Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves!

Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves

By Cookie Nassef


For the Parents:

Plot Synopsis: Ali Baba, son of the Kalif of Bagdad (or, Baghdad) is brought up by the 40 Thieves after his father is killed by the soldiers of Hugalu Khan, who received the necessary information by traitor Kassim (or Cassim). Ali becomes the leader of the thieves and they are fighting for the freedom of his land. By chance Ali captures the fiancée of Hugalu Khan, who turns out to be his girl friend Amara. After a few misunderstandings Ali uses her wedding day with Hugalu Khan as the day for the liberation of Bagdad.

For the Children & their Parents:

Somehow the Hero of our famous fairytale of A Thousand & One Nights, is Aladdin, Salah-el-Din, Saladin, or Ali Baba – and the genie! They are all one and the same fictional person! The origin is not quite known. But, we saw many Cinema adaptations or TV films, and read many books when we were children and even as grown-ups. Some authors of Ali Baba & The 40 Thieves call Ali Baba ‘The King of Thieves’...like an oriental Robin Hood...who stole from the rich, to give to the poor.

For the Children:

Here is a fairytale of Aladdin? Ali Baba? It’s the same man! So, here is a nice story for this week:

Once upon a time, Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter in Persia, happens to overhear a group of thieves - forty in all - visiting their treasure store in the forest where he is cuttiing wood. The thieves' treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by magic - opens on the words "Oopen, Sesame" (or 'sim-sim') and seals itself on the words, "Close, Sesame." When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave hiimself and takes some of the treasure home.

Ali Baba's rich brother, Kassim (or Cassim) finds out about his brother's unexpected wealth, and Ali Baba tells Kassim about the cave. Kassim goes to the cave to take more of the treasure, but in his greed and excitement over the treasures forgets the magic words to get back out of the cave. The thieves find him there, and kill him. When his brother does not come back, Ali Baba goes to the cave to look for him, and finds the body, bringing it home. With the help of Morgana (or Morgiana), a clever slave-girl in Kassim's household, they are able to give Kassim a proper burial without arousing any suspicions about his death.

The thieves, finding the body gone, realize that somebody else must know their secret, and set out to track him down. The first several times they are foiled (interrupted; disrupted) by Morgana, who is now a member of Ali Baba's household, but eventually they are able to ascertain (to know for sure) the location of Ali Baba's house.

The lead (chief) thief pretends to be an oil merchant (trading and dealing in oil) in need of Ali Baba's hospitality, bringing with him mules loaded with forty oil jars, one filled with oil, the other thirty-nine with the other thieves (the missing members were the scouts previously sent to find the house, who were killed for their failure). Once Ali Baba is asleep, the thieves plan to kill him. Again, Morgana discovers and foils the plan, killing the thirty-nine thieves in their oil jars by pouring boiling oil on them. When their leader comes to rouse his men, he discovers that they are dead, and escapes.

To exact revenge (to take revenge), after some time the lead thief establishes himself as a merchant, befriends (makes friends with) Ali Baba's nephew (who is now in charge of the late Kassim's business), and is invited to dinner at Ali Baba's house. He is recognized by Morgana, who performs a dance with a dagger for the diners and plunges it into the heart of the thief when he is off his guard. Thus, the story ends happily for everyone, except the forty thieves and Kassim!

- The End -

:)