一千零一夜英文故事：Alibaba and The Forty Thieves

Once there lived a woodcutter in a village in Arabia. His name was Ali Baba. He was very poor. One day he was cutting the trees beside a mountain near by. Suddenly he heard some hoofing¹ sound. So he climbed up the tree to watch seriously and carefully. 

 

There he saw forty men riding on the horses back and went towards the mountain raising dust on their way. All of them wore masks on their faces. He thought they must be thieves. He watched carefully what they were doing. They all stopped before the mountain. One of them must be the chief, got down from the horse and walked towards a huge rock in the mountain. He stretched his hands and called ‘Open seesee…" 

 

The rock slowly moved to one side with a noise of friction². There was a narrow path in the mountain. Ali Baba found that it was a cave. All the thieves got down from the horses and carried heavy bags on then back inside the cave. After all of them went inside, the door closed Ali Baba watched it with anxiety. Some time after, they all came out of the cave and rode back as they came. The door closed again after the forty thieves came out. 

 

Ali Baba got down from the tree and walked slowly near the rock. He also stretching his hand and called loudly "Open seesee"! 

 

Suddenly the door of the rock opened, slowly. Ali Baba went inside the Cave. The door closed again. In the center of the Cave Ali Baba saw lot of precious gems³ and jewels on a small stage. Gold and silver coins were also found everywhere there. On the other side he saw diamonds in an open box. Ali Baba was in wonder and he didn't see such amounts of wealth at a place. 

 

He was stunned⁴ for a while, but in a very short time he filled a sack with as much as he could and returned home. Ali Baba showed his wife the sack full of precious gems and gold. His wife was shocked for a while on seeing the wealth. 

 

He said, “our worst days come to an end from today". 

 

His wife replied, “We have become very rich in a single day". 

 

He wanted to weigh the wealth he had in the sack. His wife went to borrow the weighing machine from Kasim All Baba's rich brother. As Kasim's wife was a suspicious⁵ woman, she wanted to know the reason why she got the machine. 

 

So she applied⁶ some gum at the bottom of the weighing machine. Ali Baba's wife brought the machine and weighed the coins. When she was weighing, a gold coin stuck at the base. She returned the machine to Kasim's wife without knowing that a coin was under the machine. 

 

When Kasim's wife saw the coin under the machine she and Kasim become jealous. 

 

As Kasim was a wicked and greedy man, he wanted to know the secret of Ali Baba's wealth. 

 

Kasim learnt the secret from Ali Baba. He went to the mountain. Standing⁷ in front of the cave he said loudly" Open seesee!" 

 

The door opened. After he entered in, the door closed again On seeing the wealth he shouted in joy “All are mine from now". 

 

He quickly filled his sack and came near the door and said “Open Sasee!" But the door didn't open. "Open kasee" he said again, but the door did not move. 

 

Kasim had forgotten the words OPEN SEESEE to open the rock door. So he got stranded⁸ inside the cave. He tried again and again but in vain. After some time later, the forty thieves came to the cave They entered the cave and found Kasim inside the cave with a sack full of gold. 

 

"What? A new thief inside…cut his head" the chief ordered in a high voice when they came out. 

 

They killed Kasim and threw him away outside the cave. As he did not come back to his house till the evening, his wife got worried. He went to Ali Baba's house and asked for help. He went near the cave. He saw the body of his brother near the rock door. He cried. 'Oh God, why were you so greedy? He took the body home. His wife thought that It was the punishment given by God for her greediness 

 

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