Ali Baba and 40 Thieves
Ali Baba and 40 Thieves :
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Kasim's wife waited in vain for two days. Then in desperation, she ran to Ali Baba and told him where her husband had gone, asking for help. Ali Baba was dismayed. "He promised he would never . However, Ali Baba was fond of his brother. So he saddled a mule and rode to the mountain. When he saw, to his horror, the remains of Kasim, he broke down and wept. Then he plucked up enough courage to wrap them in a rug which he tied to the mule's back. But Kasim's wife, when she saw what had happened to her husband, died of a broken heart. Ali Baba and his family went to live in Kasim's palace.
There he met Morgantina - a clever young slave girl who had long been a servant in the palace. It was she who told Ali Baba that his brother's remains could be put together again before being buried. Mustapha, the cobbler, would do the job, for a good reward.
“I have to blindfold you," Morgantina told the cobbler, "so you can't see where you're going. Then there won't be any gossip."
The cobbler did his work well and was led, still blindfolded, back to his shop, with a bag of gold for his trouble.
In the meantime, when the robber leader saw that the body had been removed, he knew that someone else had found the treasure trove. Angry and alarmed, he ordered one of his men to sneak into the city and find out what he could. Well, by sheer chance, the spy had a hole in the sole of his boot and he went into the cobblers.
Mustapha was bursting to tell someone all about his luck... "...and they gave me a bag of gold for stitching the body together again."
'If you take me to the place, I’ll give you another bag of gold," said the robber immediately.
The robber nearly danced for joy. Then his heart sank. How was he to find the house he had never seen.
"I'll blindfold you again," said the robber, "then you take your time and try to remember which way you went!"
As it turned out the robber was lucky, for Mustapha had an excellent sense of direction. What's more, he had counted his footsteps. So he counted them again, "...five hundred and ten, five hundred and eleven, five hundred and twelve. Here!"
The cobbler wrenched the cloth from his eyes and found himself in front of Ali Baba's palace. The robber handed over the bag of gold and, unseen, drew a red cross on the door. Then he hurried away to give his leader the news.
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