces so that people will think that Cassim died a natural death. Otherwise, everyone will learn our secret and then the robbers will come and murder us all."

“I will try," she promised.

The next day Morgiana went to the workplace of an old cobbler and said, “Look, Mustapha, here is a gold coin. For this, I want you to bring your needle and thread and come with me. But first, I must bandage your eyes, for you must not know where you are going."

This she did and led him through the streets and down into the cellar of Ali Baba’s house, where she removed the blindfold. Giving him another gold coin, she said, “I wish you to sew the pieces of this body together. If you work quickly and well, you shall have another gold coin."

When he had finished, Morgiana led Mustapha back to his shop and paid him as arranged. “Remember, you must tell nobody what you have done or where you have been," she warned him.

Cassim was then buried properly, all in one piece, and nobody suspected how he had really met his death.

When the forty thieves returned to their cave and discovered that Cassim’s body had been taken away, they knew that someone else had also found their cave. “We must find that person and kill him," said their leader.

He sent the bravest and smartest of the thieves into the city to find out if anybody knew of a man whose body had been cut into six parts and buried. When this messenger arrived in the city, only one shop, the cobbler’s, was open.

“Goodness me, old man," said the thief to Mustapha, “how do you manage to sew so neatly, in such dim light?"

“I may be old," replied Mustapha, “but Allah has blessed me with good eyesight. And just as well, too, because a short while ago I had to sew up a body which had been cut into six parts. When I had finished, nobody would have guessed that poor man had not died in one piece."

The robber could hardly believe his luck. “I will give you five gold coins if you will show me where you performed such a marvel," he pleaded.

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“I cannot be sure of the direction, for I was led there blindfolded," Mustapha replied.

“Perhaps if I were blindfolded once more, I might be able to lead you there by the sense of touch alone."

And so, bandaged afresh, he was able to find the way to Ali Baba’s house with little trouble—and was well pleased with his reward. The delighted robber placed a mark on the door with a piece of white chalk and, sending Mustapha back to his shop, hurried away to the forest to tell his leader of his success.

Shortly afterwards, when the servant Morgiana returned from the market, she saw the white mark on her master’s door. Suspecting this to have been placed there by some unknown enemy, she fetched some chalk and marked all the other doors in the street in exactly the same way.

When the robber returned to the city with his comrades, he was dismayed to find how easily he had been tricked.

“I must be dreaming," he cried. “I marked only one door and now I cannot tell which one it was."

The robber chief was so angry that, as soon as his men returned to the forest, he cut off the unfortunate messenger’s head. He now sent another thief into the city to find Mustapha, who was able to find the door of Ali Baba’s house once again.

The robber marked this door with red chalk, but later, when the thieves came two by two into the city, they found that the clever Morgiana had made identical marks on the doors of all the houses in the street. Therefore, they returned to the forest and cut off the head of the second messenger.

The robber chief now decided to do the job himself. With Mustapha’s help, he soon found the house, but instead of marking it, he memorized its every detail so that he could find it again, even in the dark. Then he returned to the forest and told his comrades of his plan to murder all who lived in that house.

A few nights later, disguised as an oil merchant, he arrived at Ali Baba’s house with nineteen donkeys, each of which carried two large jars. Only one of these jars had oil in it. All the rest concealed the thieves, one to each. The robber chief asked Ali Baba if he would be kind enough to allow him to rest his animals for the night in his courtyard, as he was a stranger in the city and had nowhere to sleep.

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Ali Baba did not recognize the robber chief, and being a generous man, he offered the oil merchant the hospitality of his house. The donkeys were unloaded and fed, and Morgiana was asked to prepare a meal for the guest.

Later that night the robber chief returned to the courtyard and whispered to each of his men in turn, “Stay hidden until I throw some pebbles from my window into the yard. This will be the signal to climb out of your jar and kill everybody in the house."

Still later that night, Morgiana was working in the kitchen when the oil lamp began to go out. As there was no more oil in the house, she decided to borrow a cupful from one of the merchant’s jars. Just as she was about to remove the lid of the first jar, she was surprised to hear a voice come from inside it, asking, “Is it time to come out yet?" Understanding the situation at once, the clever Morgiana whispered, “No, not yet."

As she went from jar to jar, she heard the same question and gave the same answer, until she came to the one jar which contained the oil.

Morgiana took enough oil from this jar to fill all the kettles in the house. She placed these on the kitchen fire and brought them to the boil. Then she carried the kettles into the courtyard and poured their contents into each of the pots in turn. The oil was so hot that the robbers were killed instantly, before they could cry out.

At midnight, when the robber chief threw his pebbles from the upstairs window, he could not understand why his men did not spring from their jars, waving their swords. Thinking they must have fallen asleep, he crept into the courtyard to awaken them. When he discovered that his companions were all dead, he fled at once to the forest to work out a new plan of revenge.

In the morning, Morgiana told her master what she had done. Ali Baba was so grateful to her that he made her his chief housekeeper. Then, with the help of another servant, he dug a great pit in his garden and buried the thirty-seven bodies, and life returned to normal once more.

One day Ali Baba’s son, who now looked after Cassim’s old shop, said to his father, “I have recently become acquainted with a merchant who is new to the market. I have shared a midday meal with him five times without returning his hospitality. Perhaps we could hold a fine feast in his honor."

Thus it was that the robber chief, disguised in a long beard, came to be invited to eat in the house of the man he planned to kill. The moment she saw him, however, the wise Morgiana guessed who he really was and why he had come—especially when she noticed a dagger partly hidden in the folds of his robe.

After all had eaten, Morgiana appeared before the company, dressed as a dancer, and offered to entertain them.

Everyone was captivated by the beautiful girl and her curious dance, which involved the use of a small dagger.

However, delight soon turned to horror when, advancing toward the robber-guest, Morgiana suddenly plunged the dagger into his heart.

Ali Baba cried out in disbelief, “Morgiana! What have you done? This man was an honored guest in my house. We shall be ruined forever."

“Master, I have saved your life," replied Morgiana. “Your guest was none other than the robber chief, who came here to kill you." So saying, she removed the false beard from the dead man’s face and pointed to the dagger hidden in his robe.

When Ali Baba saw that his guest was indeed the oil seller and captain of thieves, he realized that Morgiana had saved his life yet again. Overcome by joy, he cried, “Morgiana, my child, my daughter, will you be my daughter in very truth and marry this handsome young man, my son?"

The wedding took place that very day and there was much feasting and rejoicing in the house.

In time, Ali Baba revealed the secret of the cave to his son, and his son to his son, and they shared their riches wisely and generously, so that Allah blessed them, every one, and the whole city loved and honored them dearly for the rest of their days.

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