Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Once upon a time, in a bustling city in Arabia, there lived a poor woodcutter named Ali Baba. Ali Baba was a kind-hearted man, but he struggled to make ends meet and provide for his family. One day, while out in the forest, he stumbled upon a group of forty thieves, who were hiding their stolen treasures in a secret cave.
Ali Baba, being a curious man, waited until the thieves left and then approached the cave. He saw the door was secured by a magic phrase: “Open Sesame.” He said the phrase out loud and the door creaked open. Inside the cave, he saw heaps of gold, silver, and jewels, and he knew he had to take some to provide for his family.
He filled a bag with as much treasure as he could carry and left the cave, making sure to close the door and say “Close Sesame” so the thieves wouldn’t know that anyone had been there. He took the treasure back to his home, and his wife was thrilled to see it.
They spent the treasure wisely and lived comfortably for a while. But Ali Baba’s brother, Kasim, soon found out about the treasure and became greedy. He asked Ali Baba to show him the cave, but Ali Baba refused, knowing that his brother couldn’t be trusted.
Kasim, however, was determined to get his hands on the treasure, so he followed Ali Baba into the forest and waited until he left. Kasim said the magic phrase and entered the cave, but when he tried to leave, he forgot the phrase to open the door. The thieves returned and found him inside the cave, and they killed him.
When Ali Baba found out about his brother’s death, he knew he had to be careful. He decided to take revenge on the thieves, so he went to a wise woman in the city and asked for her help. The woman gave him an oil jar and told him to use it to hide inside the cave when the thieves were away.
Ali Baba followed the woman’s advice, and he waited inside the cave until the thieves returned. He overheard their plans and saw their treasure. He then rubbed the oil on his body and crawled out of the jar when the thieves were asleep. He took as much treasure as he could carry and left the cave, making sure to memorize the magic phrase before leaving.
The next day, when the thieves discovered that someone had taken their treasure, they knew it had to be Ali Baba. They set out to find him, but he was already prepared. He told his son, who was a smart and brave boy, to buy a hundred oil jars and fill them with oil. He then told his son to take the jars to the forest, and when he saw the thieves, to throw the oil jars at them and light them on fire.
The plan worked, and the thieves were defeated. Ali Baba and his family were safe, and they lived the rest of their days in peace and prosperity, thanks to the treasure they had obtained from the thieves’ cave. The story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves became a legend, and people all over the world still tell it to this day.