Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves
Ali Baba was in the forest getting firewood.
He heard a clatter of hooves on the path. He was afraid. He climbed the nearest tree and hid.
He peeked out and saw forty men on horseback.
The forty riders reached a cliff. In the bright sunlight Ali Baba could see that their saddlebags were full of glistening and sparkling gold.
“Those bags are full of stolen treasure!” he thought.
Then the leader cried, “Open Sesame!”
Suddenly, a great big secret door in the rock opened. The forty riders rode inside.
When they were all inside, the leader shouted, “Close Sesame!”
The secret door closed.
Ali Baba waited, still hiding in his treetop. Then the riders all came out of the cave.
The leader shouted, “Close Sesame!”
The secret door closed.
Ali Baba peered through the leaves.
The thieves put empty saddlebags over their horses and set off.
Ali Baba listened until they were gone. He was safe!
He climbed down the tree. He wondered if the magic door would open for him if he said the special words.
Ali Baba looked at the rocky cliff and thought about all the treasure inside.
“They’ve gone,” he thought, “so I shall say those magic words.”
“Open Sesame!” he said. The door opened.
Ali Baba saw steps leading down. Then he remembered what the leader had said to close the magic door.
“Close Sesame!” he cried, and the door slid shut.
In the treasure cave Ali Baba gazed around in amazement. There were heaps of sparkling jewels and piles of gold coins.
He wasn’t greedy. He didn’t want the jewels. All he wanted was just one little gold coin to buy food for him and his family.
So Ali Baba took one and ran back up the stone steps.
“Open Sesame!” he said.
Immediately the magic door opened. He hurried outside. Then he called out, “Close Sesame!”
The door slid shut. Ali Baba was safe.
But Ali Baba’s brother, Kassim, had also come to get firewood. He watched Ali Baba come out of the cave and say the magic words.
“Oh, Ali Baba! What is this magic?”
Ali Baba told his brother and said that the forty thieves might soon come back. So they both hurried home.
Kassim told his wife all about his brother’s adventure.
“Kassim,” she said, “please go back and bring me a little gold coin.”
In front of the cliff, Kassim said the magic words, “Open Sesame!”
When the secret door opened, Kassim hurried inside.
He spoke the magic words to close the door, “Close Sesame!”
Kassim ran down the steps.
When he saw all the sparkling jewels and gold, his eyes lit up.
Kassim was so excited that he forgot the magic words! He ran up to the magic door.
“Open Porridge!” he cried.
Nothing happened.
“Open Marshmallows!”
Nothing happened.
“I know it was something to eat,” he said to himself.
“Open Toast! Open Bananas! Open Fish!”
Just then the magic door slid open and there stood the thieves!
Kassim ran off as fast as he could. He climbed up a tree and hid.
Kassim’s wife was worried when her husband didn’t come home.
She went to Ali Baba.
“I'd better go and find him,” Ali Baba said to her.
Ali Baba took a piece of gooey chocolate cake to eat and went to look for his brother.
He looked everywhere. He sat outside the cave and ate his cake.
Some crumbs fell on the ground.
The next day the thieves went back to the cave.
“Stop!” the leader cried. He bent down and saw the chocolate crumbs.
One of the thieves said, “I saw Ali Baba at the bakery shop yesterday. He bought a delicious triple chocolate cake with a gold coin.”
“That means he knows our hiding place,” said the leader, “now go back to the village and get a cart and a strong donkey. Buy thirty-nine olive oil jars big enough to hide inside. Make a hole in the lids for fresh air.”
Kassim was still hiding in the tree and heard every word. He rushed back and told Ali Baba.
That night the leader went to Ali Baba’s house and stood outside.
“When I come back here tomorrow,” he said to himself, “I shall pretend to be a seller of olive oil. When I shout, ‘Olive oil!’ my thieves will jump out of the jars, ready for a fight.”
The next morning a thief hid in each of the olive oil jars. Their leader put a lid on the top.
The donkey pulled the cart to Ali Baba’s house. Then the leader knocked on the door.
Ali Baba opened the door and said, “Oh, good. We need olive oil.”
While they were talking Ali Baba’s wife got a dish of stinky cheese, and she plugged up all the breathing holes in the jars.
The stinky cheese made the thieves feel so sick that they all fell out of the jars onto the ground.
Then the guards arrived, they captured all forty thieves and took them to prison.
Then they brought all the treasure back to the village. They gave all the jewels and the money back to their rightful owners.
Everyone was thrilled and celebrated with a big party.
The End
