In the city of Persia lived a merchant who had two sons – Kasim and Ali Baba.
After the death of their father, the sons divided the house and the riches of the father equally. Kasim lived in half of the house and Ali Baba lived in the other half.
Kasim was a very clever businessman. He made wise investments and he married the daughter of a rich widow. Soon, Kasim was a very rich man. He and his wife furnished his house with beautiful things and they showed the world that they were very rich.
Ali Baba was cleverer than Kasim. But unfortunately, Ali Baba was a very soft-hearted man. He very often lent his money to people who did not repay it. Ali Baba did not care about it. He married Farzana, who was the daughter of a poor widow.
Ali Baba had only three donkeys and Ali Baba worked as a woodcutter. He daily went to the forests and chopped wood and loaded them up in his three donkeys and brought the wood back to the city. There, Ali Baba sold the wood and lived from the money. Farzana looked well after the house and lived within the money that Ali Baba brought home so the couple were very happy and contended.
Once, as Ali Baba was in the forests, he went deeper than usual. The forests were darker and there Ali Baba could barely see anything clearly.
The sounds of the forest had almost quietened down and in the still and quiet, it almost seemed to Ali Baba like every single simple sound of the forests had been magnified. Ali Baba was hurriedly chopping the wood wanting to get away from the place, which was when it started.
It started as a simple cluttering sound which Ali Baba could not identify. Ali Baba tried to make out the sound and he thought it was the hooves of horses. But before Ali Baba could concentrate on that, the sounds grew very loud.
It was indeed the hooves of horses; in fact it was the hooves of many horses. Hearing it suddenly filled Ali Baba with a strange fear. It did not make sense. Why would there be so many horses coming to this part of the forest at this time?
Before Ali Baba could think about it, he heard the hooves very clearly and quickly he hid his donkeys near the thick bushes nearby and quickly climbed up the tree and stayed there.
Not too soon. No sooner had Ali Baba hidden himself in the branches of the thick tree, he saw the horses come right at the place that he had been standing at. There were not one or two, but forty horses.
No, that did not terrify Ali Baba. What did was each of the men who was on every horse. Looking at the tough, strong and huge men with scarred faces, who was sitting on the horses, Ali Baba was sure that each of the men on the horse was a bandit. They all had dangerous swords and daggers in their hands and they were all carrying two heavy sacks on either side of the horse and looking at that, a shiver went up Ali Baba’s face.
Wondering what they were doing here in this part of the forest, the terrified Ali Baba peered down the tree, willing himself not to make any sound.
One of the forty men came forward. He seemed older and stronger than the others as he stood before a small rocky cave in the middle of the forest.
“Open Simsim.” The gruff voice of the man reached Ali Baba.
Ali Baba almost fell off the tree as he saw that the rock shuddered and shook and then the entire forest floor seemed to shake as there was a loud crack in the rock, when the man had uttered the words. Much to Ali Baba’s surprise, the hole kept growing larger and soon the hole was wide enough for two men to pass through.
One by one, the men and their horses went inside the hole in the rock and finally the first man also led his horse and went inside the hole.
Ali Baba honestly did not know what to do, now that the thieves were gone. He did not know how the thieves had managed to vanish or what he had just seen. He wanted to escape from here. But some instinct kept Ali Baba firmly on the top of the tree. The donkeys down the tree, seemed to realize the peril to their lives as they were also very silent.
Sometime later, Ali Baba felt the crack from the hole open up again. All the forty men came out. Ali Baba saw the oldest man count the forty of them with their horses and Ali Baba also saw that all the heavy sacks which had been strapped on either side of the horses were now empty.
After they were out, the oldest man looked at the rock again.
“Close Simsim.”
No sooner had the man spoken, the hole in the rock grew smaller and smaller and finally, Ali Baba could not even see the hole anymore.
Not knowing that their secrets were being watched by a stranger, the forty men sat on their horses and rode off again.
***********
Ali Baba was willing himself not to panic as he tightly caught on the branches of the tree. He had been terrified and he was waiting and wondering whether the forty men would be back. He waited for a long time for his nerves to calm down and for the entire time the men had not come back.
Ali Baba got down the tree and now looked at the rock.
By now his fear had been replaced by curiosity and he was left wondering whether the magic words which he had heard would work only for that man or for Ali Baba too.
He stared at the rock for some time.
“Open Simsim.”
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
He stared in awe, as just as before the rock shuddered and opened revealing a cave inside.
He was stunned as he stepped inside the suddenly cool cave. No, he did not even know it. Scattered all around the huge caves were treasures of silk, clothes, precious stones and coins of every kind. The cave was so huge and the treasures were so vast that Ali Baba realized that the place had been a hiding place for the thieves for generations.
He was so lost in thought that he realized that the cave door had shut itself behind. But then he was not worried even after he had seen that. He knew the magic words which could open the cave and he was not worried.
He decided that he was going to take the gold from the caves – as much as his donkeys could carry – and using the magic words he closed the rock around the cave and drove his donkeys back home, with the gold.
**********
Farzana had been worried when Ali Baba had been delayed and she was studying the door repeatedly, when Ali Baba came back and he was looking thoroughly worried as he drove his donkeys home.
“What…?”
The words died in Farzana’s mouth as she saw Ali Baba open the first sack filled with gold. Farzana was shocked and then she turned angry. “Did you steal these coins?” She demanded in an angry voice. “Why would you do that? You make enough to live and we were happy. Why did you steal...”
“No.” Ali Baba told Farzana in a quiet voice. “Listen to what happened today in the forests.”
********
“What will we do with so many coins?” Farzana asked Ali Baba in a dazed voice as she had listened to her husband’s story.
“I am going to bury the gold in our backyard so that we can use it when needed…” Ali Baba started.
“No wait!” Farzana said and she still sounded dazed. “We at least need to know how many coins are there, before burying it.”
Ali Baba was exasperated. “How long do you think we can count these many coins? We will just bury it.”
“We will weigh them.” Farzana interrupted her husband. “So that we will know the approximate wealth that you have brought here.”
**********
“You have never wanted scales before!” Rukhsana was confused as she studied her sister-in-law. “Why would you suddenly need scales? What are you measuring?”
“My husband asked for it today.” Farzana told Rukhsana hurriedly. “He wouldn’t tell me why.” She said haphazardly, without thinking.
Rukhsana was puzzled. “Do you want the big scales or the small ones?”
Farzana shrugged. “The smaller ones will do.”
So Rukhsana went inside her house and she applied wax in the base of the smaller scales and then handed over the scales to her sister-in-law. Rukhsana was sure that at least a small portion of whatever it was that Farzana was weighing would be stuck to the wax and Rukhsana would also know what it was that her sister-in-law needed the scales for.
Back home, Farzana and Ali Baba weighed the gold and buried it in their back yard. They were stunned with the wealth that Ali Baba had brought back.
Farzana returned the scales to Rukhsana not knowing that a single gold coin was stuck to the base of the scales.
*********
Ali Baba was confused when he was called by his brother.
What confused him even more was that Kasim seemed furious. Even his first words made no sense to Ali Baba.
“You pretend to be so poor and in reality you have so much money that you have to weigh it!” Kasim looked furious at his brother. “Tell me the truth. How did you get so much money all of a sudden?”
Ali Baba was about to deny it when Kasim furiously held up a gold coin in his hands. “My wife found this coin hidden in the base of the scales that your wife had borrowed yesterday. Why is there a gold coin stuck to the scale? How did you get it?”
Ali Baba looked at the coin and then at his greedy brother and then he sighed.
***********
Armed with ten mules, Kasim drove to the cave which Ali Baba had described. Ali Baba had also told him of the magic words and using Ali Baba’s directions, Kasim found the cave very easily.
No sooner had he said “Open Simsim”, at the rock outside the cave, the hole in the cave kept widening and soon Kasim was able to get in.
Kasim was shocked to see so much wealth and he collected everything and looking at the riches just lying there, drove Kasim to giddiness with joy. Kasim was feeling so delirious that he forgot the words which could open the cave. After filling all the mules with enough gold and other precious items, Kasim stood before the closed rock and he just forgot the words to open the door. He just forgot it.
That was when Kasim heard hooves of horses from outside the rock.
*********
The bandits of the caves were back and they all stood before the cave. Ali Baba had taken only gold coins and he had taken very little of the quantity in the cave – so the last time the bandits did not even know that some of the gold had been stolen from them.
But now when the bandits opened the rock door of the cave, they were shocked to see that a man was trying to steal most of their gold by loading ten of his mules with all their stolen treasure.
Naturally, the bandits were furious with this and they killed the blundering man inside the cave who was muttering things like “Open Barley” and the rest as he had been looking at the rock which had been the door of the cave.
Kasim lay dead in the cave floor as the forty bandits attacked him.
“Let his body be here.” The chief bandit told the others. “He has managed to know our secrets and he has come here trying to steal from us. Looking at his dead body here will terrify anyone else who ever has any such ideas and who attempts to steal from us.”
*******
Rukhsana was worried as she was studying the roads. Kasim had left in the morning and he was still not back even after the sun had set. Feeling something wrong, she went to Ali Baba and told him that Kasim was not yet back.
Ali Baba feared the worst but did not tell his sister-in-law that and he went to the cave in the night.
********
Ali Baba was shocked to see Kasim’s dead body who had been knifed many times by the bandits. Looking unhappy, Ali Baba put Kasim’s body on his donkey and without anyone knowing about it, he brought the dead body back to the city.
He told the weeping Rukhsana all about this who was in despair because she realized that her husband had met his end because of his greed.
******
Kasim had a beautiful slave called as Morgiana. She was very clever and loyal to the house of Kasim and Ali Baba. When she saw the knifed dead body of her master, she realized that if anyone saw the dead body like that, it would raise far too many suspicions.
So Morgiana went to a tailor called Baba Mustafa who lived in the city.
She paid him a gold coin even before he could ask about the work to be done. The tailor’s eyes bulged with suspicion and greed. Finally, the greed won out.
“I will take you to a house blindfolded, and there you must sew together a body in the darkness.”
The tailor found the request strange. But the gold coin was heavy and he agreed to the request of the girl.
Morgiana blindfolded the tailor and took him to Kasim’s house and there she had the tailor sew together Kasim’s body in the darkness. After that, Morgiana paid another coin to the tailor and left him at his home.
Thereafter a proper funeral was carried out for Kasim and Ali Baba looked after Kasim’s family, wife and Ali Baba also managed Kasim’s business along with his own.
*******
Meanwhile the bandits found the dead body missing and they had realized that someone else knew about the secrets of the cave.
The chief bandit was furious.
“Go to the nearest city dressed up as merchants from faraway lands.” The chief bandit commanded his men. “Find any new deaths that had taken place in the city and note down the house from where any strange dead body was carried away and tell me about it.”
One of the bandits went to the city and there he went early in the morning and just as his luck would have it, Baba Mustafa’s shop was the only one which was open at that time. The bandit sat near the shop as he saw the tailor sewing up the cloth.
“How can you work with such a tiny needle and thread?” The bandit asked the tailor.
The tailor smiled. “I have very good eyes. I can work on a dead body in a darkened room. Why can’t I work here?”
The bandit froze as he heard the words of the tailor.
“Dead body?” He asked the tailor.
The innocent tailor shrugged. “I had to sew up a dead body, the day before yesterday in the dark.”
The bandit looked at the tailor and he suddenly grinned. “If I blindfold you, would you be able to retrace your steps?”
Before the tailor could say anything, the bandit handed over a gold coin to the tailor. “I will pay you one more gold coin when you take me there.”
*********
The bandit looked at the house in front of him. “So you think you could have come here?” The bandit asked the tailor.
“I could have.” The tailor said removing his blindfolds as he looked at the house in front of him.
“Whose house is this?” The bandit asked the tailor.
The tailor frowned and shook his head. “I do not know.”
The bandit shrugged as he paid another gold coin to the tailor. “It does not matter and thank you for your kindness.”
After that, the bandit took a chalk from his pocket and marked Ali Baba’s house where the tailor had led him to.
*******
Morgiana came back home after finishing her work and she was surprised on seeing a chalk mark just outside her house. None of the other houses had the mark and no one in the house knew who had placed the mark.
The sharp Morgiana realized that something was wrong.
She studied the simple chalk mark in the door and she looked at the other homes and suddenly she smiled to herself.
********
“Which house did you mark?”
The chief bandit was dressed as another merchant and he was standing next to his own bandit.
But the chief bandit was just exasperated. Because the fool before him seemed to have gotten something wrong.
“Every house has the same chalk marking.” The chief bandit fumed angrily. “How could you mark every house? Then how can you be sure of which was the house that the tailor led you to?”
“I… marked… only… one… house.” The bandit stuttered looking around the street as all the houses in the street had the same marking.
“You are a fool!” The chief bandit looked angrily at his own man as he walked away from there.
*********
The chief bandit sent another bandit and this time too Morgiana was able to thwart the markings made by the second bandit. However, the third time, the chief bandit himself came to Ali Baba’s place.
After paying the tailor, he studied Ali Baba’s house and this time he made no marking on the house; just that the chief bandit memorized the house.
Morgiana saw the disguised chief bandit study the house and she also saw him walk away from there without doing anything else.
Morgiana felt a sudden sense of unease at the behaviour of the strange man on the streets. But she did not know what she could do now.
********
“The house belongs to Ali Baba and his brother Kasim had died just a few days back. Ali Baba has taken over his brother’s business now. I think he is the one who knows our secrets.” The chief bandit told the other bandits. “We have to kill the man before he tells others about us or before he robs any more from us.”
The other bandits nodded.
“Buy forty huge jars which are used for holding oil. Fill one of it, completely with fresh oil. Each one of you shall be able to fit inside the other jars. You shall sit inside the jars and wait for my signal. I shall buy some mules to take the jars to the city. On some pretext I shall get to this Ali Baba’s house. We shall enjoy his hospitality for the night. When they are all sleeping in the night, we shall kill all of them, search their house, find our treasure and bring it back to our caves.”
All the bandits agreed to this.
********
“I am an oil merchant and I come from a very far away place.”
Ali Baba turned to see a very well dressed man leading some donkeys with huge jars strapped on either side, coming towards him.
Before Ali Baba could say anything, the man continued. “I got delayed in my travels and I cannot start my travels to the next city, as the night is approaching.” The man looked at Ali Baba’s house behind. “You seem to be a wealthy man. Can you please let me stay in your house just for this night?”
The kind Ali Baba saw nothing wrong in the request. “You are definitely welcome to my house, sir.”
*********
Morgiana was working hard in the kitchen to feed the extra guest and the master had requested for a special dinner too. That was when Morgiana realized that the oil supply in the house was very less. She had forgotten to replenish the oil in the house in the day and she was about to go and buy some oil and that was when she remembered that the guest was an oil merchant. She decided that she would take just a small quantity of oil from the jars, only for today.
She opened the first jar and found the oil in the jar a little stale. Deciding that she would try the next jar, she opened the second jar.
She was shocked on hearing the voice from inside the jar.
“Can I come out now?” The voice came from the jar. “Is this your signal?”
Morgiana nearly stumbled and screamed. But she caught herself at the last minute. “Not now.” She screeched trying to make her voice as manly as possible.
She fled from the place back to the kitchen as she was trying to think about what had just happened. Slowly, Morgiana realized what it was.
Then with the help of Ali Baba’s son, Morgiana went back to the stables where the donkeys and jars were being kept. Morgiana had all the thirty nine bandits in the jars killed.
**********
That night just as planned the chief bandit came to the stables to signal his men. Unfortunately for the bandit all his men lay dead.
The chief bandit escaped from there with his life.
Finally, after thinking a little, the chief bandit realized that he had to kill Ali Baba and all the people in the family. He chose another disguise and this time he befriended Kasim’s son in the market. Kasim’s son brought the chief bandit to Ali Baba’s house.
But this time the quick Morgiana recognized the disguised chief bandit just as soon as he had come inside the house.
As was custom, Morgiana dressed herself like a dancer and in between her dress, she concealed a dagger.
That night Morgiana was dancing and the men were all enjoying it. Morgiana went far too close to the disguised chief bandit and without another thought stabbed the man in the heart.
Ali Baba was shocked as he saw the dead man.
Slowly Morgiana told Ali Baba all that had happened.
Ali Baba was overwhelmed when he heard Morgiana’s tale. He was so pleased that he even agreed to let Morgiana marry his son who now loved Morgiana and she became the daughter-in-law of the family.
She helped Ali Baba in all matters and the business that Ali Baba took over flourished, making Ali Baba richer than ever.
-Adapted from the Stories of 1001 Nights
