Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
A secret word, a cave of treasure, and a servant girl cleverer than a whole band of robbers
Page 1
Long ago in a sun-baked land there lived a poor, honest woodcutter named Ali Baba. Each morning he led his little donkeys up into the hills to cut firewood, and each evening he carried it down to sell in the town. One day, deep among the great rocks, he heard the thunder of many hooves. Quickly he climbed a tall tree and hid among its leaves, and from there he watched in amazement as a band of fierce riders came galloping up the valley — thirty, then forty men, armed and dusty from the road, their sacks heavy and clinking. At their head rode a tall captain in a dark cloak. Ali Baba held his breath and kept very still, for he knew at once that these were robbers.
Page 2
The captain swung down from his horse, walked up to the smooth face of the rock, and in a loud, clear voice called out two words: "Open Sesame!" At once, with a deep grinding sound, the solid stone split in two and swung open like a pair of great doors, and beyond it Ali Baba glimpsed a dark doorway leading down into the hill. One by one the forty thieves carried their heavy sacks inside. After a long while they came out again, empty-handed, the captain called "Close Sesame!", and the rock ground shut without a seam, as if it had never opened at all. Then the whole band mounted and rode away down the valley, and the hills were quiet once more.
Page 3
When the robbers were long gone, Ali Baba climbed down, his heart beating fast. He stepped up to the rock, and in a trembling voice he tried the words himself: "Open Sesame!" To his astonishment the stone swung wide once more. Inside, he found not a gloomy den but a vast glowing cavern, piled high with the riches of years — mountains of gold coins, chests of jewels, rolls of silk, lamps and carpets and silver bowls, all heaped to the ceiling. Ali Baba walked among it in wonder. But he was an honest man, and he did not fill his arms with everything he saw. He took only a few sacks of gold coins — as much as his little donkeys could quietly carry — said "Close Sesame" behind him, and went home.
Page 4
Ali Baba carried the gold home to his small house, where his good wife, his grown son, and their faithful servant Morgiana welcomed him. They could hardly believe their eyes. Ali Baba did not boast or waste the treasure; he set most of it safely aside and used only a little, so that the family would never go hungry again. Clever Morgiana, who ran the household and missed nothing, watched over it all with her sharp, kind eyes. For a while the little house was happy and peaceful, and Ali Baba hoped the secret of the rock would stay his own forever. But secrets have a way of slipping out, and his rich brother Cassim would soon come asking exactly where this sudden gold had come from.
Page 5
Ali Baba's rich brother Cassim could not rest until he had wormed the secret out of him. Greedy for more than his brother had ever taken, he loaded ten great mules with empty chests and rode out to the rock. "Open Sesame!" he cried, and in he went, filling chest after chest until he could barely move. But when he turned to leave, his mind went blank — the magic word had flown clean out of his head. "Open Barley! Open Wheat! Open Rice!" he shouted, trying every grain he could think of, but the stone would not stir. Poor proud Cassim was shut fast inside the hill, surrounded by all the gold in the world and no way at all to carry it home.
Page 6
That very evening the forty thieves came thundering back. When the captain called "Open Sesame" and the rock swung wide, they were astonished to find a stranger inside their secret cave. At once they knew their hiding place was no longer safe. They seized the trembling Cassim, took back their chests, and carried him off down the valley on a horse to question him far away. Cassim was shaken to his bones — but he came to no lasting harm, and in time he found his way home again, pale and much humbler than before, cured forever of his greed. The captain, however, was furious. Someone else knew the words to the rock, and he swore to his men that he would hunt down whoever it was.
Page 7
To find the man who knew their secret, the thieves sent one of their band into the town, disguised as an ordinary traveller. Little by little he learned that it was Ali Baba who had come into sudden gold, and he crept to Ali Baba's house and drew a small white chalk mark upon the door, so his captain could find it again. But he did not reckon on clever Morgiana. Coming home from the market, she noticed the strange mark at once and understood that it meant no good to the household. She said nothing and showed no fear. Instead, calm and quick, she fetched her own piece of chalk — and set to work on a plan that would turn the robbers' clever trick completely against them.
Page 8
Quietly, before anyone was about, Morgiana went down the street and drew the very same white mark on every single door, exactly like the thief's. When the captain rode in that night with his men to seize Ali Baba, he found himself staring at a whole street of houses, each with an identical chalk mark upon its door. Which one was it? There was no way to tell. One mark now meant nothing at all. The captain ground his teeth in fury, and the band had to turn their horses and slink away empty-handed once more, their clever plan ruined by a servant girl they had never even seen. But the captain of the thieves was proud and stubborn, and he was already thinking of a far craftier way to get inside Ali Baba's house.
Page 9
At last the captain came up with his craftiest plan of all. He disguised himself as an oil merchant and arrived at Ali Baba's house with a train of mules carrying forty great jars. He asked kindly Ali Baba for a night's lodging, and Ali Baba, who never turned away a traveller, welcomed him in. But only one jar truly held oil. In each of the others crouched one of the thieves, hidden and waiting for the captain's signal at midnight. That night, when Morgiana went out to the courtyard to fetch oil for her lamp, she heard a low whisper from inside a jar — "Is it time yet?" In a heartbeat she understood the whole trap. Calm and fearless, she tied down every lid fast and sealed the jars shut, and the thieves were caught, each one, inside.
Page 10
When morning came, Morgiana told Ali Baba everything, and he saw at once that her quick wits had saved all their lives. The sealed jars with the thieves inside were handed over to the town's magistrate and carted away at dawn, and the captain, seeing his whole band taken and his plan undone, slipped away over the hills and was never seen in that town again. Ali Baba was so grateful to brave, clever Morgiana that he set her free from service and welcomed her into the family, and she was married to his good son with a great and joyful feast. And so the honest woodcutter and the quick-witted servant girl lived in peace and plenty — for in the end it was not gold that saved them, but a kind heart and a clever head.
About this story
- Audience: kids (ages 6–12)
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