Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

But the other way was through popular theatre.

So pantomime performances of Sinbad the Sailor or Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

And in those... plays and not just local small rep performances but also, you know, massive spectaculars.

Men were very often sultans or, you know, foolish kings and they wore a lot of jewellery and they were a bit of fate and they were very They weren't very manly at all.

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Favorite Fairy Tales Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves In a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one named Cassim, the other Ali Baba.

Cassim was married to a rich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintain his wife and children by cutting wood in a neighboring forest and selling it in the town.

One day, when Ali Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback coming towards him in a cloud of dust.

He brought away as much gold as he could carry, and returned to town.

He told his son the secret of the cave, which his son handed down in turn, so the children and grandchildren of Ali Baba were rich to the end of their lives.

End of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Chapter 15 of Favorite Fairy Tales.

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Favorite Fairy Tales Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves In a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one named Cassim, the other Ali Baba.

Cassim was married to a rich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintain his wife and children by cutting wood in a neighboring forest and selling it in the town.

One day when Ali Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback coming towards him in a cloud of dust.

He brought away as much gold as he could carry and returned to town.

He told his son the secret of the cave, which his son handed down in turn, so the children and grandchildren of Ali Baba were rich to the end of their lives.

End of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Chapter 15 of Favorite Fairy Tales.

So he winked his eye, the only un-aristocratic habit he had, by the way, and said nothing.

The revenue was large enough, he had been known to say, to support himself and all his relatives in state, with enough left over to satisfy even Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Had he foreseen the results of his complacency in financial matters, I doubt if he would have persisted therein.

For some ten years under de Herbert's management, everything went smoothly and expensively for the Bangletop Hall people, and then there came a change.

So before long the son and the newcomer, who had assumed the name of Qagia Hussein, became acquainted, and as the youth had good looks, kind manners, and a sociable disposition, it was not long before the acquaintance became intimate.

khagia hossein did all he could to seal the pretended friendship the more so as it had not taken him long to discover how the young man and ali baba were related and so plying him constantly with small presents and acts of hospitality he forced on him the obligation of making some return ali baba's son however had not at his lodging sufficient accommodation for entertainment he therefore told his father of the difficulty in which kagia hossein's favours had placed him and ali baba with great willingness at once offered to arrange matters my son said he to-morrow being a holiday all shops will be closed then do you after dinner invite khagia hussein to walk with you and as you return bring him this way and beg him to come in that will be better than a formal invitation and morgiana shall have a supper prepared for you this proposal was exactly what ali baba's son could have wished and so on the morrow he brought khagia hussein to the door as if by accident and stopping invited him to enter khagia hussein who saw his object thus suddenly attained began by showing pretended reluctance but ali baba himself coming to the door pressed him in the most kindly manner to enter and before long had conducted him to the table where food stood prepared but there an unlooked-for difficulty arose wicked though he might be the robber captain was not so impious as to eat the salt of the man he intended to kill he therefore began with many apologies to excuse himself and when ali baba sought to know the reason sir said he i am sure that if you knew the cause of my resolution you would approve of it suffice it to say that i have made it a rule to eat of no dish that has salt in it how then can i sit down at your table if i must reject everything that is set before me if that is your scruple said ali baba it shall soon be satisfied and he sent orders to the kitchen that no salt was to be put into any of the dishes presently to be served to the newly arrived guest thus said he to kagia hossein i shall still have the honour to which i have looked forward of returning to you under my own roof the hospitality you have shown to my son morgiana who was just about to serve supper received the order with some discontent who she said is this difficult person that refuses to eat salt he must be a curiosity worth looking at and so when the saltless courses were ready to be put upon the table she herself helped to carry in the dishes no sooner had she set eyes on khagia hussein than she recognized him in spite of his disguise and observing his movements with great attention she saw that he had a dagger concealed beneath his robe ah she said to herself here is reason enough for who will eat salt with the man he means to murder but he shall not murder my master if i can prevent it now morgiana knew that the most favourable opportunity for the robber captain to carry out his design would be after the courses had been withdrawn and when ali baba and his son and guests were alone together over their wine which indeed was the very project that kagia hossein had formed going forth therefore in haste she dressed herself as a dancer assuming the headdress and mask suitable for the character then she fastened a silver girdle about her waist and hung upon it a dagger of the same material thus equipped she said to abdallah the cook take your tabor and let us go in and give an entertainment in honour of our master's guest and so abdallah took his tabor and played morgiana into the hall as soon as she had entered she made a low curtsey and stood awaiting orders then ali baba seeing that she wished to perform at his guest's honour said kindly come in morgiana and show khage hussein what you can do immediately abdallah began to beat upon his tabor and sing an air for morgiana to dance to and she advancing with much grace and propriety of deportment began to move through several figures performing them with the ease and facility which none but the most highly practised can attain to and then for the last figure of all she drew out the dagger and holding it in her hand danced a dance which excelled all that had preceded it in the surprise and change and quickness and dexterity of its movements and now she presented the dagger at her own breast now at one of the onlookers but always in the act of striking she drew back at length as though out of breath she snatched his instrument from abdallah with her left hand and still holding the dagger in her right advanced the hollow of the tabor toward her master as is the custom of dancers when claiming their fee ali baba threw in a piece of gold his son did likewise and then advancing it in the same manner toward quagia hossein who was feeling for his purse she struck under it and before he knew had plunged her dagger deep into his heart ali baba and his son seeing their guest fall dead cried out in horror at the deed wretch exclaimed ali baba what ruin and shame hast thou brought on us nay answered morgiana it is not your ruin but your life that i have thus secured look and convince yourself what man was this which refused to eat salt with you and so saying she tore off the dead robber's disguise showing the dagger concealed below and the face which her master now for the first time recognized ali baba's gratitude to morgiana for thus preserving his life a second time knew no bounds he took her in his arms and embraced her as a daughter now said he the time is come when i must fulfil my debt and how better can i do it than by marrying you to my son this proposition far from proving unwelcome to the young man did but confirm an inclination already formed a few days later the nuptials were celebrated with great joy and solemnity and the union thus auspiciously commenced was productive of as much happiness as lies within the power of mortals to secure as for the robbers cave it remained the secret possession of ali baba and his posterity and using their good fortune with equity and moderation they rose to high office in the city and were held in great honour by all who knew them and of ali baba and the forty thieves

THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE in the land of the persians there lived in ancient times a king who had three daughters and an only son of such beauty that they drew the eyes of all beholders like moonrise in a clear heaven now it was the custom in that country for a great festival to be held at the new year during which people of all grades from the highest to the lowest presented themselves before the king with offerings and salutations so it happened that on one of these days there came to the king as he sat in state three sages masters of their craft bringing gifts for approval the first had with him a peacock of gold which was so constructed that at the passing of each hour it beat its wings and uttered a cry and the king having proved it found the gift acceptable and caused the inventor thereof to be suitably rewarded the second had made a trumpet so that if placed over the gates of a city it blew a blast against any that sought to enter and thus was the city held safe from surprise by an enemy and when the king had found that it possessed that property he accepted it bestowing on its maker a rich reward but the gift of the third sage who was an indian appeared more prodigious than all for he had brought with him a horse of ivory and ebony for which he claimed that at the will of its owner or of any one instructed in the secret it would rise above the earth and fly arriving at distant places in a marvellously short space of time the king full of wonder at such a statement and eager to test it was in some doubt as to how he might do so for the indian was unwilling to part with the secret until secure of the reward which in his own mind he had fixed on now it happened that at a distance of some three leagues from the city there stood a mountain the top of which was clearly discernible to all eyes so in order that the indian's word might be proved the king pointing to it said go yonder and bring back to me while i wait the branch of a palm-tree which grows at the foot of that mountain then i shall know that what you tell me is true instantly the indian set foot on the stirrup and vaulted upon his charger and scarcely had he turned a small peg which was set in the pommel of the saddle when the horse rose lightly into the air and bore him away at wondrous speed amid the shouts of the beholders and while all were still gazing amazed at so sudden a vanishing he reappeared high overhead bearing the palm-branch and descending into their midst alighted upon the very spot from which he had started where prostrating himself he laid the branch at the king's feet the king was so delighted when the wonderful properties of the horse had been thus revealed to him that eager to possess it he bade the indian name his own reward declaring that no price could be too great then said the sage since your majesty so truly appreciates the value of my invention i do not fear that the reward i ask for will seem too high give me in marriage the hand of the fairest of your three daughters and the horse shall be yours at so arrogant a claim all the courtiers burst into loud laughter the king alone consumed with the desire of possessing the wonderful treasure hesitated as to what answer he should give Then the king's son, Prince Faroo Shah, seeing his father lend ear to so shameful a proposal, became moved with indignation.

Determined to defend his sister's honour and his own, he addressed the king.