Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves From The Arabian Night ' s EntertainmentOnce upon a time in Persia , there lived two brothers . One was named Cassim , and the other Ali Baba . Cassim married a rich woman , but Ali Baba was poor . One day , Ali Baba was cutting wood in the forest . He saw a group of men coming toward him . " They must be robbers , " he said to himself . He climbed a tree to hide . When the horsemen came up , Ali Baba counted them . There were forty men in all . They got off their horses before a black rock . The captain said the words , " Open , sesame . " A door in the rock magically opened . The men all went inside , and the door closed behind them . Ali Baba stayed in the tree . After a while , the door opened again . The robbers all came out . Then the captain said , " Close , Sesame , " and the door closed again . Then all the men rode away . " I must see what is behind that door '" thought Ali Baba . As soon as the men were out of sight , Ali Baba climbed down . " Open , Sesame , " he said in front of the rock . The door opened , and Ali Baba entered into a large cave . It was full of all kinds of treasure . " Wow ! There are rich silks , carpets , gold , silver , and bags of money , " cried Ali Baba . He loaded his three mules with as many bags as possible . When he was finished , Ali Baba said , " Close , Sesame , " and the door closed . He then went straight home . At home , Ali Baba told his wife about their good luck . She was really happy . " Let ' s measure the gold ! " she said . But she didn ' t have a measuring stick . She ran to Cassim ' s wife to borrow one . Cassim ' s wife was very curious . So she put a little glue on the back of the measuring stick . Ali Baba ' s wife measure the treasure . A piece of gold stuck to the back of the measuring stick . Cassim ' s wife saw the gold and told her husband . Cassim went to visit Ali Baba . " Please tell me how you got the gold , " he said . Ali Baba then explained about the big , black rock . " I will get some treasure , too . " said Cassim . The next day , Cassim went to the forest . He took a lot of mules with him to carry the treasure . " Open , Sesame , " said Cassim , and sure enough , the door opened . He went in and the door closed . He piled bags of gold near the door . Then he was ready to leave . But he had forgotten the magic words to open the door . He tried to remember for a long time . Finally , the robbers came back to the cave . They saw Cassim inside and rushed into the cave . They pulled out their swords and killed him . Then they cut him into four pieces and left him in the cave . That night , Cassim ' s wife ran to Ali Baba . " I ' m so worried about his husband , " she cried . " Please don ' t worry , " answered Ali Baba . " If he doesn ' t return by the morning , I will find him . " In the morning , Ali Baba prepared his three mules . He then left for the cave . When he entered , he was stuck with horror . He quickly carried his brother ' s body to his house . Ali Baba didn ' t want people to know how Cassim died . Cassim ' s wife had a servant named Morgiana . She was very smart , so Ali Baba asked her to help him . " Please bring Mustapha the tailor to sew up Cassim ' s body , " ordered Ali Baba . Morgiana went to Mustapha in the early morning . She tied a handkerchief over his eyes . Then she took him to Ali Baba ' s house . Mustapha didn ' t know where he was . Afterwards , Ali Baba told the town that Cassim had died of natural causes . Ali Baba buried him , and everything remained a secret . In those days , men in Persia had more than one wife . Often , when a husband died , his brother would marry his wife . Ali Baba decided to marry his brother ' s wife . Then no one would be curious about his new treasures . Therefore , Ali Baba married Cassim ' s widow . Then he went to live in her house . Meanwhile , the robbers returned to their cave . They soon realized that the body was gone . “ Someone knows our secret , ” cried the captain . “ I will go into town , ” said one robber , " and find a clue . " By accident , the robber met Mustapha in town . Mustapha told him that he sewed up a dead body . " Show me where you did the sewing , " said the robber . " My eyes were covered , " explained Mustapha . " So I don ' t know where the house is . " The robber decided to blindfold Mustapha again . Finally , Mustapha was able to find the house . The robber put an " X " on the door with chalk . Then he returned to his friends . Shortly after , Morgiana saw the mark on the door . " What is this mark ? " she thought to herself . She feared that something bad might happen . Therefore , she marked all the doors on both sides of the street with the same ' X '. Meanwhile , the robber had reported his success . " We will all go into town , " ordered the captain . The robber took the captain to Ali Baba ' s street . The captain quickly noticed that all the doors had been marked . " We have been tricked , " said the captain . " I will go myself . " He brought Mustapha and asked him to do the same thing as he did for the robber . Finally , he found Ali Baba ' s house . The captain ordered his men to buy twenty mules and forty oil - jars . “ Fill one oil - jar , and leave the rest empty . ” he said . He put a man in each of the empty jars and loaded them onto the mules . “ We will go to town before it gets dark . ” he told them . He took his mules to Ali Baba ' s house . “ I ' m an oil merchant , ” he said . “ I could not find a place to stay . ” “ You can leave your mules in my yard , ” said Ali Baba . “ And you can sleep in my house . ” The captain unloaded the jars in the yard . “ When you hear my whistle , ” he whispered to each man , “ You must come out of the jar . ” Morgiana just happened to need some oil . She thought she could take a little from one of the jars . In the yard , she heard a man ' s voice softly say , " Is it time ? " It was from one of the jars . She was shocked , but she kept herself cool . " Not yet , but soon , " she whispered back . " Ali Baba is in danger , " she thought . She filled a huge kettle with oil . She set it on fire , and the oil began boiling . Then she poured the oil into each jar . It killed each robber inside . After that , she went back to her room . She watched out her window to see what would happen next . A few minutes later , the captain opened his window . He threw stones at the jars . Nothing happened . He was very surprised . He went outside and found all his men dead . He immediately went back to his cave . Morgiana saw the captain run away . She was so happy that she had saved Ali Baba ' s family . The next morning , she told Ali Baba what happened . Back in the cave , the captain promised himself that he would have revenge . He changed his appearance and went to town . He rented a warehouse . He filled it with silks and other stuff . He told the townspeople that he was a merchant and his name was Cogia Hassan . Ali Baba had a son who was also a merchant . His warehouse was close to Cogia Hassan ' s . The captain knew this and became friends with the son . One day , the son invited Cogia Hassan to his house to eat dinner . Cogia Hassan went to Ali Baba ' s house . He carried a knife under his shirt . At dinner , he wouldn ' t eat any salt . At that time in Persia , there was a custom . It was considered wrong to kill a man after sharing salt . Morgiana noticed that their guest wouldn ' t eat any salt . " I ' m sure this is the oil merchant , " she thought to herself . She knew she had to protect Ali Baba . Morgiana was a great dancer . She often danced for the guests . After the meal , she came to give a performance . She had a tambourine in one hand and a knife in the other . She would place the knife on the chest of each man . She pretended that this was part of the dance . But when she got to Cogia hassan , she stuck the knife in his chest . She fell dead to the ground . " What are you doing ! " cried Ali Baba . " This is the oil merchant " explained Morgiana . " He planned on killing you . " She opened his shirt and showed Ali Baba his knife . " You saved my life , " said Ali Baba . He could not thank her enough . After a while , Ali Baba ' s son married Morgiana . They all lived long , peaceful lifes .