Arabian Nights: 278th Night: Alibaba and Forty Thieves - 1

The following night Shahrazad said:

The town of Persia. There lived two brothers. One was Kasim. The other was Ali Baba. Their father divided a small inheritance equally between them.  Kasim married a rich girl. He became a wealthy merchant. Ali Baba married a poor girl, as poor as himself. He became a wood cutter. He would go to thick forest, find out old and decayed tree, cut it and  bring the logs on the back of asses to the market for sale. 

One day, in the forest, Ali Baba had been cutting the wood and loading the logs on the back of his asses.  He saw at a distance, a great cloud of dust approaching him.  He observed it with attention, and discerned a body of horsemen. He thought them as robbers.  In order to save himself, he left the asses and his axe, climbed upon a tree and sat on a branch, concealed by twigs and leaves so that he could well observe the movement of the horsemen, and at the same time hide his presence. 

There were forty horsemen in the troop.  Well armed and well mounted they came to the foot of the rock on which the tree stood, and there dismounted. Every man unbridled his horse, tied him to a shrub and hung about his neck a bag of corn which they carried behind them. Then each horseman took off his saddle bag which from its weight seemed full of gold and silver.  One who seemed to be their captain, came under the tree in which the wood cutter had been hiding.  He made his way through some shrubs, pronounced the words, "Open, Simsim" A door opened in the rock, he bade all the members to enter, and they entered followed by the captain and the door was shut.

The robbers stayed sometime within the rock, during which Ali Baba was compelled to remain in the tree.

At last the door opened, and the captain came out first, and stood to
see all of them were out.  Alibaba heard the door closed as the captain pronounced, "Shut, Simsim." Each of them at once bridled his horse, fastened his wallet, and mounted again; and when the captain saw them all ready, he put himself at the head, and returned the way they had come.

Ali Baba's eyes followed them as far as they could, waited a long time before he descended.  Alibaba wanted to see whether he could open the door of the rock by pronouncing himself the words pronounced by the the captain.  He walked through the shrubs and reached the door, moved the shrubs away, and uttered "Open Simsim."  The door instantly flew wide open.

Alibaba expected a dark dismal cavern. But a well lighted spacious chamber lay before him.  The light was coming from an opening at the top of the rock.  The chamber was filled with provisions, rich bales of silk, embroideries, and valuable tissues piled upon one another, gold and silver ingots, in great heaps, and money in bags.  This cave must have been occupied by robbers for ages, and changed hands based on inheritance. He went boldly into the cave and collected as much of the gold coins kept in bags, enough that his asses could carry.  He came out and loaded the bags on the back of asses and laid logs of wood over them so that it could not be seen.

He came back to the door, and pronounced the words, "Shut Simsim!"  The door closed itself.
He went his way home.

Morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.

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