A | BANBURY : Opal (« Wei OG, The Baldwin Library gee KinB THE BANBURY CROSS s SERIES Prepared FOR CHILDREN BY “GRACE Ruys ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. Henynanseat Hea passe y w/e = F Aa /\ = THE HISTORY oF All BABA AND ‘THE. v FORTY THIEVES. » . aoa4e PICKRED (“BY aac PYBLISHED BY J:-MUDENT: excr. ALDINE HOVSE :G? EASTERN - STF “1895: . To Muriel. Nw Or all the tales they used to tell, Not one that ever I knew, Did I fear so much, or love so well, When I was a small child too, Dear Muriel, ’ As “ Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,”’ But my Baba had crimson sleeves ! And when it comes to the time of ‘year, When paint-boxes are new, And fairy tales are sweet to hear, Then you shall listen too, Muriel dear,— To “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves ;” But paint Baba with crimson sleeves ! The Story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. 1* an old town of Persia there lived two brothers, Cassim and Ali Baba. Their father, at his death, left them a small fortune, which they divided be- tween them. It might therefore be thought that their riches would be the ‘same; but not so, as you shall see. Cassim married a wife who owned a fine shop, a warehouse, and some land ; he thus found himself all at once quite 6 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. at his ease, and became one of the richest men in the whole town. Ali Baba, on the other hand, a a wife no better off than himself, and lived in a very poor house. He had no other means of livelihood, and of supporting his wife and children, than by going out to cut wood in the next forest, and carrying it about the town to sell on three asses. _Ali Baba went one day to the forest, ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 7 xo and had very nearly finished cutting as -much wood as his asses could carry, when he saw a thick cloud of dust, rising very high in the air, which seemed to be com- ing towards him. He looked at it long, until he saw a great company of men on horseback, who came riding fast, raising the dust. Although that part of the country was not often infested by robbers, Ali Baba still thought that these horsemen looked like them. Without, therefore, at all thinking what might become of his asses, his first and only care was to save him- -self.. So he climbed up quickly into a large tree, the branches of which spread out so close and thick, that from the 8. ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. YE Ga TUG INS VA YN) SO ae en! nen at es 7 sit midst of them he could see everything that passed, without being seen. The robbers rode swiftly up to this very tree, and there alighted. Ali Baba counted forty of them, and saw that each horseman took the bridle off his horse, hung over its head a bag filled with barley, and fastened it up. Then they took their travelling bags, which were so heavy that Ali Baba thought they were filled with gold and silver. The Captain of the thieves came, his bag on his shoulder, close to the rock, at the very spot where the tree grew in ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 9. sas sce tae which Ali Baba had hidden himself. After the rascal had made his way through the shrubs that grew there, he cried out these words, opEN sEsAME! which Ali . Baba distinctly heard. No sooner were they spoken than a door opened; the Captain and all his men passed quickly in, and the door closed again. There they stayed for a long time; and Ali Baba was compelled to wait IO ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. in the tree with patience, as he was afraid some of them might come out if he left his hiding-place. At length the door opened, and the forty thieves came out. After he had seen all the troop pass out before him, Ali Baba heard the Captain say the words, sHuT sesame! Each man then bridled his horse, and mounted. When the Cap- tain saw that all were ready, he put himself at their head, and they rode off as they had come. Ali Baba did not come down from the tree at once, because he thought they might have forgotten something, and be obliged to come back, and that he should thus be caught. He watched them as long as he could; nor did he leave the tree for a long time after he had lost sight of them. Then, recalling the words the Captain had used to open and shut the door, he made his way through the bushes to it, and called out, ‘Open Sesamé!” Instantly the door flew wide open! Ali Baba expected to find only a dark cave, and was much astonished at seeing a large, fine vaulted chamber, dug out of the rock, and higher than a man could reach. It received its light from a hole I2 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. in the top of the rock. In it all sorts of rare fruits, bales of rich merchandise, silk stuffs and brocades, and great heaps of money, both silver and gold, some loose, some in large leather bags,: were piled up one on another. The sight of all these things almost took Ali Baba’s breath away. ce - But he did not hesitate long as to what he should do. He went boldly into the cave, and as soon as he was there, the door shut ; but since he knew the secret by which to open it, this gave him no fear. Leaving the silver, he turned to the gold which was in the bags, and when he had gathered enough for loading his three ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 13 asses, he went and brought them to the rock, loaded them, and so covered the sacks of gold over with wood that no one could suspect anything. . This done, he went up to the door, and had no sooner said the words, ‘‘ Shut Sesamé,” than it closed. And now Ali Baba took the road to the town; and when he got home, drove his asses into the yard, and shut the gate with 14 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. great care. He threw off the wood that hid the gold, and carried the bags into his house, where he laid them down in a row before his wife, who was sitting upon a couch. When he had told the whole story of the cave and the forty thieves, he emptied out the sacks, making one great heap of gold that quite dazzled his wife’s eyes. His wife began to rejoice in this good fortune; and was going to count over the money that lay before her, piece by piece. ‘What are you going to do?” said he; ‘‘ why, you would never have done counting. I will dig a pit to bury it in; we have no time to lose.” ‘Tt is right, though,” replied the wife, “that we should know nearly how much there may be. I will go and borrow a small corn-measure, and whilst you are digging the pit, I will find how much there is.” So the wife of Ali Baba set off and ‘went to her brother-in-law, Cassim, who lived a short way from her house. Cas- sim was from home, so she begged his wife to lend her a measure for a few minutes. ‘That I will, with pleasure,” said Cassim’s wife. She went to seek a measure, but knowing how poor Ali ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. I5 Baba was, she was curious to know what sort of grain his wife wanted to measure ; and she put some tallow under the measure, which she did without its being visible. , The wife of Ali Baba returned home, and placing the measure on the heap of gold, filled it over and over again, till she had measured the whole; Ali Baba by this time had dug the pit for it, and while he was burying the gold, his wife went back with the measure to her sister- in-law, but without observing that a piece of gold had stuck to the bottom of it. 16. ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. The wife of Ali Baba had scarcely turned her back, when Cassim’s wife looked at the bottom of the measure, and was astonished to see a piece of gold sticking to it. ‘‘ What!” said she, “ Ali Baba measures his gold! Where can the wretch have got it?” When her husband Cassim came home, she said to him, ‘¢Cassim, you think you are rich, but Ali Baba must have far more wealth than you; he does not count his gold as you do; he measures it.” Then she ALI BABA AND. THE FORTY THIEVES. 17 showed him the piece of money she had found sticking to the bottom of the measure ; a coin so ancient that the name of the prince, engraven on it, was unknown to her. Far from feeling glad at the good fortune which his brother had met with, Cassim grew so jealous of Ali Baba that he passed almost the whole night without closing his eyes. The next morning before sunrise he went to him. He did not treat him as a brother: ‘* Ali Baba,” said he, harshly ‘‘ you pretend to be poor and miserable, and a beggar, and yet you measure your money,” and Cassim showed him the piece of gold his wife had given him, ‘“‘how many pieces,” added he, ‘* have you like this, that my wife found sticking to the bottom of the measure yesterday ?” From this speech Ali Baba knew that Cassim, and his wife also, must suspect what had happened. So, without showing the least sign of surprise, he told Cassim by what chance he had found the retreat of the thieves, and where it was; and offered, if he would keep it secret, to share the treasure with him. “‘ This I certainly expect,” replied Cassim in a haughty tone; ‘‘ otherwise I og Ps 18 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. Kf a ) at : {ry + poe WS < | | ye Te i \. % ON) Ni : 24 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. return. She went in the utmost alarm to Ali Baba, and said to him, ‘‘ Brother, I believe you know that Cassim has gone to the forest; he is not yet come back, and as night is come, I fear some accident may have befallen him.” Ali Baba did not wait for entreaties to go and séek for Cassim. He immediately set off with his three asses, and went to the forest. As he drew near the rock he was astonished to see that blood had been shed near the cave. When he reached the door, he said,. “Open Sesami!” and it opened. He was struck with horror to find the body of his brother cut into four quarters. He decided to carry them home, and making two packets of the four quarters, he placed them on one of his asses, covering them with sticks, to conceal them. The other two asses he quickly loaded with sacks of gold, putting wood over them as before. “Then, commanding the door to close, he took the road to the city, waiting in the forest till nightfall, that he might return without being observed. When he got home, he left the two asses that were laden with gold, desiring his wife to take care to unload them; and having told ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 25 her what had happened to Cassim, he led the other ass to his sister-in-law. Ali Baba knocked at the door, which was opened to him by Morgiana, who was a female slave, clever, and full of invention. When he had entered the court he took off the wood and the two packages from the ass, and taking her aside, ‘‘ Morgiana,” said he, “the first thing I have to ask you is to keep.a deep secret! These two packets contain the body of your master, and we must bury him as if he had died a natural death. Let me speak to your mistress, and hearken what I say . to her.” -Morgiana went to call her mistress, and Ali Baba then told her all that had happened, until his arrival with the body of Cassim: “‘ Sister,” added he, “here is a sad affliction for you, but we must con- trive to bury my brother as if he had died anatural death; and then we shall be glad to offer you a shelter under our own roof.” _ The widow of Cassim reflected that she could not do better than consent. She therefore wiped away her tears, which had begun to flow, and suppressed. her mournful cries, and thereby. showed Ali Baba that she accepted his offer. Ali Baba left her in this frame of mind, 26 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.. and Morgiana went out with him to an apothecary’s there ;.she knocked at the shop-door, and when it was opened, asked for a particular kind of lozenge of great effect in. dangerous illness.. The apothecary gave her the lozenge, asking who was ill in her master’s family. “‘ Ah!” exclaimed she with a deep sigh, **it is my worthy. master, Cassim himself, He can neither speak nor eat |” Meanwhile, as Ali Baba and his wife were seen going backwards and forwards to the house of Cassim, in the course of the day, noone was surprised on hearing in the evening the piercing cries of his widow and Morgiana, which announced his death. At a very early hour the next morning, when day began to appear, Morgiana, knowing that a good old cobbler lived near, who was one of the first to open his shop, went out in search of him, .and coming up to him, she wished him a good- day, and put a piece of gold into his hand. Baba Mustapha, the cobbler, was natur- ally of a gay turn, and had always something laughable to say. Looking at the money, as it was yet scarcely day- light, and seeing it was gold, « A good hansel,” said he ; ‘‘ what’s tobe done? I am. ready to do what Iam bid.” <« Baba ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 27 = 5 x iD i , Hy, NOAM 71 ed (MU Sa) ALIN Tae eet WV Rie aR Mustapha,” said Morgiana to him, ‘take all you want for sewing, and come directly with me ; but on this condition, that you let me put a bandage over your | eyes when we have got to a certain street.” At these words Baba Mustapha 28 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. began to shake his head. ‘‘ Oh, oh,” said he, ** you want me to do something wrong.” But putting another piece of gold into his hand, Morgiana said, ‘