Arabian Nights

by Richard Burton

  No sooner had Scheherazade concluded her tale than she said, “And yet, oh king, this story is no more wondrous than the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”

  Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

  Once upon a time there were two brothers named Kasim and Ali Baba, who lived in a certain city of Persia. When their father died, they each received an equal share of his wealth and lost no time in spending and wasting it all. The elder brother, Kasim, however, married the daughter of a rich merchant, so that when his father-in-law passed away, he became the owner of a large shop that contained valuable merchandise and a storehouse of precious goods. Moreover, he inherited a great deal of gold buried in the ground. Thus, he became known throughout the town as a prosperous merchant.

  Meanwhile, Ali Baba had married a poor and needy woman and lived with her in a dismal hovel. He eked out a scanty livelihood by gathering wood in a forest and selling it for fuel on his three asses in the bazaars around town.

  Now, one day it so happened that Ali Baba had cut some dead branches and had placed the load on his donkeys when suddenly he perceived a cloud of dust high in the air and moving rapidly toward him from the right. When he took a closer look, he was able to distinguish a troop of horsemen, who would soon reach him, and this sight caused him great alarm, for he was afraid that they might be bandits who would slay him and drive off his donkeys. So he began to run, but since he could not possibly escape the forest in time to avoid them, he drove his donkeys into some nearby bushes and scampered up a huge tree, where he hid himself behind some leaves. Fortunately, he could observe everything beneath him without fear of being seen by the people below, and the first thing he noticed was an immense rock that towered above the tree. When the horsemen finally arrived, it was right in front of this rock that they dismounted, and he could see that they were all young and strong. Moreover, it was clear from their looks and demeanor that they were a group of robbers, about forty in all, who had just attacked a caravan and had carried off the spoils and booty to this place with the intention of hiding it safely in some cache.

  Indeed, the saddlebags which the men took from their horses proved to be full of gold and silver, and the men slung their bags over their shoulders. Then the robber who appeared to be their captain led the way and pushed through thorns and thickets until he came to a certain spot, where he uttered, “Open, Sesame!”

  All at once a wide doorway appeared in the face of the rock, allowing the robbers to enter, and then the portal shut by itself. Although they were now inside the cave, Ali Baba remained perched on the tree, for he knew that the robbers could come out of the cave at any moment and slay him if they caught him descending the tree. Nevertheless, after waiting for a long time, he became tired and decided to mount one of their horses, herd his donkeys together, and then head toward the town. Just as he reached his decision, the portal flew open and the chief emerged. Standing at the entrance, he counted his men as they came out, and finally he spoke the magic words “Shut, Sesame!” and the door closed by itself. After he inspected his men, they all slung their saddlebags onto their horses and bridled them. As soon as they were ready, they rode off, and their chief led them in the direction that they had come from.

  However, Ali Baba did not budge from the tree until they were clean out of sight, for he was afraid that one of them might return and spot him. When he finally descended, he thought to himself, “Why not try those magic words and see if the door will open and close at my bidding?” So he called aloud, “Open, Sesame!” And no sooner had he said those words than the portal flew open, and he entered a large, vaulted cavern through the portal about the size of a man, and hewn in stone. There was also light that came though air holes and bull’s-eyes in the upper surface of the rock that formed the ceiling. He had expected to find nothing but a dark and gloomy den and therefore was surprised to see the whole cave filled with bales of all kinds of material, heaped from floor to ceiling with camel loads of silks, brocades, embroidered cloths, and mounds of different-colored carpets. In addition, he came across countless gold and silver coins, some piled on the ground and others bound in leather bags and sacks. Upon seeing such an abundance of goods and money, Ali Baba concluded that the thieves must have been storing their loot in this place for many decades and not just the last few years.

  Although the door to the cave had closed once he had entered, Ali Baba was not dismayed, because he remembered the magic words, which he used to open the door once again so he could carry out some of the spoils. He paid no attention to the precious materials but rather concentrated on gathering as many sacks of coins as he thought his donkeys could carry. Then he loaded them on the beasts and covered his plunder with sticks and branches so that nobody would detect the bags. Finally, he cried out, “Close, Sesame!” and immediately the door shut, for the spell had been so conceived that if anyone entered the cave, its portal shut automatically behind him, and if he wanted to leave the cave, the door would not open again unless he uttered the words, “Open, Sesame!”

  Now that Ali Baba had loaded his asses, he drove them toward the town as fast as he could, and after reaching his home, he led them into the yard and shut the outer door. Then he took off the sticks and branches from the donkeys and carried the bags of gold to his wife, who immediately began feeling what was inside. When she realized that they were full of coins, however, she suspected that Ali Baba had robbed some people and began reproaching him for having done such an evil thing.

  And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,

  Upset by his wife’s reaction, Ali Baba told her that he had not robbed anyone, and that instead of berating him, she should rejoice with him at their good fortune. Thereupon, he told her about his adventure and began to pour heaps of gold on the floor right before her eyes so that she was dazzled by the sight and delighted by his account of the events in the forest. Then she stooped down and began counting coin after coin until Ali Baba said, “Silly woman, how long are you going to do that? Let me dig a hole to hide this treasure so that nobody will know about it.”

  “That’s a good idea,” she replied. “But I’d still like to weigh the coins and get an idea of their worth.”

  “As you please,” he said, “but make sure you tell nobody about the money.”

  So off she went in haste to Kasim’s home to borrow a scale to weigh the coins and determine their value. When she could not find Kasim, she said to his wife, “I’d appreciate it if you could lend me a scale for a while.”

  “Do you need the bigger or smaller scale?” her sister-in-law replied.

  “Just the smaller one,” she answered.

  “Stay here a moment while I try to find what you need.”

  It was under this pretext that Kasim’s wife went off and secretly smeared wax and tallow on the pan of the scale so that she could discover what Ali Baba’s wife intended to weigh. By doing this she could be certain that whatever it was, some little piece of it would stick to the wax and fat. Once she knew that her curiosity would be satisfied, she gave the scale to Ali Baba’s wife, who carried it home and began to weigh the gold. In the meantime, Ali Baba kept digging, and when the money was weighed, they stored it in the hole, which they carefully covered with dirt. Then the good wife took the scale back to her sister-in-law, not realizing that a coin had stuck to the pan of the scale. So when Kasim’s wife saw the gold coin, she fumed with envy and wrath and said to herself, “Well now, they’ve borrowed my scale to weigh coins!” And she was quite puzzled as to how such a poor man as Ali Baba had obtained so many coins that he had to weigh them with a scale. This matter occupied her thoughts for a long time, and when her husband returned home in the evening, she said to him, “You may consider yourself a prosperous man, but your brother, Ali Baba, is much richer than you are. In fact, he’s an emir in comparison to you. He’s got such heaps of gold that he has to wei
gh his money with scales, while you must content yourself with counting your coins.”

  “How do you know this?” Kasim asked.

  Then his wife told him all about the scale and how she had found a gold coin stuck to it. To prove her point she showed him the gold coin, which bore the mark and inscription of some ancient king. Consequently, Kasim became so envious and jealous that he could not sleep that night, and early the next morning he arose, went to Ali Baba’s house, and said, “Brother, it would seem that you are a poor and needy man, but in truth, you have so much wealth that you’re compelled to weigh your gold with scales.”

  “What are you saying?” responded Ali Baba. “I don’t understand you. Make your point clear.”

  “Don’t pretend to be ignorant, and don’t think you can fool me!” Kasim cried out angrily and extended the palm of his hand, revealing the ancient coin. “You must have thousands of these coins if you needed my scale. My wife found this one stuck to a pan.”

  Then Ali Baba understood how both Kasim and his wife knew that he had a great many coins and he realized that it would be to no avail to deny it, since his denial would only cause ill will and mischief. Therefore, he told his brother all about the bandits and also about the treasure in the cave. After hearing the story, Kasim exclaimed, “I want you to tell me exactly where you found the money and also the magic words to open and shut the door. And I warn you, if you don’t tell me the whole truth, I’ll inform the chief of police, and you’ll have to give up all your gold and spend the rest of your days in jail.”

  Under such threats, Ali Baba revealed the magic words and the location of the cave. As a result, Kasim, who had noted everything carefully, set out for the cave the very next day with ten donkeys that he had hired. He had no difficulty in finding the place, and when he came to the rock, he cried out in great joy, “Open, Sesame!” Then all at once, the portal yawned wide, and Kasim entered and saw the piles of jewels and treasures lying all around him. As soon as he was fully inside the cave, the door shut after him as it was accustomed to do. Meanwhile, Kasim walked about in ecstasy, marveling at the treasures, and when he finally became tired of gaping, he gathered together enough bags of coins for his mules to carry and placed them by the entrance ready to take outside and load on his beasts. But by the will of Allah Almighty, he had clean forgotten the cabalistic words and cried out, “Open, oh Barley!” However, the door refused to budge. Astonished and confused, Kasim began calling out all the names that had something to do with grain except sesame, which had slipped from his memory as though he had never heard the word. In his distress, he neglected the gold coins that lay in heaps at the entrance. Instead, he paced back and forth inside the cave worrying about his predicament. The great treasures that had once filled his heart with joy and gladness were now the cause of bitter grief and sadness.

  And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,

  Kasim abandoned all hope for his life and regretted that he had risked his life out of greed and envy. Indeed, it so happened that the robbers returned to the rock by noon and saw the mules standing beside the entrance from afar. Unfortunately, Kasim had failed to tether them, and they had strayed about the forest, browsing here and there. Nevertheless, the thieves paid scant attention to the strays, nor did they bother to catch them and tie them to stakes. They were only puzzled as to how they had managed to wander so far from the town. After the robbers dismounted, the chief went up to the door and repeated the magic words, causing the door to fly open at once.

  Now, Kasim had heard within the cave the sound of the horses drawing nearer and nearer, and he fell down on the ground in a fit of fear, never doubting that it was the clatter of the bandits, who would certainly slaughter him. Nevertheless, he summoned his courage, and when the door flew open, he rushed out, hoping to make good his escape. But the unfortunate man ran smack into the chief, who stood in front of the band and knocked Kasim to the ground. Immediately thereafter, one of the robbers drew his sword and cut Kasim in two with one slash. Then the bandits rushed into the cave and carried the bags of coins back to the spot where they had been before. Fortunately, they did not miss the ones that Ali Baba had taken, so stunned and amazed were they to discover that a stranger had gained entry to the cave. They all knew that it was impossible for anyone to drop through the skylights, because they were as tall and steep as the rock’s face, which was too slippery to climb. They also knew that it was impossible to enter by the portal unless one knew the magic words to open it. Nevertheless, they decided to quarter Kasim’s dead body and hang two parts on the right and two parts on the left of the door so that the sight would be a warning of doom to all those who might dare to enter the cave. After they finished this task, they left the cave, closed the door to the treasure hoard, and rode off to do their usual work.

  Now, when night fell, and Kasim did not come home, his wife became uneasy. So she went to Ali Baba and said, “Your brother hasn’t returned home. You know where he went, and I’m afraid that something terrible has happened to him.”

  Ali Baba also suspected that some accident had occurred to prevent his brother’s return. Nonetheless, he tried to comfort his sister-in-law with words of cheer and said, “I’m sure that Kasim is just being cautious and has chosen a roundabout road to avoid the city. That’s probably the reason why he’s late. I’m sure he’ll be here very soon.”

  After hearing these words, Kasim’s wife felt comforted and went home, where she sat and awaited her husband’s return. But when half the night had passed and he still had not come home, she was most distraught. She was afraid to cry aloud out of grief because the neighbors might hear her and come and learn the secret. So she wept in silence, scolded herself, and began thinking, “Why did I ever disclose the secret of the coins to him and make him jealous of Ali Baba? Now I’ve reaped nothing but disaster!” She spent the rest of the night in bitter tears, and early the next morning she rushed as fast as she could to Ali Baba and begged him to go and search for his brother. Again he comforted her and then set out right away with his asses for the forest. Once he reached the rock, he was startled to see fresh bloodstains, and since he could not find his brother or the ten donkeys, he was convinced something terrible had happened. So he went to the door and said, “Open, Sesame!” and when he entered, he saw Kasim’s dead body, two parts hanging to the right, and the rest to the left of the entrance. To be sure, he was frightened beyond belief, but he wrapped the quarters in the two cloths and set them upon one of his asses, hiding them carefully with sticks and branches so that nobody could see them. Then he went in and took some more bags of gold, which he placed upon the other two animals, and covered them carefully as he had done before. When everything was ready, he closed the door to the cave with the magic words and set off for home with all due caution. Soon after his arrival, he told his wife to bury the bags of gold with utmost prudence, but he did not tell her about the condition in which he had found his brother. Then he took the other donkey with the corpse to the widow’s house and knocked gently at the door.

  Now, Kasim had a slave girl named Morgiana, who was extremely shrewd, and she quietly lifted the bolt and let Ali Baba and the ass into the courtyard. After he took the corpse from the beast’s back, he said, “Quick, Morgiana, get everything ready to bury your lord. I’ll return quickly to help you, but first I must go and tell the bad news to your mistress.”

  When Kasim’s widow saw her brother-in-law, she exclaimed, “Oh, Ali Baba, what news do you have about my husband? Alas, I see grief written upon your face! Tell me quickly what’s happened.”

  So he told her what had happened to her husband, how he had been slain by the robbers, and in what condition he had brought the dead body home.

  “My lady,” he said, “we cannot change what has happened, but we must keep this matter secret, for our lives depend upon it.”

  Th
e widow wept bitter tears and then responded, “Fate dictated what was to become of my husband, and now for safety’s sake, I give you my word that I won’t reveal anything about this affair.”

  “There’s nothing one can do when Allah decrees what is to happen,” he stated. “Be patient until the days of your widowhood have expired. Then I’ll take you as a wife, and you will live in comfort and happiness. And you don’t have to worry that my first wife will be angry at you or jealous, for she is kind and tender.”

  “As you wish,” she said.

  While she continued weeping and mourning over her husband’s death, Ali Baba said farewell and rejoined Morgiana. They discussed the best way to manage the burial of his brother, and he told her exactly what to do before he left the matter in her hands and went home. As soon as Ali Baba had departed, Morgiana went quickly to a druggist’s shop, and in order to conceal the matter, she asked for a drug that was often administered to people with a dangerous distemper. The druggist gave it to her but said, “Who’s become so ill at your house that he needs this medicine?”